The Jobber's Rest, A Heartwood Inn — Restaurant in London

Firstly, my husband and I often dine at The Jobbers Rest due to its quality food and service. We even had our pre wedding family/friends meal there 7 years ago. For Valentines Day we chose The Jobbers Rest, Cranham after viewing the Valentines menu. We both loved the look of the pasta starter, rack of lamb mains and the trio of soufflés for dessert. All of which are not available on the A La Carte menu. When we arrived at the restaurant for our 8.15pm table we were both surprised there were no valentines decorations whatsoever. Okay, no big deal I suppose but it would have been nice. The waiter took our drinks order and we ordered from the special Valentines printed menu on the table with my husband saying “this will be easy, my wife and I want all three courses from the Valentines menu”. The waiter then informed us only the starter was available from that offer!! because they had ‘run out of the lamb and soufflés’. The excuse was the offer had been running from the 12th February and ‘the kitchen staff had not ordered enough in’. My husband was required to pay a £20 deposit at the time of booking and we assumed this was to guarantee the Valentines Day offer. Obviously this was not the waiters fault and he was so apologetic. To say we were feeling deflated is an understatement. I approached a Manager and explained our disappointment. I was further disappointed by his dismissive attitude. As it was too late to go anywhere else we decided to stay and reluctantly choose alternative options from the a la carte. When our mains arrived the waiter presented my husband with the rack of lamb saying “I’m so surprised! They managed to find a spare rack of lamb”. So, happy days! Even though it was only for my husband (he did offer to swap with me, bless him) As we later pondered on the dessert option my husband noticed a waiter walking through the restaurant with two trio of soufflés. He questioned this with a manager having been told they weren’t available. 10/15 minutes later we were each presented with the soufflés. Apparently, the chefs were preparing them for the following day (Mmmm, I thought they had ran out 🤔). Hurrah! You might think but feeling deflated just intensified when, as we both tucked in, we discovered each soufflé was uncooked. They were completely runny inside. The soufflés disappeared back to the kitchen followed by profuse apologies from the waiter and Manager. When a further batch, (yep! They surrendered more soufflés) arrived I am pleased to say mine were all cooked perfectly but one of my husbands was still uncooked. By now we were so fed up and I think more so by the drama of being told options weren’t available when clearly they were. Now, I’m not a restauranteur but I’m sure if I was and I was offering a particular menu for an occasion I would enquire at the time of taking a booking if the customer would be ordering the ‘specials’ menu or from the a la carte. It’s not rocket science and as they say “the customer is always right”. Joking aside, we will not be choosing The Jobbers Rest for any future special occasions. Such a shame because this has...

this could so easily be a 1 star review. We live an hour away from my 89 year old mum and having not had a sit down meal with her for over 12 months due to lockdown, we were all really looking forward to our first meal out together. Still wary of eating indoors with others, i chose Jobbers Rest for the reviews and the fact it had outdoor covered seating. Called the day before and booked an outside table for three. On arrival we parked in the nearest disabled bay, there is a rear access to the garden, as my mum cannot walk far we used this gate and sat down at an empty table. There is a sign to say this is exit only but it seemed more sensible to use this rather than have my mum walk round the front and thru the bar to get to the same place. I went inside and told the waitress where we were. She explained that we needed to decamp and use the front entrance and wait there to be greeted and shown to our table. I said that this was not possible due to her age and disability. I was told to wait by the front entrance and someone would come to seat us. I caught the eye of Karen who said that she did have a booking but indoors. I explained that i had booked outdoors and would have to leave if they could not honour the booking. Even though she was obviously very busy she moved some bookings about and fitted us in. Even at 2pm on a Thursday the place was packed. the menu offered plenty of choice and we ordered 3 potted crab, 1 lamb rump, 1 goat cheese salad and 1 fillet steak with Roquefort sauce. i am a bit of a foodie and have eaten some excellent steaks around the world with South Africa and New York at the top of the list. This was up there with the best! A good cut about an inch thick, a good bark on the outside but rare throughout the inside. Fillet is not the most flavoursome cut but the supplier obviously knows their stuff as this was really tasty. The chips and sauce were a great compliment. Apparently, steaks are sourced from Aubrey Allen suppliers of meat to the Queen! For desert we had Cherry Amandine, Pistachio Souffle and Golden Chocolate Feuillentine. All home made and really well executed, the souffle stood out being so light and tasty. up there with some Michelin starred offerings. service was excellent and friendly and the seating comfortable. the outside dining area is well served by a large canopy shading us from the sun but allowing a nice breeze. Price was spot on, offering great value for money considering the quality of the ingredients and the skill of the chef. Would highly recommend. A special thank you to Karen for taking the time to fix the problem even with the added confusion of operating with strict covid rules and although i never met them (he / she) the chef for making it a...

Tight. Actually, I meant to start this review with "Right", but the autocorrect has given me a better word to start with.

As you can see from the pics, this is the roast beef lunch and Mrs from Saturday has got the "charcuterie SHARING platter for 2".

Now for just short of 16 quid I get two bits of beef, one cauli floret, a single thin carrot cut into three and a massive Yorkie to fill the plate up. Yes there were some small pots and yes there was cabbage but come on. The beef was a nice colour but nondescript and the gravy was the roast equivalent of skimmed milk.

Mrs from Saturday's was even worse. This is a "platter". "To share". With who?! She finished the lot (aside from the plastic tab in her vegetables - see pic) herself, which she never even does with a normal sized meal, and the bulk of the plate was made up of two bits of cheese on toast and a load of rocket.

The whole lot with a pint of coke and a glass of white vino came to just shy of fifty notes which is bordering on daylight robbery, and EVERY pudding on the menu had nuts in, bar the ice cream. Oh and it left me with a bad tummy too.

Can't whack the staff who were attentive and swift and that is what earns the place the two stars they get but unless you hate both food and the money you own,...