Turnpike — Restaurant in Lichfield

My friend and I visited the Turnpike today for a late lunch. Being a Wednesday we opted for the Curry and a drink deal. As there were no menus stating what the curry options or which drinks were included in the deal I went to the bar to ask. The barman said he wasn't aware it was curry day, didn't know what the options were and went scouting around for a menu. I ordered 2 vegetable Thai curries and 2 coffees...told the coffee wasn't part of the deal but could have a pint of lager each. As we were both driving I asked for just 1 pint be split into 2 halves. A shame there's no flexibility on the coffee option. Now I love spicy food but when the curries came I took 1 mouthful and started coughing, eyes watering, throat burning...the same response from my friend. I went to the bar to tell the barman we were unable to eat it, he apologised, came and collected them and took them back to the kitchen. He returned and said chef could add some salad to them to cool them down!!! How would that help?? We declined that suggestion so he said he would speak to the manager. He came back and said we could order something else if we wished, so we ordered scampi which came with a large 'blob' of tartar sauce in the middle of the plate..... usually served in a sachet or small dish as an accompaniment. Whilst we were eating, the barman, chef and another member of staff, who I'm assuming was the manager were all standing behind the bar chatting. I really think either the chef or manager should have had the courtesy to come across to us and discuss the issues we'd had with the food. Whilst the barman was pleasant and apoIogetic I feel this was poor customer service on behalf of the chef...

We had such a disappointing experience. The bartender actually said to us, “Can you start drinking up?” — simply because they didn’t like the time! We hadn’t realised how late it was, and we never intended to overstay or be rude. We’d had some food and drinks, weren’t loud or drunk, and there had been no polite warning like “last orders” or “we’re closing soon,” which you’d expect from a normal bar.

Instead, we were hit with this sarcastic comment, which felt completely unnecessary and unprofessional. It really spoiled what had been an otherwise nice evening.

Edit: Since you responded but still haven’t offered an apology, no — it is not harsh at all. As I said, we were not loud, rude, or trying to overstay — we simply hadn’t realised the time. A polite reminder such as, “Sorry, we are closing in 10 minutes,” would have been enough for us to finish our drinks and leave without issue.

Instead, the comment we received came across as aggressive and unnecessarily rude — as if we were being told off — and when we tried to explain how it made us feel, we were met with more arguing rather than a simple apology. That turned what could have been a minor misunderstanding into an unnecessarily unpleasant situation.

We still left by 23:05, so we weren’t lingering or keeping staff late. Was five minutes really worth an argument with paying customers?

We understand that closing time needs to be respected, but the way customers are spoken to matters. A little politeness would have avoided this...

Took over half an hour to serve 1 single soup on a quiet Monday just after 3pm, checked to see if there was an issue they said it was because another table had ordered desert at the same time (small table of no more than 5 people) later lied to my family and said it didn't take that long, despite the evidence that it did as I'd texted them to warn there seemed to be a wait on food. Really odd behaviour.

Everyone there was really unwelcoming and short, seemed to be a massive inconvenience despite having made reservations for 3 tables weeks ago. This was a family gathering due to a bereavement and we were incredibly disappointed with the treatment. If it wasn't for my family preferring a familiar environment, that we'd made reservations and I'd already travelled from another city I'd have quickly gone somewhere else. We managed to make the best of the situation no thanks to the venue.

Disgraceful behaviour all around and I would absolutely not...