King William IV - Sedgeford — Restaurant in King's Lynn and West Norfolk

A few weeks ago (9th – 13th June) my wife and I stayed at the King William IV in Sedgeford, where we have stayed many times before both since the Coaching Inn Group took ownership and when it was privately run. We normally book Bed & Breakfast only and decide daily on whether we will dine in the evening each morning, depending on our plans.||||This has always worked well in the past and with the exception of Thursday 12th it worked well this time. As usual on our way out on that morning the breakfast waitress asked if we would like a table for the evening and we said yes, at 19:00 as usual.||||As it was a warm and sunny evening we sat outside and chatted with other guests and locals that we know, having a drink and waiting to be offered menus and be called for our 19:00 booking. At 19:00 I went in to the restaurant and asked the new manager when she would like us to order. She denied having any booking for us and eventually offered us a table at 19:30 as if she was doing us a favour. As we had no choice we had to accept that as I didn’t want to drive somewhere else having had a drink.||||On Friday morning I checked with the breakfast waitress that we had booked with her and she checked the computer and confirmed that not only had she booked us for Thursday evening but also which table she had booked us on. (This table was occupied by other guests at 19:00 and as it was a very busy evening and all tables were occupied.)||||I take great exception to being lied to by the manager. It is clear from my enquiries that we were booked to dine that evening and a table had been allocated. If staff could confirm the next day that the booking had been made then she too could have confirmed that on the evening and apologised for making an error in not calling us, but she chose to say we had no booking.||||The previous manager would never have behaved like that, he would have apologised and done his utmost to rectify the mistake. Their present manager however made no such effort and implied the error must have been ours. It was a very busy evening and our meal was also not up to standard but I suspect it was rushed through in some sort of misguided effort to rectify her error.||||We have stayed at the King William IV many times in the past and we hope to do so in the future, but I suggest the present manger has either not be properly trained or she’s just incompetent; either way I hope that if she is still in post for our next visit she will remember that we are the customers and she is there to see that we get the service and treatment that I’m sure Coaching Inn Group expect all their hotels to offer.||||I usually book directly with the hotel as we prefer to stay in a particular room and they can confirm whether it is available or not at the time of booking; which I did this time and the person who took the booking was very helpful and friendly as usual, so I found the present manager’s attitude and manner well below the standard I usually...

Went to the sedgeford king William Saturday night 12/8/23, not happy in the slightest, to start our group booking was made in correct as the establishment contacted our party lead name saying we had a reservation for 6pm and was late, when in fact it was for 7pm , were seated late, the bar manager when approached said he was waiting for us, but the fact no staff came to us had escaped his mind, we then sat waiting for 20 minutes before our order was taken, the orders arrived in good time and as requested, during the meal we sat with empty glasses and was not approached for a refill, we had to stop a waitress to get a drink and that obviously was troubling the girl as she really didn't want to take a drinks order, we were offered a desert but declined, within ten minutes the bar manager slapped our tab on the table, we didn't request the bill it just appeared, abruptly.. this was 9.00pm , we got up from our table and went to the bar, ordered a round of drinks and paid our tab, as we are local to the area born and bred, we met some old acquaintances and stood chatting, ordered two whiskeys , around 9:40pm at 10:02 requested two more and the bar manager said I'm closed and tilled up, we close at 10pm ! Looking slightly bemused our acquaintance agreed, yes he said he closes at 10:00, there was easily 15 people in the establishment with seated diners and drinkers in the bar, in a Saturday night... Obviously there is way too much money in hospitality at sedgeford? Considering the staff were unmotivated, the bar manager was not only too full of his own importance, but I found him rude and ignorant, there was a small family staying the night with a unruly yapping dog, that the owners were oblivious to its constant barking at anyone that moved, numerous diner's asked to be relocated, one mid meal as plates of half eaten food where transported by us to a vacant table, yet as manager he clearly was to frightened to request the animal be removed from the public area, and rather he would upset his paying guests, obviously of the mind set that each and everyone was a tripper and will never be seen again so no need to bother, more a case of I have your money so go sooner than later and if the yapping dog drives you out before 10pm the better for me attitude. Safe to say this will be the last visit to a pub I have frequented for 40 years, and if this is the standard set by the Red Cat Pub Company, then once bitten twice shy of any other red cat...

Awful place. Looks lovely following the recent refurbishment, but don't be fooled..in summary ,the staff and service were terrible ( as per previous reviews), and we had to send the food back (.fish and chips) as it smelled funny/off and tasted strange ! ||We had pre booked a table online. On arrival we gave our name and the lady behind the bar ( Anthea I think ) ,looked at us as if we'd got two heads! She said ' you've reserved a table in the bar area ?' .we said yes ,and she started to argue with us . We nearly walked out ( we wish we had!) .then she said you can sit up the top.... so we did. We ordered. The food took a while but we didn't mind. |However the smell of the fish n chips was indescribably fowl. We both tried it and said it tasted off. It was horrible. I couldn't eat it. We waited for the staff to return and ask if the meals were OK. But noone came. We waited for over an hour and eventually went to the bar ourselves, and asked about the fish. She didn't really care and looked nonchalant. She took the plate to the kitchen. We waited a further 20 min and she finally came back saying it just smelt of vinegar. She said the chef said the oil was old in the fryer and probably needs changing! No apology . Nothing. For the 1st time in our lives ( we're 56!) We refused to pay for the one meal. She said OK and proceeded to say the rest of your meal and drinks is £ this much. So we paid. She said she couldn't give us a bill or receipt because it wasn't working ! Only afterwards we realised she'd cheekily included a 10% service charge! Unbelievable... there was no offer of a free drink, a substitute meal or anything . We eat out regularly and have eaten in many pubs around the north Norfolk coast and have never experienced anywhere so unpleasant, unprofessional and rude ! The lady who greeted and served us was clearly in the wrong job . Customer service was not her forte.|Thankfully I only ate a few mouth fulls of fish , but we are concerned about the food hygiene here and have decided to raise our concerns to the relevant bodies.| |Such a real shame ... with good ,attentive staff and clear hygiene procedures this pub could be lovely. ||We won't ever return and will be sure to share our story with friends and colleagues who visit Norfolk. We would hate anyone to fall ill after visiting this place.||Avoid... there's much better places in the...