Toby Carvery Morecambe — Restaurant in Lancaster

We decided to have a family meal at Toby carvery as we have enjoyed previous visits to both the Morecambe one and other locations. I booked ahead online, requesting to be seated by a window if possible. Easy to do and recommended at busy times. On arrival, we were shown to our table, by a window as requested. Outside the window, on the tables in the garden, there were piles of plates of left over food being tucked into by seagulls - it was busy so staff obviously had not had chance to clear these away, however, they remained there the entire time we were in the building. It was around 10 minutes before our Server, Jacks, came over - there appeared to be very few staff serving for the number of customers at the time. Jacks was very polite and took our drinks order and said the drinks would be there shortly if we wanted to get our food from the carvery. The queue was very slow moving and the man serving the meat looked a little stressed, trying to keep up with demand. We were lucky that as we got to the front of the queue, new meats were just being brought out. The food was as usual, enjoyable and plentiful. No complaints there. I asked to pay and our server said she would be over shortly. It was around 20 minutes before she had chance to get to us and we were informed that the system was down and they could only take cash payments. We informed her that we did not have any cash and asked to speak to the manager, there was a couple on the table next to us who were also in the same position. Jacks spoke to the manager who was at the time on 'meet and greet' duties. Rather than speak to us himself, Jacks was sent back with a message of "you have to wait until the system is back up or go and get cash." The manager could be seen, bringing in more customers, seemingly only concerned with getting 'bums on seats' instead of managing. Myself and the lady from the table next to us decided to speak to the manager. His attitude came accross as 'its not my fault, not my problem, you have to sort it.' He wanted us to wait an unknown amount of time for the problem to be resolved or go off and return with cash - if we had been told on entry it was cash only (it obviously was not expected to go this way so they couldn't have known to tell us this) then fair enough; however, as were were expecting to be able to pay on card and now unable to, we should not be expected to go out of our way to sort it. We offered to leave contact details do they could take payment over the phone at a later time which the manager reluctantly accepted. On leaving I informed the staff of the tables outside, still full of plates of half eaten food (less food now as the seagulls had tucked in again). The plates were still there when we drove past around 40 minutes later. A while later and I received a call from the manager to take payment. During this call, he was much more polite and very apologetic. Payment was taken and I requested an email receipt, he admitted he was not sure how to do this but would try, I've not received it at time of writing and it is not too big a deal, however if it was needed by someone for business expenses it could be. I realise it will be stressful when these issues arise, however, that does not excuse trying to ignore the problem or leaving it up to customers to sort out. This was going to be a 2 star review mainly because of the attitude of the manager in the pub, however, I have increased it to 3 as I felt the apology...

Couldn’t fault the food at all it was wonderful unfortunately same couldn’t be said for staff and service. We had phoned up earlier in the day to confirm the kids eat for £1 on the children’s Main Menu which we had been told yes. We were then seated in Jacks area and wanted to check the menu was correct as the deal terms and conditions said “Smaller Bites” menu which was not a menu it was just the kids menu which we had originally thought but was then told by our server that the deal was only on the carvery which caused confusion as I had previously called to make sure they could get the nuggets. Our server was not happy and was very abrupt with the table and did not seem to be very aware of the offer that was available. There was around a 25 minute queue for the carvery as they had only 1 member of staff cutting meat and the other constantly boxing up takeaway food. We finally got to sit down with our food having been there around 30mins. The carvery meals were perfect and we very much enjoyed them however the children’s meals were not the best. One child has nuggets which were undercooked cold and soggy and were obviously very cheep quality then the other meal of tomato pasta and meatballs, the meatballs were cremated and very over done almost black in colour. However we didn’t say anything as they happily filled up on the buffet/carvery veg. We then decided to have deserts, 2 kids and 2 adults which are available on the set menu for an additional £2. Having been fully aware we were using the £1 meal voucher for kids and checking we could order the carvery with dessert from the set menu it then came to the bill when they charged us full price for 1 adult dessert which we questioned after payment we were then told that apparently they could only apply 1 deal per table them including there carvery menu as a deal. As the restaurant is Toby carvery and you would expect the carvery to be a constant available offer we were not aware they classed this as a deal. This was never mentioned the many times we enquired about the conditions of the kids deal but our server didn’t seem happy to handle the problem passed us onto the manager which was completely unnecessary but they had already walked away. The manager explained the issue in more detail but was not offering any refund for the miscommunication from the staff and lack of understanding the server had for the deals they have on offer. We were not happy with the attitude towards us from our serve or management but we just wanted to go having a long drive home. It’s safe to say we will not be returning which is a shame as we have been many times and the service is normally fast and the serves are polite and welcoming which we didn’t experience this time. We also heard every other table in our area get asked if everything was okay and to leave a positive review which we were not asked making it obvious to us the service was not...

Would give this half a star if I could based on two overall experiences. One being roast dinner takeaway. Was really bad. Everything about it poor down to the gravy. Ordered 4 meals. Veg seemed like it had been sat around forever and had brown bits to it. The meat that came in one of the meals was totally different to what we asked for and all of it was chewy. Mash really powdery and dry. I do understand that takeaways are hard to get right but considering this place is supposed to be known for its roast dinners it is a really poor effort. Only good thing about that was the takeaway was well packaged and the pigs in blankets. Secondly breakfast - we thought we would give it another go eating in instead. What a horrible experience that was and also overpriced. Not transparent on my opinion. All you can eat breakfast seems reasonably priced but the quality is for the most part shocking. Bacon like leather, the cheapest bread to toast possible. Tinned tomatoes - not even proper tomatoes and no option of scrambled / poached eggs just fried. Basically pure grease. The potato and bacon hash was nice and the mushrooms. Drinks are on top of that price and overpriced at that in comparison to other venues. You get given one refillable glass and I don’t feel it is worth it. Coffee was not good - bitter and the cold drinks options were lemonade or coke for breakfast - not really what I expect to be drinking first thing in the morning. Some pure orange wouldn’t go a miss. You don’t even get a spare glass for water. My daughter wanted cereal which was shown on the menu. They didn’t have any at all. A little poor really. They didn’t ask if we had been before and we were really unsure what we could have or how it worked and when I asked I was looked at like I have two heads. I later on was told off for taking napkins off the table next to me. Bearing in mind we didn’t know where to get napkins from and it was just a pile of napkins with no cutlery set on top. I explained we were sorry but we’d been left to fend for ourself. By the way we took the napkins because my daughter had vomited from the greasy food we gave her as you didn’t have cereal. Maybe I should’ve just let her throw up on the carpet for you to clean. I highly recommend you to check out brewers fayre all you can eat breakfast just off the motorway. Beautifully cooked, much more choice and cappuccinos/orange/apple on vend. Pretty much same price and pleasant staff here too! This place seriously needs to learn some customer service /...