The Old Orchard — Restaurant in London

NEW UPDATE 13/1/2024 Superb. Just one word sums up the delicious meal six of us enjoyed at the Old Orchard in Harefield today. We each had something different from the menu and all agreed our meals were perfect. Thank you Ben and team for looking after us so well. The service we received was more like we had been used to from this restaurant. Been coming to The Old Orchard (previously Edwins) for more than 20 years. We’ve had birthdays, anniversaries and two wedding receptions here. Beautiful setting and great food served by a lovely team. Thank you all.

UPDATE 19/1/2023 received £100 code from manager following telephone call apology. Have a year to use code and will update again after our return meal.

15/1/2023 Whilst the staff were friendly we had to work hard at getting their attention for service for each course and drinks. The food was hot and ’looked delicious’, but the roast beef was inedible and I couldn’t even cut it with a knife, what I did manage to tear apart was chewy. The children’s chicken goujons were over cooked and dry, the children didn’t finish them so the adults nibbled bits. We asked for fries instead of chips and the children were served with big chunky chips. My grandson ordered a side of pigs in blankets and only half had bacon wrapped around! One friendly waiter stunk of cigarettes as he leaned over my granddaughter and myself, obviously just had a cigarette break. The glasses looked like they needed a good polish. After asking twice for tap water it finally arrived. When we arrived we asked if a particular dessert was still on the menu and we’re told there was plenty, however when we tried to order we were told it was all gone. Perhaps if we hadn’t had to wait for service so long each time, we might have got it. Also not good stock planning if they ran out! The desserts we did order were fine, but we had to wait for cutlery to eat it and no clean napkins were given and no dessert forks, only spoons. There were nine of us. We’ve been customers for 20+ years and this was a poor show. Also the first time I didn’t leave a tip. So...

ABSOLUTELY SUPERB !!!

Came here last night for a family celebration, and was blown away by the atmosphere , quality of food and service !!!

Hadn’t been here for over 40 years ( which was a works do , when the entertainment was an unknown Harry Hill !! ), but our family were meeting my cousin and his wife before they went abroad for a few months !

From walking in the door , the atmosphere was brilliant , beautifully decorated, with a roaring log fire, lovely bar , and lovely relaxed layout . The restaurant is also dog friendly, with treats and water bowls made available if required

There was plenty of choice on the menu for all of us, which included 3 vegetarians. The Prawn Pil Pil starter was gorgeous ! I then had the pork belly with fresh vegetables and black garlic dressing, which was outstanding, my Cousin had the braised shoulder of lamb, and vegetarians a couple of dishes including the tortellini, which were all excellent !! The vegetables were as fresh as they possibly could be, with decent portions , and beautifully presented !

For pudding the choice was just as good, with the waffles, panettone bread and butter pudding and ice cream ( never seen so many options in a restaurant ! ) all absolutely brilliant !

To top everything off, the level of service from everyone was outstanding !!! The staff (special mention for Michaela) were all excellent ! Every care was taken to ensure we were satisfied with everything throughout the evening, their knowledge of the food and ales was brilliant, and when I mentioned it was my cousin’s birthday, the opportunity to decorate his panettone with a candle and sing happy birthday was not missed, but Michaela made certain we were all happy with this beforehand , just exemplified the quality of the staffing !!

I can honestly say, it is without doubt one of the best restaurant experiences we have had in years , and it certainly will not be another 40 years before we return !!!

Simply...

Myself and 3 friends went for drinks and dinner... The outside area was lovely and we enjoyed the views on a hot summers evening, however the dining experience was awful. The restaurant wasn't busy, I counted 4 tables with guests. We ordered our food at 7.20pm and it did not arrive until 9pm, after numerous complaints to the waiting staff and then eventually the manager, the food arrived (in the meantime we got some crisps from the bar while we waited for our food).. When the food did arrive, I immediately called the manager to show him what had been served.. There was no apology from the waitress for the long wait, just plonked our food on the table and off she went....Fortunately it was the manager that had seated us so knew exactly what time we had arrived and ordered our food.

The food was luke warm at best and my steak sandwich was cold, it basically looked like the food had been sat on the counter for ages and then someone remembered to bring it out!!

The staff sadly don't seem to be that bothered, slow and lazy which is a shame (having read some of the other negative reviews that seems to be a common theme).

The manager said that he would not charge us for the food and agreed that the service we had received was not up to the high standards that they set. It was our first visit to the restaurant and not the best experience (to say the least)... I still don't know what the issue was because as I have mentioned the restaurant wasn't busy at all and there seemed to be plenty of staff.

We stayed for drinks in the garden in the evening and I ordered some crisps and was told that they had run out, when I asked the bartender to check, he came back with a whole box of crisps.... back to the lazy staff theme..

Hope they sort out their issues as it's a lovely venue, if I do return, it won't be for the food, it'll be for drinks and we'll...