The Crofters Arms

Came for the Christmas day 3 course meal for £51.99.

Party of 8. As we arrived, we saw our table was located in the very corner - chairs squashed in, right by a flickering lamp. It was evident that the Crofters Arms were focused on profit rather than customer experience, because for one person to get out from the corner, everyone at the table had to stand up and move out.

First course. I had a roasted tomato and red pepper soup. I have nothing to complain about regarding my starter; it had crusty bread, melted butter cubes and a small, but filling soup. Several of our party ordered the prawn cocktail starter, which was a warm plate, with dry bread, a few prawns and some tomato and cucumber slices. Already off to a bad start.

Second course - the big roast dinner. I ordered the hand-carved turkey breast, which was nice, but everything else was to a poor standard. Raw carrots, raw broccoli, cremated pig in blanket (a singular sausage, by the way!), undercooked roasties and burnt parsnips. It was obvious that they batch cooked all their food, (as a waitress informed us) and put no effort into fixing these mistakes. As well as this, we were each supplied with a boat of lumpy gravy.

Following this nightmare, we had our third course. Lovely presentation, but not a great taste. I had the We Three Treats dessert. The salted caramel profiteroles tasted like they came straight out the box - the Crofters Arms only focused on presentation, and not the actual taste, as this ending "Treat" just disheartened us even more.

Nobody came over during our meal to ask if everything was okay. After informing multiple staff of our disappointment, we received no compensation. We were given an extra meal to take home, as someone in our party of 8 couldn't attend, but we still had to pay.

Overall, extremely discouraging experience. We won't be coming for another Christmas meal deal at the Crofers Arms. Beware!