The White Horse — Restaurant in Metropolitan Borough of Solihull

Ok…so turned up for a quick drink last week, just after they’d finished their refurb..there were people with food/drinks outside so assumed they were open. However, before we’d even locked our vehicles up, a guy (manager I assume) approached us and asked if we were there to work (!) we told him we were there for a quick couple of drinks. He then told us that they’d just opened and that day was a test day by invitation only…fair enough, then was told they won’t be open between 3-6pm, again fair enough, but a bit of a dated policy in my opinion before delivering the pièce de rèsistance that they won’t be allowing anyone in in work clothes….now we’re gardeners and were in shorts and work boots, no dirt, no mud and certainly not a problem when we visit pubs of this ilk in the local area…I’m talking Ye Olde Saracens Head down the road and Bulls Head in Meriden…both what I would consider ‘smart, gastro pubs’ which I assume is what the White Horse aspires to be. I find this pretty discriminatory, what on earth is defined as work clothes? If we work in an office & wore suits, would we be barred? If my partner, who is a chef joined us there in her blacks, would she be refused entry as well? No matter, the friendly and welcoming Brickmakers Arms took the £30 odd the 3 of us went on to spend happily and clearly will do so again as the white horse won’t accept us. I’ve given the premises 1 star because the refurb looks nice. The rest of the stars are missing because obviously we were made to feel so unwelcome and won’t be returning. It’ll be interesting to see if the management respond to this negative review, I feel in the current times that pubs like this can’t afford to be so picky with regards to the clientele they admit & to a lesser degree, their 1970’s...

Some lack of knowledge around the menu and meal ingredients. Menu has a 'plant based' leaf symbol next to some dishes (leaf symbol identified as meaning 'plant based' on the back of the menu) but the plant based meal I ordered had an item that contained egg in it. When I drew attention of this to the staff tried to make out the symbol meant vegetarian which it obviously does not as stated by their own menu - so it was very frustrating to be told that. All said, either the menu, or the meal preparation in the kitchen is incorrect but I was made to feel it was my error when all I did was follow the menu in good faith.

I asked for a refund as the attitude from the manager was quite hostile and no understanding or apology was forthcoming. I'd lost trust in the kitchen so a replacement was out the question. I said thank you but the money was thrust at me without a word.

Shame as it looks like a nice pub and I was there with someone else and their experience was also tainted by this. Just a bit of education around what 'plant-based' means in terms of ingredients in food used is needed and a more customer...

Edit 4th May 2024

The White Horse has hugely changed from a few years ago. We dined here today and wished we hadn’t returned. Tables left from previous diners and other tables sticky and not cleaned. The food was 2 super plates for £25, when they arrived you could tell it was made in a rush, cheap cuts of chicken fillets and burgers. Smallest pot of cheap coleslaw with the cheese on both meals blowtorched into the meat. Don’t get me wrong the food was edible, but you’d get cheaper and better quality at a hungry horse. Couldn’t complain to any staff as there was only 1 at the bar who was keeping the ship afloat. Where once was a great and comforting experience with a place that serves good food and drink now appears to be an okay place that serves and focuses on the drink instead of the quality of the food. Such a shame. The food pictures attached to this post are from 2022 and not 2024.

2022: Always great food and wonderful team members. Pleasant environment...