Drum & Monkey — Restaurant in Metropolitan Borough of Solihull

I walked into the Drum & Monkey pub (Dorridge)with my family and friends to have a pleasant evening with drinks and dinner. Initially we were told that for food it was a 30 minute wait and that we we needed to wait in the bar area. This was no problem, so we ordered drinks & sat down. About 15 minutes later I went over to ask about a table for dinner and was told by the manager (Alex McFallon) that he had no big tables for us. (8 people) & that the only thing they could do is serve food in the bar area where we were sat to which I said no problem.

So we got the menus and went to order. Someone in our party wanted to order 1 roast, so the waiter went to ask Alex; he said that we couldn’t order this. My daughter went over to politely ask him why this can’t be ordered to which he responded that he had tables booked in later & they’re his priority so he would reserve/save the roasts for them “just in case” they may want to order it. So no ideas of who is coming or what they are ordering but we couldn’t buy one roast, unbelievable!

So I was as the bar; shook my head at and him and said that makes no sense!! He came over and started to explain to me how he wasn’t prepared to sell the roast to us and then told me that he was doing me a favour by even serving us food at all just because we were walk in customers. He then said “Actually I’m thinking that I shouldn’t let you purchase any food at all”. I was disgusted by his tone, attitude and by what he said so we decided to leave.

I’m a local businessman; ( I own 12 companies) & would never treat my customers in this fashion. Clearly Greene King pubs don’t need the custom of their local residents or they’re completely unaware that they’ve employed such arrogant vile management in their pubs.

Sad day, I’ve lived in Solihull for 40 years; have visited the Drum & Monkey many times over the years as it’s one of our local pubs and have never been treated so badly. I used to highly recommend this pub however, now I’ll be sharing this horrific experience. From the moment we walked in the vibe was off but we excused this behaviour until it became intolerable. I’ve never heard of a restaurant saving food for people who have made later reservations just as a precaution. It was an...

Was looking forward to this meal, after previously decent experiences, however was very disappointed. Booked ahead to ensure seating. Moderate crowd in house but nothing crazy. First points deducted as there was "no chicken". To be clear, not just an absent signature dish, but literally half the menu unavailable because of "no chicken.. we didn't get delivery" This on a Saturday at 1pm on the tail end of a school holiday week. Following a rehashing of the now chickenless order, we were told it would "probably take a while" as there was a 65th Birthday party ahead of us. This turned out to be true... an additional 45 minutes for 3 starters to arrive, with mains following around 45 minutes later. So to clarify... a 1pm booking, with 2 of our party receiving food around 2:50pm. The food at best was average, with the enticing descriptors of the menu not appearing to be realised on the plate. Beef overcooked, vegetables the same (broccoli especially which I believe left its vibrant green long behind before the departure to the dining area). If sadness and mismanagement were presented in plate form, I imagine they would look something like this. Sirloin overcooked (requested medium, arrived with the uniform colour of a Birmingham sky after a drizzly Villa loss at home). Dessert was the only saving grace, and prevented the entire day from being torpedoed, but quite honestly, how difficult is it to destroy ice cream? How does one salvage this? Employ more staff? Have someone in the kitchen open a fridge at 9am with a thought that more than 5 people may need chicken? Send somebody to Sainsbury's for ingredients? I'm not sure. I do know we were left with a feeling of emptiness that could not be solved with what passes for pastry here. Hard to know where to go but up, or just close the doors for a while and...

So after arriving at the golf centre over the road a little early myself and my two children and Father decided to get some lunch. We arrived at 11.55 opening time was 12. We were greeted at the door i requested a table for 2 adults and 2 children only to be told they were fully booked at 12 on a Tuesday afternoon. I requested a table outside if that was possible but again told sorry we are fully booked and not one table was visibly occupied, so im feeling slightly frustrated at this point. So we left to go to the car in the car park and I decided to just see if I could book online instantly. To my amazement I was able to book instantly at a restaurant I was told is fully booked 5 mins ago. So I returned and brought this up they again told me there must be a mistake and they would need to take down availability online. I now have a reservation and they said well we could fit you in outside ha ha ha ha. We stayed for around 50 mins saw 3 or 4 tables with customers throughout our stay so obviously not fully booked. The food was sub standard pub food and the kids pizza was appalling. The waitress was very friendly and offered good service even though the bill came without the the 50% off and had to be sent back to be corrected. This is not the first time I have been to the Drum and Monkey however it will now...