The Bull Pen Tearooms — Restaurant in Hertsmere

This was our second visit and while expensive we thought we'd have a quick snack.

We ordered, I asked if I could have brie on my toasted bacon. The waitress came back and said £2 extra, so I thought ok, I could buy a whole piece for that. Its what I want so I'll go for it.

So the food came, and the brie had just been cut and placed in the sandwich, th ebacon not hot enough to do anythign either. So I took it back explaing that the cheese would normally have been melted. I was told it was the waitress that took the order's fault. A while later a sanwich appeared with the bacon looking overdone and burnt cheese astuck to the edges. It looked terrible, Iooked over at my mother to see she'd nearly finished and said I wasn't happy. I was offered something else, it was a quick stop and my mother had finished.

So we asked for the bill and I asked if they would drop the charge for my coffe seeing as lunch was spoilt. This resulted in being told the supervisor would come. Another wait, she refused to give me the coffee on the house her reasoning being they'd offered to change the second sandwich, which she assured me was completely new. The bacon I can assure you was not.

So I asked for my change and I asked for details of who to complain to. The girl on the till couldnt seem to fathomnm the change and was hanging on to the money. I'll get the manager she said, I explained again this was a quick stop, we had already been held up and I now also wanted to get on so i could eat. She kept going on about a manager. To which I had to explain again that I wanted my change and would talk to someone at a later date. If she wanted to be difficult I could construe the lack of handing money back to me as stealing. What with the prices being daylight robbery too. With the she started getting ansy that I couldnt talk to her like that. So I've been talked down to and had lunch spoilt and I'm the one that needs talking down to.

Also the previous reviewer is very much right in regard to the clientele. Most people think their bank balance makes them above everyone else.

I dont think the Bull Penn will get any more of my money.

As a tourist attraction it's great but...

This establishment holds itself out as a restaurant however the atmosphere quality of Service and lack of value for money for the meal that is presented is less than poor. I give a rating of one star only because there is no lesser option. A one egg portion of scrambled egg is insufficient for most people’s dietary needs. The smoked salmon portion was decent and reasonable. However, the overall price points for scrambled egg and smoked salmon at £15.50 is £4 overpriced and a pot of tea at £4.50 is £1.75 overpriced. I will not be using this establishment and advise anybody who likes good food at a reasonable price to think twice before visiting here. I don’t want to come across as mean, however, the price points are not reflective with the experience they offer. There is a lack of experience for nice restaurant which is expected in the lovely building and environment in which it is placed it has a workman cafe type mentality in Service, and when it came to pay the bill. The staff member was not available and said they would be back in two seconds and then went for five minutes to go and serve somebody else leaving the till unattended with a queue forming this is down to bad management. You cannot blame the staff if they do not have enough staff so therefore they must be overtrading providing the foundation stone for the bad service that they provide. This business is a perfect example of management suffering from...

Terrible, just absolutely terrible. This is the only way to describe my overall experience. The staff are incompetent, uninterested and slow. Both myself and my friend ordered the exact same breakfast, only one came and the waitress that took my order and asked me if I wanted brown or white bread looked dumbfounded when I asked after 10 minutes where my food was, as my friend had nearly finished hers. I was handed the food after another 10 minute wait, which had brown bread which I didn’t ask for. The food was not warm, so clearly not fresh, the egg was actually disgusting. Sloppy and full of too much butter, I spat it out. I then had to wait another 15 minutes to catch someone for the bill which we were told would be right over to us, another 20 mins goes by and the waitress once again looks dumbfounded when we asked for the bill AGAIN that she had promised to bring. It’s just a mess there, it’s chaotic, unorganised and disappointing. The food is rubbish, the service was rubbish and overall just ruined our planned brunch. The food is overpriced slop and I wouldn’t recommend and the staff are so uninterested, I just about got a rushed apology when I questioned the brown bread then said I’d just keep it because I didn’t want to wait again. I don’t know how they charge the prices they do for the quality of food and service. Will never return and will warn others....