Milestone — Restaurant in Hinckley and Bosworth

Our visit to this establishment did not get off to a very good start, when my booking could not be found, the member of staff actually questioning my booking. After eventually finding my booking, which was for 3 people, we were advised that there were no tables of 4 available, so we were sat at a large round table for 7/8, table 26, apparently being the only table available. This table was right by a VERY draughty window which also suffered from a downdraught from upstairs. It was that cold that my daughter kept her outdoor coat on for the whole time and I eventually had to put my coat on, just to stay warm. My booking was for 19.45, we were served a round of drinks and then duly waited for someone to come to take our order, and wait we did, for around 20 minutes, by which time we had finished our 1st round of drinks, when a waitress came over and asked if we would like to order "more drinks". I expressed our wish to actually order our food before ordering more drinks. She took our food order and then our 2nd drinks order. Then once again we WAITED. While still waiting for our food order my son went to the bar and ordered "another" round of drinks. After a further 20 to 30 minutes two of the meals arrived, I had to tell my son and daughter to start without me, as I sat waiting for my meal. When it did arrive I was rather disappointed, the 2 sausages were "cooked to death" and were like 2 sticks of charcoal, the gammon was that dry it was almost inedible and came with a very luke warm fried egg, the "steak" was about the size of my thumb and was just a strip of grissle with a slither of meat attached. Hooray for the chicken and the chips. The peas, tomato and onion rings on all 3 dinners were stone cold, with ALL of us leaving them pushed to the side of the plates. We then sat and waited, yet again, for someone to come to clear our table so that I could advise our disappointment and begrudgingly request the bill. We waited that long that at 21.10, we actually got up to leave, my son and daughter left the establishment while I looked for an elusive member of staff to request to pay the bill, which was a total of £88.57, fortunately to soften the blow of a very poor experience and a well below standard array of food, I had a discount code which reduced the bill to £74.41. Which was £74.41 completely wasted, the overall service was appalling, taking over 2.5 hours, most of that time spent waiting for staff and then waiting a ridiculous amount of time for poor quality and cold food. Having been in catering myself for over 20 years to a very high standard, I would NEVER have sent out such substandard and cold food. In this time of recession I would have expected a far better quality and standard of food and a more fulfilling quantity, so as not to leave customer going away STILL HUNGRY. The absence of staff makes for a very unforgettable event.

I await your earliest response with regards to the issue's I have stated above and also your intention with regards to reimbursement and compensation for the poor customer care and...

We booked a table online for 7:30pm using what was called a fast track option. When we arrived, we were told that we couldn’t have booked as the restaurant had been fully booked all evening. This was confusing, as when I checked again online, the system was still allowing bookings.

I then went upstairs to use the bathroom (where the main restaurant is located) and found it completely empty all tables were set but no guests were there. This left us even more puzzled as we had just been told they were fully booked.

The lady who greeted us said we could eat in the bar area instead, which was fine. We tried to find a table for six of us and asked the assistant manager if we could move two smaller tables together. He immediately said “no, you cannot move tables” and walked off, which felt unnecessarily dismissive. We decided to split ourselves across the two tables, which wasn’t a problem, but the manner in which it was handled left a poor impression.

The overall atmosphere wasn’t very welcoming it felt like the staff didn’t enjoy being there and didn’t want to be busy. Interestingly, they seemed far more accommodating to regulars, which was noticeable. For example, we were told bar tables are never reserved, but one table clearly had a reserved sign. When we asked about it, we were told it was taken, and sure enough, when the guests arrived, it was clear they were regulars.

Even small requests, like asking if tables could be cleaned, were met with a disgruntled look, as if we were being a bother. First impressions really weren’t good.

That being said, the food was actually lovely, and by the end of the evening, the assistant manager seemed a bit more relaxed. Unfortunately, the initial experience overshadowed that.

I used to come here regularly with my dad over 6 years ago and it was always lovely, so I was excited to bring my in-laws and grandparents from America, especially since the venue is in a windmill and they wanted to see it. Sadly, it just wasn’t what I had remembered or hoped for.

Overall: disappointing service and atmosphere, though the food itself...

Firstly I would like to say that I have been going to the Milestone Restaursnt for years, and have been happy with those visits. Then I got a dog, and now and again I like to ntake him with me, and so book in to the bar restaurant. The Milestone states that their policy is to encourage people with dogs, but i have stated in a previous survey that automatically you are made to feel second rate by not being admitted to the main restaurant. I have experience of some restsurants allow dogs in their main restaurant, albeit in a restricted area. Much better. The experience myself and a friend had this last time was awfull! I took my dog so we were shown to the bar restaurant. I picked up two menus from the bar and they were dirty and sticky, so i asked for them to be wiped. I also suggested that the rest were cleaned because I had failed to find a clean one! The first table we went to was not good for my dog to settle under as it was in a corner and it was a pedestal. We moved to another table which was wet and sticky, so my friend got a tissue and tried to clean it. The tissue was so grey and dirty thst we decided to try anothe table. The young lady on duty saw us snd came over to clean the table for us as it hadnt yet been done. When my friend touched the windowsill next to her, that also was sticky!! We ordered our food and when it came, mine was good but my friend found some plastic thread in hers and the a hair! Ugh! We called the young lady to take it back, which she did. When she returned from the kitchen, she told us that they had suggested that it was melted cheese. Did they think we were stupid. It was rigid not bendy, and a hair is a hair. The meal was replaced and i have to say the food was delicious. The expereience as a whole was unpleasant, and we saw that the manager was present, but he didn't bother to come over. Even in the bar area the standard of hygene should be upheld, there's no excuse for stickyness water rings on the tables. Sorry, but...