Bowling Green Chorlton — Restaurant in Manchester

Part of a group of about 50 (Inc about 8 young children) who'd booked a Christmas meal in the function room next to the car park.

Good points: own bar for function room, access to child friendly bathroom, reasonable space, warm.

Bad points. Evening ruined by shambles of food arriving in dribs and drabs and the detached attitude of staff.

Despite the pub knowing what was ordered weeks in advance and also delaying the food on the night to make a list of who was sitting where so that orders came out together, guess what... The kids food arrived 35mins late (and only after much prompting from the parents), and then we had to chase where the kids' ice cream puds were a further 30mins after their dinners were finished. They arrived with no spoons. When grown ups' meals were finally arriving, some people had finished by the time our mains arrived on same table. Then, a sudden rush of wrong desserts.

Some of the group left a tip, I chose not to.

The young staff on shift on the Saturday afternoon were not very good. When food did arrive late there were no apologies to the adults, just attempts at jokes to the toddlers - when all they wanted were spoons for their ice cream.

There were two tables served after us too, suffering even longer delays. The food tasted okay, but it was the sub standard service that really stood out on the night. No one seemed to be in charge and complaints fell on deaf ears. And no one said sorry.

As a parent attending on my own with two kids I felt unable to adequately address staff on the night to raise issues, particularly as my kids were already ravenous and out of sync as a result of the delayed food and needed attention. Luckily I had fruit to keep them at bay. When the delay was raised no one bothered to own the problem or apologise for it. "the food's just coming now" we were told, then waiting a further 15mins. No one had the common sense or customer care skills to think, 'our service has been below par here, let's at least say sorry'. Staff were nervous but unable to own their own failure / mess up.

So what have we learnt about The Bowling Green?

If you like eating together as a family, don't come here. If you value friendly customer service, good luck.

The Bowling Green was unable to cater for our large group. You'll need three pint sized drinks to get you through one elongated delayed meal (££) You may not get what you ordered. Management may be elusive resulting in junior staff messing up. Serving Staff will look past you, unable to engage with the words 'sorry' or 'is there anything we can do to fix this'. You will have an agitated visit that you will regret.

All in all a stressful unenjoyable experience. I thought about ringing up to complain after the event, given I was limited in how far I was able to complain on the night... But the sheer indifference from staff (not a single apology from any one on the night ) and underlying theme of incompetence finally put me off.

Our Christmas Dinner at the Bowling Green is best dismissed as an unfunny joke - like you get in a cracker. We wont...

WOWSERS! WOWSERS! I can't say enough about the Bowling Green in Chorlton. I stayed there over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend on a trip over from Ireland. Our room was fabulous, overlooking the pretty village, yet so quiet in the room. It was spotlessly clean and I loved the neutral , fresh tones and comfy bed; great for a good night's sleep! There was a fridge in the room and a packed basket of snacks, muffins and more. Fresh milk, cereals and yoghurts were available in the hallway. The staff were lovely, very pleasant and nothing was a chore for them . We were over for a family getogether and Mark , the proprietor even managed to put extra beds in the rooms at short notice. Nothing was too much for him. We ate in the pub , the first night. The food was fantastic and there was plenty of it and it was service with a smile! There was a lovely, family friendly atmosphere in the pub as families and children hung out together. There is a fab outside area for drinks and a lovely playground for the kiddies. We had a family birthday on Easter Sunday in the pub and hired the function room which is adjacent to the main bar and brilliant for a private party. The staff and the food were second to none. Everyone had an amazing time and we were well looked after...memories made for life. I loved the location. Chorlton Green is a lovely safe area with lots of lovely bars and cafés around and a nice open green area. It feels so safe. There's a tram stop nearby which brings you into Manchester. So this location has everything going for it, in my book.

5 stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 to the Bowling Green from me. Highly recommend it and will definitely stay there again when I'm over from...

I cannot imagine a better experience than we had last night in the function room. I'd been increasingly struggling to find a function room which would work for us- about 30 people, and able to play our own music proved incredibly difficult! I'd given up on the bonus TV I could hook MarioKart up to. And then I found The Bowling Green.

I had a great conversation with Liam the manager, who was attentive and asked helpful questions about what we might want (some things I wouldn't have thought of!) The room was big enough for 70, but not too big for 25, which is a fairly incredible trick to pull of, but it does!

When we arrived the room was well prepared, cosy, candles on tables, we could have had food provided, our own accessible toilet and our own bar (also enough spaces for nearly thirty people to hide if you're looking to surprise someone!) They have a speaker and we were able to Bluetooth our own music, and they were able to turn off the big lights to give it a cosier atmosphere. The staff were attentive, service was quick, I didn't catch the name of the woman behind the bar, but she was great, really friendly, speedy with service. I wish I'd had more cash on hand for a bigger tip. When I brought in cake (they had said we could use their fridge if we wanted, I forgot to give it to them!), she asked if I might want anything, which was very helpful as I didn't have plates, and even brought out a cake slicer as a bonus.

Everything we asked for we got, bonus thoughtful touches were added, everyone had a great time. I cannot recommend it more highly if you're looking for a function room. Thank you all so much, for all your help with my...