Heron on the Lake — Restaurant in Hart

Had dinner at the heron last night. It was the first decent summer Saturday night and the restaurant was less than half full (which says a lot) and yet when we asked for a table outside they couldn't manage. Half the decking area was empty. I guess they are short staffed but it was chaos and confusion from the start. The lack of experience/training of the waitresses was clear.

The food was strange. I had to try the bread with gravy and chicken skin scratchings just for the sake of it. Not good chicken scratchings with whipped butter and sourdough bread didn't need olive oil on it as well as the butter - that was just a freaky dish all round. The butter went well on my steak and chips though which I had as a main. That was fine but the buttered green veg was very poor. Microwaved limp and yet not cooked through. The 'catch of the day' was cod with new potatoes that had clearly been in the fridge and badly reheated. They tasted awful and the whole lot were left. The cod was OK but came with an awful unidentifiable sauce. I wanted a glass of wine but nobody came near so I went without. We made a complaint about the potatoes which was promised to be passed on but the bill came with no apology or reduction. So we asked a more experienced waitress who did at least get the manager, who just arrived with "are you the one who had the cod?" no apology. He offered a discount off the bill but was more keen to give us desserts. Maybe a complaint/refund had to be logged on the system, I don't know. So we said OK. The waitress took one order and quickly disappeared before I could order mine, so we shared which was OK as it happens as it was large and very good (Creme brulee). Then we asked for the bill. 10mins later no sign, so we walked in and asked the senior waitress and we paid. No apology.

Service is chaotic at best. Training clearly required from the top down. Take the weird stuff off the menu and learn how to cook fresh vegetables. Oh, and check on the loo rolls in the ladies, as there wasn't any. On a beautiful Saturday night that location on the lake should be rammed. By 9 it was nearly empty. Not good. This is my local which I've been coming to for over 10 years. It's been up and down and this is the worst it's been....

My boyfriend and I took a trip here for lunch last week as we have both been before and loved it. The weather was beautiful and it was such a nice location for a lovely lunch in the sunshine, however we were very unimpressed with certain aspects of our meal. We ordered the squid for a starter and it was incredibly chewy, almost like eating rubber. We both found it near impossible to cut through the squid. I will say that our waitress came over and asked how it was and when we said it didn’t taste quite right she did offer to send back for a new one - my partner and I decided not to as we were both very hungry and would have just rather had our main meal. The main meal was gorgeous - fish and chips. However, it was apparent towards the end of our meal that the service was really starting to slow down. We did not see our original waitress come outside for a very long time and it seemed that there was only one other girl serving the whole outside area by this point. I’m a massive foodie so I really wanted a pudding - it took a good 25 minutes for anyone to come over to take an order from us for a pudding. I almost contemplated just getting the bill because it was very hot and I didn’t want to wait any longer. By this point we were both extremely hot and after having two pints of Pepsi each we just wanted some water whilst waiting for or bill. I realise that tap water is not always the nicest option but neither of us could drink the water that we had been given because it tasted that bad. When finishing our meal, our original waitress came back and was very unenthusiastic, just sort of handed me the card machine without saying much. We spent a considerable amount of money (almost a days work for me) so it was a little disappointing to say the least. Maybe the weather was too much as even we were boiling so I couldn’t imagine working in that heat. Having worked in food and beverage myself, I know sometimes it can be a challenging job but I thought that the service could have been...

Visited the restaurant a few days ago to have lunch with the missus and a friend.

I was honestly disgusted at the lack of COVID measures in place. I observed multiple times the manager, along with other staff, either having the mask below their nose (which is unacceptable, as there is evidently airflow from the nostrils), or masks removed completely. I went to the gents, and on my way I saw a man talk to male staff member upon entry, mask below his chin, and was not being told by that member of staff to put it on.

Furthermore, when we arrived, we were a tad early and our table was not yet free. Tall man with tattoos at the door was uninterested in our presence. He snubbed us when we addressed him and seemed more interested in his phone than assisting us. He was very abrupt about the fact we were early even though we told him we did not mind waiting. This was noticed by all members of our party. Can't help but think he needs a few lessons in customer cordiality. We were eventually escorted to the table and we found it to not be sanitised. Further, I ordered my glass of Malbec, reasonably priced but the glass had a blatant red lipstick stain on it. This would be abhorrent in pre-COVID, but during a pandemic, this sent shivers down my spine.

Food to be fair was delectable, on time and the burger was cooked to perfection. Bless the chef and all he/she may do.

Unfortunately, the lovely food did not make up for our experience: we also noticed the manager was quite rude to members of staff who were clearly trying their best, and she scolded a member of staff in our earshot. It was a very uncomfortable and awkward experience for us to have sat in on. No one wants to hear that drinking a glass of Malbec.

Very disappointed because the food was genuinely very good but the service and sanitisation left a lot to be desired. Much room from improvement. Kingfisher will always be the...