Roebuck — Restaurant in London

If I could give zero stars I would. The worst catering for someone with a common allergy I have ever witnessed. We came here for a Sunday roast and ordered a beef roast each and a glass of Malbec. After the normal process of checking through the allergen menu with the manager whilst ordering and settling on the beef roast, the mass panic began…starting with the drinks, the staff member came out to our table and passed me the bottle of Malbec as he wasn’t sure if it contained nuts as he once saw wine has ‘notes of cherry and cherry has a seed inside of it’ and they recently had an incident whereby someone ordered vegan ice cream and was served dairy ice cream accidentally…this of course didn’t fill me with the greatest amount of confidence however I checked the wine bottle and alas, no nuts just like every other bottle of wine on planet earth…20 mins later my food arrived and the beef that was advertised as being ‘served pink’ on my plate was served anything but pink, whilst my friends was served pink as stated on the menu. We queried this and it was initially sent back and the staff member said she would swap my beef for a pinker cut. After 5/10 minutes the staff came out again without my plate of food. I was told that i couldn’t have the same cut as my friends as there had been too much cross contamination with that cut of pink beef in the kitchen, so I could either wait an hour for a new batch to be cooked, or i could choose another roast off the allergen menu...the chicken roast was out of stock so this left the pork. After checking again through the allergen menu the pork should have been allergen free for me, so I chose that and they accepted my order. However the staff came back again 5/10 minutes later to inform me they also can’t serve me the pork as the nut roast wellington has been ‘over the pork’ in the kitchen and therefore there has now also been too much cross contaminated and its not safe for me…meanwhile my friend is 3/4 of the way through her meal and it’s completely cold due to all the faffing around us…whilst i appreciate the transparency in not serving me food that was unsafe, it seems The Roebuck need to do a lot better with their kitchen safety standards…allergies are hugely common in todays world and I was made to feel highly uncomfortable by the lack of awareness and massively unsafe.

At this point over an hour had gone by and I wasn’t comfortable to order anything off the menu, however two of the staff members came back again and assured me they would cook me something safe and it would come out extremely fast as my friend had pretty much finished her meal. A couple of drinks had been offered to us on the house so I tried once again.

I ordered an alternative meal off the main menu, something simple and I was once again assured that this was safe and completely nut free and contamination free.

We finished the meal and requested the bill. The staff apologised for the inconvenience and went on to inform me that actually the sheer mention of my nut allergy upon arrival at the restaurant, the kitchen staff said they ‘didn’t want to serve me any food at all’. Just when I thought I couldn’t feel more uncomfortable, embarrassed and annoyed by the experience. I said I wish they had just been transparent with that information from the beginning and we would have left and gone elsewhere.

To top the worst dining experience of my life we where met with a full price bill for two beef roasts…we queried this as whilst this was my initial order..it was a completely different meal to what I ended up with. The bill came back again and still no offer of any type of discount off the food for the massive inconvenience from their end. Out of principle I queried this once again and the same manager was brought over, she listened and agreed that it wasn’t good enough and went on to explain about problems within the company with how they deal with allergies..a pathetic 10% token gesture was applied to the bill and we where told this is ‘the best they could do’

Moral of the story, avoid this place...

The Roebuck, Richmond: A Masterclass in Indifference

Ah, The Roebuck. Perched atop Richmond Hill with views as breathtaking as their service is baffling. If you’re after a Sunday roast that arrives at room temperature before your starter, a side of olives that takes longer to source than a wheel of baked camembert, and a staff so uninterested they’d struggle to notice a fire, then by all means, book a table.

Let’s start with the drinks. Or rather, the game of hide-and-seek we had to play to get one. If you’re expecting someone to proactively take your order, dream on. You’ll need to flag them down as if summoning a cab in rush hour London. But once secured, the drinks were… well, present. That’s about all I can say.

Now, the food. The roast arrived before our starter, at a temperature best described as "tepid at best, abandoned at worst." The olive starter? So elusive it was eventually cancelled, as the pub appeared to be experiencing a national shortage of, well, olives. Meanwhile, the table next to us fared no better—served long after we were, only to launch into a blistering tirade that we strongly related to. Their food was cold too, though they at least got the opportunity to return it.

The waiter, who met our queries with a level of sass not often seen outside of a West End dressing room, seemed more interested in delivering sharp retorts than warm meals. When we pointed out that our mains had arrived before our starter, we were told we could simply have the olives after we’d eaten. Ah yes, the traditional post-roast olive course.

The finer details? Lacking. No spoons for the vegetables, no applesauce for the pork (which, by the way, is a cardinal sin). Plates and glasses were left sitting for so long we considered giving them names. When clearing finally occurred, some plates were mysteriously ignored, as if part of a social experiment in selective amnesia.

At no point were we asked if everything was okay. A clever tactic, really—if you never inquire, you never have to hear the answer. And despite the pub not being particularly busy, it appeared that the two lone staff members had long since given up on the concept of ‘service’. When we asked to remove the service charge. That, at last, caught their interest—prompting a scoff, some laughter upon us leaving, and the kind of customer service that suddenly sprang to life once their tip was under threat.

All in all, The Roebuck offers a truly immersive experience—if you’ve ever wanted to feel invisible while eating a lukewarm meal with no condiments. Views? Stunning. Everything else? As absent as our olive starter. Would I return? Only to marvel at the sheer...

Sadly not a great first experience. Came across this place via instagram and immediately booked for a Sunday anniversary lunch after a walk in Richmond Park. Beautiful pub and lively vibe but thats where it stops. We were greeted and escorted to our table and provided a 'menu'

25 minutes later we were eventually attended to by an apologetic young lady who came with a tablet to take our order. Tablet didn't work so she had to return with a pen and pad, few mins later she returned to inform us one of the dishes was not available, we requested the menu again, only to find the original menu we were given was the wrong one for the Sunday, not happy but great further options to consider right?.

Another 20 minutes later a different young lady returned to inform us there was no longer any bread/butter available, again another wait and disappointment. so over 45 minutes in, sitting with nothing we pondered should we stay/go and asked how long it would be for the main meals?. Too hungry to leave, we decided to stay, wait for meal and our chosen desserts. 5 mins later roast dish arrived and a few minutes after the second dish.

The turkey roast was way beyond my expectations, additional yorkshire pudding was dried out and reheated, parsnips dried out and chewy, potatoes were boiled rather than duck fat roasted on both plates. Not a great sign, dish tasted as though it had been microwaved. Very dissappointed so we decided to forgo dessert, pay and leave.

On payment another (10 minute wait), we asked if they were busy and understaffed, a yes to both. My question is if you are busy or understaffed, why not inform patrons there may be a delay in service as soon as they sit down to they can have the option to stay or go? When we paid we were told the service charge would be removed, very kind gesture but I wonder how many would have put up with that level of service and paid?

By far the worst pub roast I have had, it was a 5pm meal so can only assume mass cooked and those that arrived for earlier dinner had it much better than the later diners. Its true first impressions counts so sorry we won't be...