Arkle Manor — Restaurant in Mole Valley

“Who’s next?” said one of the uniformed members of staff behind the bar. “Thanks, we are” I replied. We asked what bitters were on tap and were told only Doombar the TEA is off. “Ok, thanks Doom it is”. The barman disappeared to the other end of the bar speaking to the only member of staff not in uniform, a bearded male in a checked shirt. The bearded guy in a checked shirt slammed down a pint glass in front of us and one of my friends said “What’s that?” He replied with a scowl “What you asked for Doombar of course.” Had something I had said upset him? I went through the conversation in my head, no. Right, good start to a pre-booked and paid for Christmas meal! I would have liked to have said the “proverbial dispense with it” and walk out but I continued to order the round because we were but a few in a group. I tried a smile and received a sullen look. Things did not improve. I later found myself in the seat again and went to the bar for one Doombar, two large New Zealand sauvignon blanc wines and a lemonade and lime. Oh dear, £27!!!!!! Ok, Surrey prices can be a bit rich and it was only £4 more than my friends paid before for a similar round, so bite your tongue (I knew trouble loomed if I uttered one complaint) and onto the meal seated upstairs. I have to say the serving staff worked like trojans and were friendly and attentive to all our needs including getting further drinks during the meal. Starters, the Mushrooms were presented in small pans with a rich sauce over the top. Quite pleasing, yes, things are on the up. Mains was turkey with all the trimmings but the vegetables appeared a little time after we started to dig into the turkey. Ok I can live with a big group and the problems the kitchen has with serving everyone at once but the brussels and carrots were cold and in sparse supply. A request for hot gravy saved the day and the main was pretty good otherwise. Next the sweet course with Christmas pudding and custard. Cold, I have to say, which meant a few of us left the hardened pudding and settled for the lukewarm custard. Saviour of the day was a very friendly waiter who cheered us up and thanked us for our custom. Would I ever return - a resounding NO, whether it was in a large group or out for a family meal I would not waste my money again. It was expensive, mediocre, cold food with an ugly attitude by one member of staff behind the bar...

Visited the establishment for the first time tonight. We were shown to a table next to a large family with some noisy children. We immediately asked to move to a quieter area, and this happened straight away. After seating we asked if we wanted to order but not asked if we would like to order drinks first in fact, we had to say we would like to order drinks. We ordered both drinks and food. We had a pleasant conversation with our waitress. There then was a couple who were shown to the table near us after we had already ordered our beverages. They ordered their food and drinks. We sat patiently and waited. They had their starter delivered eaten and cleared then their main eaten and cleared. Our food then appeared. Looked all good, however my T-bone steak was one of the poorest cuts of meat I have ever has dished up to eat. I promptly did not eat it leaving round 80% of my steak. Did not complain as there was no one around to do so too. No one came to ask. When they finally came to the table and said are you all done, I remarked how I felt about the meal (meat). My complaint was ignored. No one came. So, we eventually asked for the Bill, and no one remarked so I went to the counter to pay and said my comments on the meat. The lady went to talk to the team who were all standing around not talking to customers or even asking if they would like anything. Just like us no interaction after our first course we were not even asked if we wanted anything else, drink desert coffee, just ignored after I stated the meat was so poor.

We were given a small discount on the overall Bill and the general manager said he would ensure our next visit would be more than satisfactory.

The point was missed in the transaction the meat tasted unpleasant was fatty very poor such that my knife could not cut through it. The peppercorn source is not...

I booked for a group of 10 to go for lunch for my sister in laws baby shower it was on a very hot day and we was sat in the pergola outside. We had 4 heavily pregnant ladies and 1 baby with us and as the temperature in the glass pergola was unbearable so we decided to move everyone onto the grassed area behind where there was some shade. We informed the staff that we had moved and they let us know that they couldn't deliver our food to that table & they would leave it on our previous table and we would have to collect it ourselves!!!! It was a few steps away from our table so thought this was extremely petty. Anyway we collected our plates from our original table and took them to the one in the shade and when doing so the assistant manager came out and shouted at us telling us we couldn't do that. When we explained the situation she rolled her eyes at us and walked away. There was a few lovely young girls who worked there that did bring a few of our plates over (the only helpful staff we encountered that day) We also had to clear our own table as they refused to do that too.

When it came to payment the assistant manager asked why I wasn't paying the service charge (which I found rude) and I explained that it was because we had to collect and return our plates ourselves. She then got very annoyed at us again rolled her eyes walked away and asked another member of staff to take our payments.

How this lady has a job in hospitality with and attitude like that. She made us feel very unwelcome.

We will not be returning while she still...