Willow Telford — Restaurant in Great Britain

Starters:

Caprese Salad: The flavours were pleasant, but the dish was poorly executed. It lacked the essential buffalo mozzarella, which is a key component of a traditional Caprese salad. Instead of mozzarella slices that matched the size and texture of the tomatoes, it arrived with tiny, sparse blobs that didn’t balance the dish properly. This mismatch affected the overall taste and enjoyment. Given the price, this starter would have been returned due to its unsatisfactory presentation and lack of value for money.

Halloumi: A well-cooked and tasty dish, but the portion size was disappointing. The halloumi slices were extremely thin, taking away the expected satisfaction from a hearty grilled cheese starter. While the taste was enjoyable, the serving size left much to be desired, especially considering the cost.

Garlic Bread: The garlic bread was well-cooked and had a nice flavour, but it was ruined by the large pool of oil in the middle. The bread became soggy, particularly in the centre, which made it unappetising before we could enjoy the full portion. This dish, too, would have been returned at full price.

Despite the good flavours, the starters were let down by issues with portion size, balance, and finishing touches. At this price point, such details are important and should not be overlooked.

Mains:

Chargrilled Rump Steak: The menu didn’t specify the size of the steak, which led to disappointment when it arrived as a thin, sandwich-style cut. While it was cooked well, the portion was much smaller and less substantial than expected. Despite requesting no cheese sauce, the steak was topped with grated parmesan, which was a problem as I do not like cheese. To make matters worse, the steak appeared to have been marinated, something that wasn’t mentioned on the menu, resulting in flavours that may not suit all palates. The accompanying chips appeared to be basic frozen chips, which was another letdown. At this price point, we would have expected freshly cut and cooked chips, rather than the standard frozen variety. At full price, this dish would certainly have been sent back due to these errors.

Roasted Lamb Shoulder: The lamb was severely overcooked and had lost all structure, falling apart to the point of resembling a "lamb smoothie" when trying to eat it. This suggested it may have been cooked from frozen. The hasselback potatoes, while cooked, were still far too firm in the middle and lacked the crispness expected on top. My partner found the dish so unsatisfactory that, after a few bites, they left the rest of it untouched. This dish, too, would have been returned if we had been paying full price.

Overall Experience:

Presentation and Service: One positive aspect of the meal was the excellent presentation of the dishes and the attentive service, which provided some relief during an otherwise disappointing experience. The food looked appealing, but unfortunately, the taste and execution did not match the visual appeal. Had we paid upwards of £80, we would have raised serious concerns, particularly about the cooking techniques and portion sizes.

Final Thoughts: Although the restaurant shows potential, this visit left us feeling underwhelmed. The starters lacked the finesse and portion size expected for the price, while the mains were poorly cooked, with unexpected ingredients and basic frozen chips instead of freshly made ones. Overall, the meal did not provide good value, and my partner had to pick up something to eat on the way home as the quality left much to be desired. We were disappointed and would be unlikely to return unless significant...

We came to the willow having previously been to one of the other paragon’s restaurants, the red house. Safe to say we had high expectations considering the quality there. Unfortunately, these expectations were far from being met. When we arrived it was really positive, the place looked incredible, we were welcomed and seated swiftly, and they brought us a dog bowl for our pet. We were asked if we wanted any drinks and we got water to start. Whilst we were looking over the menu, the staff seated a couple of ladies right next to us, which seemed slightly odd as there was plenty of seating around the restaurant, and with us having a pram, it was a pretty tight squeeze and slightly uncomfortable a feel as you could tell they would’ve like to be seated elsewhere. Luckily this couple went up to the bar and asked to sit elsewhere.

The waitress was very polite and asked us for our order. We ordered the açai bowl, full English, two poached egg and avo on toast, and eggs carbonara. The açai bowl was very poor and nowhere near the standards we would’ve expected it to be. We sent this back and the waitress kindly said that she would speak with the manager and have it taken off the bill. Both of the eggs and avo were bland, tow of the eggs were overdone and lacked quality. The bacon on the full English was very underdone and I had to send it back to be cooked more. There seemed to have been a chunk missing from the black pudding which I ordered additionally (they did swap this). Whilst ordering, I queried whether I could swap the mushroom for black pudding without the added charge, and if it weren’t possible to swap for an extra egg. The waitress said that she would ask and get back to me. Unfortunately, she did not get back to me. I was charged for the black pudding and did not get extra egg as agreed. I am also slightly aggrieved that we ordered venison from the doggy menu, which didn’t arrive, and we queried this half way through our meal. The waitress came and explained that they did not have this and offered ice cream as an alternative. I feel like we should have been informed of this when sooner. We also ordered drinks which they had forgotten about and we only received after reminding them.

The price of the food, compared to the quality, totally contrast each other and it is a total shame. We weren’t asked how the meal was at any point during our visit. Can’t help be feel really disappointed by the experience. I can’t speak for the lunch or evening menu as of yet. To be honest, after this trip, I am unlikely to try this place again unless there are big...

Our booking on the day got cancelled due to emergency maintenance so i rebooked and I was offered 20% off our bill for the next visit.

The worst experience I've ever had. I have never been spoken to so rudely and also lied to by workers/manager about why our food was so late.

We had to wait 55 minutes for our food and when I asked to speak to a manager to explain my frustration, his first instance was hes going to check his tablet to see if my times matched with their tablet times rather than apologising. After alot of going back and fourth he finally realised (after explaining as ive worked in this environment) when the waiter put the original order through it never filtered through to the kitchen so he had put it in again after I asked twice why there is such a long wait after 40mins but the waiter never confirmed this to myself or the manager.

The manager asked used why it took us so long to request to speak to a manager, basically accused us of lying and on top of that the chips were cold even though our food came out late (again no apology). For what we had to go through the bill was not worth £70 we was expected to pay (after discount). We then asked for more discount as we had such a rubbish experience and again never been spoken to so rudely by any resturant workers. After around 15mins of going back and fourth, the manager agreed he will pay the bill which we accepted.

I am fully aware of cost of living and would never expect anyone to pay my bill however after basically having an argument, being accused of being aggressive, being lied to many times and then having no compassion for a pregnant women i think I was fair to walk out.

If the manager apologised straight away instead of argument and offered free drinks or dessert we would've been fine but it's the fact there was only one apology right at the end of an argument. All he kept saying is he's got 10 years experience and he knows how to handle his staff but to be honest I think he needs retraining as that did not look like 10 years experience to me.

Never will I visit Willows again and I definitely will not recommend...