The Red Deer, A Heartwood Inn — Restaurant in Horsham

Was a huge fan of the Red Deer, but since coming out of lockdown, finding its not as special - more "meh". Service is nowhere near as good as it used to be - they are always shortstaffed with serving, feels very chaotic with wrong meals being taken to tables etc.

Food isnt always hot, we have had to send back a meal each time as it was cold. The summer menu was in dire need of changing, but the autumn menu is lacklustre & disappointing. I had a sirloin steak on Friday & I regret my choice. On the menu they tell you that the Queen's butcher, Aubrey Allen selects for them the very best beef. I pity the Windsors if they have to put up with these poor quality cuts. Although it was well seasoned, it was very gristley & unpleasant. Chips were cold. The red wine they served was excellent - Masseria Borgo Dei Trulli Lucale Primitivo Appassimento 2020. I can thoroughly recommend.

I miss the red duck red Thai curry. I wish they would go back to offering specials on arrival (we werent), maybe reduce the menu & focus on getting a few meals turned out with the excellence you would expect from , but change it around more often. I have always been a fan of Raymond Blanc, but the Red Deer is a disappointment to his brand & passion.

I rated the Red Deer a 5 star rating in 2019 & have now updated this to 3 stars. We usually have our christmas meal here - about 12-14 friends, but based on this year's performance, we have decided to try...

Four of us (plus my new baby great nephew) went here for a family New Year's lunch on 3 January 2020. It was in my view comparable to many high end restaurants in central London - lovely décor and upmarket clientele. The menu was extensive and it was difficult to choose from the many culinary delights to tantalise one's taste buds and hence it took us ages to order but we managed to survive on our choice of an excellent bottle of white wine and other liquid refreshments. When the food did arrive the presentation was amazing and tasted as good as it looked. We all enjoyed every single dish. Our waiter was first class and I was hoping to give him an extra tip after we paid our bill (where the service charge was included) but he didn't come to our table after we paid the bill despite us remaining for some period of time. We decided to order some final coffees and a tea before leaving and that was the only downside - the female waiter I asked wasn't particularly friendly and announced that "I need to check and see when we need the table back" - although she did eventually come back and take the order but bearing in mind this was now about 4.30 pm and the restaurant was practically empty after the lunch people had left I thought her response totally unnecessary. We spent over £200 for the lunch which is actually pretty good for four people plus drinks so definitely no...

Hard to score this place. The pub itself is lovely to be in. Decor is great, as is the service and the drink selection. You get an odd speech from the waitress at the beginning of your meal but it's not unpleasant and just an extra effort to engage you in conversation which I should probably be more open to. The issue I have though is with the food, or more specifically, the value for money of it. Credit where it's due, the food tasted great. Burrito starter was awesome, tomato salad was good but lacking seasoning (not a huge problem by any stretch). The duck main was great and the gunpowder chicken was good, a little dry in the breast and not as fiery as I'd like but still good. But, the chicken comes with a salad (about a small fistfull) of just leaves and cashews...that's it. Leaves and cashews, a small half chicken with some stock/sauce at over £17! Considering that the chicken was probably only £2.50 per kilo when whole it's a hell of a lot of money to pay for half of one (I know theres a mark up but that's outrageous). The burrito is the same, one small burrito. Again, the tom salad and the duck were well portioned and cost less so I dont get the lack of consistency in the portion control and so you only get 3 stars. When I pay nearly £25 for a starter and main I'd like to at least feel content after eating but i just felt hungry. Shame really, could so easily...