The Derby Inn — Restaurant in Hart

I ordered a prawn and Chorizo Linguine at £18.95 and was presented with a bowl of lukewarm pasta with a couple of prawns and 3 or 4 pieces of Chorizo. The sauce was clearly not freshly cooked as there was no evidence whatsoever of fresh tomatoes (or any other vegetable for that matter) present in it. I asked for Parmesan (which is a normal accompaniment for an Italin, tomato based dish) and was presented with a small 5g bowl of the cheese. Hardly enough to change the flavour of the dish!

Two of my colleagues ordered the Chicken Stroganoff, which comprised lumps of chicken in a lukewarm sauce with a pile of rice and again, no fresh vegetables whatsoever.

My fourth colleague was presented with ‘Sticky Fingers’, which was smothered in a coagulating brown sauce.

All of these food issues combined to a very uninspiring and memorable meal – for all the wrong reasons. Furthermore, I was awake most of the night with a severe stomach upset, from which my doctor has deduced was down to the prawns that I had eaten at your restaurant. I do recollect that they were of an unfamiliar consistency when I was eating them.

In addition to these significant food quality issue, the waiter also insisted on serving us with the grubbiest of attire; a stained and streaked blue shirt and trousers that appeared to be undone. Again a memorable table service – for all of the wrong reasons!

We proceeded to order four desserts, which all lacked flavour. This was followed by four coffees, which were so strong that two of our party could not consume theirs!

We were then presented with the bill, which had an audacious 10% service charge added to the total of the food and drink amounts. I could see no evidence of the service charge on your menu nor on your website. Half of our drinks were purchased at the bar by ourselves earlier in the evening, so why were we forced to pay a service charge on these drinks?

I have written an email to Hampshire Trading Standards as the venue will not reply to my email of complaint. I would suggest that potential attendeed as this pub give it a wide berth. There are plenty of other decent...

Oh my, where to start.||I arrived and went in to the bar, Very nice landlord, and staff, and when I ate in the bar later, the food was delicious.||My room though was upstairs, and this was where the real story begins. I don't like writing complaining reviews, but do this hoping the owner will read it and take some steps to improve things that are desperately need of change.||Stand well back, this isn't going to be pretty.||1) The room looked like a throwback to the 1940's.||2) My bedside table was a fridge.||3) The fridge contained a pint of milk for tea making facilities. Although just about in date, when I opened it, it was badly off.||4) The room was freezing, and when the bathroom radiator attempted to get going, it had so much air in it, it was a wonder it didn't take off. I asked the manager to bleed it, but he couldn't, and switched it off instead,||5) The wifi dropped every two minutes.||6) The television was no bigger than my laptop screen.||7) There were two television controllers, neither of which had the least effect on the telly.||Pause for breath.||8) There was no bulb in the bedside lamp, so you had to get back up to turn the main light off.||9) In the morning I went down for breakfast only to find the pub locked. On going back up to my room, I found three small pastries and some cereal and orange juice in what can only be described as a cupboard room. This was never explained to me, was not at all what I expected, and I certainly wasn't risking any more milk.||||Ironically after all that, I sleep better in cooler rooms. This one was so cold, I slept like a log, albeit still dressed in my shirt, pants, and socks.||||I won't be returning...

Having researched several places to dine for a Special Occasion we chose The Derby Inn. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT. Practically every Review showed a 5* level across the board. Sadly we could just about manage a 3*. It was our DIAMOND WEDDING ANNIVERSARY celebrating 60years. Our my Son and his family came over from Canada for this so we wanted something Special. My Granddaughter chose Tiger Prawns to start. I can’t remember if there were “5” or “6” floating in an oversize dish. The other starters were okay. Now to the Mains. TWO Beef Bourguignons ordered. Waiter came back and said there was only ONE. Ordered that. Waiter retuned “They had Sold Out” ! We Re-ordered Creamy Chicken Breasts. My wife said it was tough and wasn’t able to finish it. I had the Fillet Steak 8oz (medium) cooked as suggested. It was alright but I’ve had much better elsewhere and not as expensive. The Sticky Fingers had a thick layer of sauce all over it. You were actually able to dip the fries in it. Finally the desserts. Eaton Mess one of my favourites SOLD OUT. I had the apple crumble with ice cream. One scoop in what looked like an extra large Egg cup! Had to ask for another scoop. That was OUR experience. Not good. We all felt sorry for Ryan the waiter who had to make several apologies with “ We’ve sold out”. He was excellent. He offered us a bottle of Prosecco as a token gesture. Nice as that was my wife doesn’t drink at all and I was driving. I worked in hospitality for many years in 4* & 5* hotels so I had a preconceived idea of what to expect. What does annoy me is the lack of consistency in standards. This fell well short. It gives me No pleasure to write a review...