The Walton Arms, Altham — Restaurant in Hyndburn

A group of six of us went on a Wednesday evening for something to eat and then to do the quiz. Didn’t get off to a good start when we were told they had no booking online for us. However, they did manage to find us a table. When the group member who had made the booking turned up we explained the situation. However, she said she had made the booking over the phone, not online. So not the best of starts.

Menu looked good with a range of options. Also a number of various offers on and a specials board near the bar. I went for the fish and chips and asked to switch the mushy peas for garden. Others choose Chilli or lasagne for their mains with others opting for a starter and a dessert rather than a main meal.

I was very disappointed with my fish and chips. The fish was so dry and tasteless. In hindsight I regret not asking for it to be replaced. I did mention it to the server who did say she would relay that to the kitchen. In my opinion the fish had been fried in oil that was too hot and / or placed under a heat lamp to keep it warm after cooking whilst the other meals were prepared.

Fortunately the dessert I ordered was a lot better. They had an offer on running Wednesday to Friday I believe. All desserts other than cheese and biscuits only £4.50. I opted for the cheesecake. This was mince pie flavour and came with the option of pouring cream or ice cream. Unfortunately the first dessert presented to me was definitely not cheesecake. The second had cream when I had asked for ice cream. The third time it came out it was correct and I really enjoyed it. To be honest the service was a bit hit and miss but in mitigation they did seem very busy.

I liked the venue. Really well decorated inside for Christmas and lovely and warm. No skimping on heating here. We were sat near a radiator for our meal and this was on throughout. We moved down into the bar area and they have a real fire going throwing out some much welcomed heat. The quiz was well run and we would probably go to that again. However, I definitely would not order the...

Wow. Absolutely awful experience tonight whilst out for a family meal. Firstly the roof started to leak in over our table and we had to move.

Secondly, my husband, who is currently 4 weeks post ankle surgery and on crutches, slipped and fell on the floor in the toilets, as the tiles were unbelievably slippy, like they hadn't been cleaned propely and had a slippy substance on the surface of the tiles.

Thirdly we found a plastic sachet of flora butter in the gravy pot of a childrens meal a 1 year old was eating.

After speaking to the manager about the whole experience, its pretty clear he doesn't care and had excuse after excuse for the poor state of the building, state of the toilets, and lack of general care about the experiences customers have at his restaurant. The icing on the cake was his final comment, saying all he could do about the floors in the toilet was to "hold your hand whilst you go to the toilet" and laughed at us. Complete disregard for customer safety, accessibility needs and zero empathy for our situation and bad experience. What an absolute joke of a place and management. Safe to say we won't be returning and hope others read this and choose somewhere else to dine.

Regarding the food, this was average at best. Service slow, waiting a long time for staff to come and take drinks orders (we had to go to the bar a few times), although not the serving staffs fault, could clearly see they were busy and doing their best. All the staff, except the manager were pleasant and helpful. Shame about the rest of the place.

Wonder if the manager will bother to respond to this review...perhaps an...

Good evening, we've been in tonight as a group of six, 4 out of 6 got roast dinner, 2 got braised beef, unfortunately the food was inedible and most was left on the plate, one of the braised beef had a piece of plastic in which was taken back and redone, the vegetables on all plates were solid and not cooked, roast potatoes were oily and full of grease looking as though they were deep fat fried to be reheated, to start on the meat, the meat was tough and chewy, very fatty and unbearable to eat due to the texture, one of us paid extra for lamb which was also the same inedible and too tough to eat. Although the main with the plastic inside was redone, we had no apology from staff apart from Andrew who was fab.

When taking the plates at the end of the meal, she asked how the food was and we said so so she just repeated the words so so and didn't ask what was wrong with the food, we also didn't get any compensation or money knocked off the bill for this plastic being in the food.

Must say Andrew the young gentleman was absolutely fab and served us quickly and with such an approachable and kind manner, no fault on his behalf.

First time we have been to this pub for food and will unfortunately be the last.

We came today as we had seen very high ratings and reviews but unfortunately these didn't meet expectations and we will not be returning.

Many...