The Garden Kitchen by Pugh's — Restaurant in Newport

The Garden Kitchen by Pugh's: A Partner's Lament (or, How My Partner's Brunch Trauma Became My Personal Vendetta)

My partner, a beautiful and gentle soul who wouldn't harm a fly (unless it was trying to steal her meticulously crafted salad), recently ventured into the hallowed halls of The Garden Kitchen by Pugh's. She emerged, two and a half days later, still radiating the kind of simmering rage usually reserved for supervolcanoes and people who wear socks with sandals. Let me tell you, I've seen her less perturbed by a swarm of wasps at a picnic.

It all started with a poached egg. Now, my partner is a poached egg aficionado. She whips them up at home with the casual grace of a Michelin-starred chef. Apparently, The Garden Kitchen, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that the only way to poach an egg is to bathe it in vinegar. Vinegar! The very word makes her lip curl. She claims it tastes "like a pickled egg's tragic backstory." And, as if that culinary crime wasn't enough, this vinegary assault is apparently a gluten-intolerant's nightmare. So, thanks, Garden Kitchen, for catering to… absolutely no one?

But the egg-gate was just the beginning. Oh no. Next came the Great Cake Conspiracy. My partner and her friend, lured by the siren call of brownies, custard slices, and apple turnovers (the kind of baked goods that whisper sweet nothings of happiness), were informed, with the abruptness of a waitress who thinks she's a drill sergeant, that these delectable treats were for "take out" only. Take out?! They were sitting in the establishment! Were they supposed to grab a brownie and sprint for the exit like they'd just robbed the place? The staff member, clearly a disciple of Gordon Ramsay's school of charm, declared the place was "more of a restaurant." A restaurant that refuses to serve its most enticing desserts to its seated patrons? It’s like a car dealership refusing to sell cars, insisting they're "more of a parking lot."

Two and a half days. That's how long I've been living with the fallout. I’ve had to endure detailed descriptions of each forbidden pastry, the phantom smell of vinegar clinging to the air, and dramatic reenactments of the "take out only" pronouncement. I’ve even started having nightmares where I’m trapped in a maze made of raspberry crumble flapjacks (apparently as hard as bricks, avoid at all costs), chased by a giant, vinegary poached egg. She can't stop making phone calls and telling everyone about her visit to your establishment.

So, Garden Kitchen by Pugh's, here's the deal: you've created a monster. A hangry monster. Two and a half days of poached egg trauma and "take out only" brownie blues. I'm not saying I'm going to chain myself to the counter demanding cake equality, but... well, maybe I am. Just kidding (mostly). But seriously, vinegar eggs? No sit-down brownies? You're playing a dangerous game, Pugh's. A very dangerous game. Consider this my official brunch-partner declaration of... mild annoyance. And a deep, abiding craving for a brownie. For sitting down. ...

A beautiful place that’s incredibly let down by it’s staff. This is the second time I’ve visited as I wanted to put the first time down to ‘just one of those days’, however again, today I experienced the same issues.

We (just 2 of us) queued for around 15/20mins to be seated when there were x4 empty tables inside that we could see, more outside when we entered. There were plenty of staff (at least 4/5 serving) and yet we couldn’t work out what any of them were actually doing. We could see at least 3 tables that hadn’t been served yet the girls were strolling around as if there was no rush. When we were eventually seated, one couple who came in after us got up and left, another helped herself to sugar for her coffee after she asked for it and she got fed up of waiting, another couple kept asking to pay, and we were given just 1 menu to share! We flagged a girl down to order after about 15mins of them avoiding any eye contact, and in fairness the food came out very quickly (as it did the last time I went) - so this confirmed it’s the servings staff rather than the kitchen. When it came to us wanting to pay we got so fed up with waiting to catch someone’s attention that we just walked up to the till and asked to pay. Girl behind the till asked a guy if he would ‘do it for her’ who appeared to ignore (as she said) or not hear her and she was left tutting that she had to do it herself. Who’d have thought, you ACTUALLY have to take customer’s money!

Anyway, the venue itself is so lovely, and the vibe there is great, but they really need to sort the waitressing staff out. All 4 plus what I can only assume was the manager (she was dressed differently) seemed to not want to actually acknowledge that they had customers, and they were certainly not...

Second time here and it's been absolutely outrageous! Arrived here about 11:00 am waited about 5 minutes to speak with a member of the staff to have a table. Been told nothing available at the moment when there was a table available full of dirty cups and plates. Pointed that that table to the Waitress, she said: Oh we clear the table and you can sit there. After about 10 minutes ( so at the time was 11:15) we took seat. We knew already what we wanted, ready to order, but nobody looked at us to order,even trying to get them attention. At 11:35 am finally a Waitress approached to our table, we asked for 2 full English breakfast and she told us that she needed to check with the chefs because the breakfast ends at 11:30. She turned back to us and apo she told us that was to late for breakfast and clearly disappointed we told here that we waited more than 20 minutes to order!!!!!! She offered us free coffee but we left disappointed and angry because were here for breakfast!!!!the restaurant was busy, so we understand but this time was full of staff not like the previous time that was clearly short staffed so we didn't care to wait a bit longer to be served. It's such a shame because it's a restaurant with a great quality of food but clearly need more that an attention to the staff. They haven't got a clue of what they doing. We will never go back here again and if we think what you pay for a full English, you aspect the best service as well!!!!! And also have a training in how to make coffees, they are just dark water with froth on top!!! I would like to know if there is a restaurant manager here and, if yes, I would like his apologies because they ruined our...