The Oak Barn Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Mid Sussex

Would have given 5 stars if it were not for the manager. 5 stars to the wait staff, especially our waiter. 4.5 star for the food. My partner and I had a booking at another restaurant but the power went out in the entire village so we drove around to find some place to eat at 8PM realizing that all the restaurant will have to close at 10PM. We saw great reviews on the phone about the Oak barn. I went inside and spoke to the host (who turned out to be the manager... my partner was parking the car) and politely asked if he could accommodate 2 people with no reservations as a lot of restaurants have lost power and we have no where to eat. He was extremely rude to me and said he has nothing right now. I asked if I could wait for 30 min or even an hour since we hadn't eaten all day due a long hike. He kept raising his voice and told me they were fully booked an had several reservations coming. I went outside and told my partner what happened. He went inside and got us a table. Another person (our waiter) said, "I am sure we can accommodate you" and gave us one of the 4 free tables available. He manager now went off on my boyfriend and me and also his waiter in front of other customers saying he already spoke to the girlfriend and already told us we are booked. Throughout the night the manager completely ignored us (we didn't mind as the other staff members were above and beyond nice) and noticed that he was bullying most of his staff while rubbing elbows to older (I am guessing more frequent) customers. At the end of the night the manager would say goodbye to each other guests and when we were leaving, he quickly went away so he wouldn't have to speak to us. I feel like he thinks we tricked him into getting a table when we simply were trying to explain out situation when we first walked in. I don't think I was ever spoken to that way at a restaurant by a manager, especially in front of other people. If we were not desperate to eat, we would have said something back and walked out of the place. We have no tolerance to managers treating their staff like garbage and we didn't come to the restaurant to spend £80 to also be spoken to like we were nothing when we tried to stay nice and professional. BTW since we were seated by the entrance, we only noticed that 2 small reservations came in... not several as the manager said. Also after 30 min of being seated about 30% of the customers had paid and left and the restaurant was...

I dont think I've ever been so offended at a restaurant before. I ordered the sirloin steak which I had some of and thought it was tough and decided not to eat anymore as it wasnt edible to me. I spoke to the waitress without being rude about it, she then informed me that the chefs were going to investigate it. After that I sat there waiting for over an hour for an answer that didnt come. Then my wife asked for the bill to which the waitress said because of the steak they had taken my two drinks off. I hadn't finished or even eaten half of my steak which was priced at £25. I had even put a large bit of chewed steak in a napkin. I went to the bar to say I wasnt happy about the situation, the man behind the bar was not aware but a blonde haired lady said she had dealt with it and had decided there was nothing wrong with it. The chefs and herself had cut the steak and saw nothing wrong with it. I had asked for my steak to be medium rare and it was rare, it was tough, the onions were burnt and the mushrooms and chips were overcooked. They were not willing to budge and were abrupt and i felt a bit rude, I had worked in the hospitality trade for 15 years and have never dreamed of speaking to someone like that. I made a legitimate complaint about the food and was then ignored and when challenging the decision i was accused of making a scene. I've had some lovely meals at the oak barn but will not be coming back purely on this experience.

If someone has an issue with the food and doesn't ask for more or something different maybe you should give them the benefit of the doubt next time... just...

For years, we have enjoyed going to the restaurant for meet-ups and birthdays. The food is superb and the staff are consistently friendly and contentious in handling our orders. On the last occasion we all ordered fish and chips, which normally come with mushy peas. Our waitress was asked whether the mushy peas on two of the servings in our party could be a salad instead and the waitress suggested a side salad to share because, that way, we would get more each. However, when it came to the bill it was noted that, for the side salad, we were being charged extra. So, not instead of mushy peas. It was pointed out to the waitress, that we should have been told when ordering that this would happen and that those who had it felt duped. The waitress kept calm and was clear in saying that was not the intention. She apologised. So, we paid for the whole bill, with only a little rounding up. Then, before we left, "The Boss" (because that was what was written on his t-shirt) came straight over to the complainant. "The Boss" turned out to be Mark Collins and, rather than smooth things over and take the opportunity to make a gesture, inflamed the situation by complaining about the complainant and her complaint. It all then spiralled downwards with us witnessing the complainant, and her party, to "Get Out!" It's such a shame. The waitress was so attentive and sweet, but because of the bad handling of a simple misunderstanding, by someone in a position who really should know better, the...