Banyers House — Restaurant in North Hertfordshire

Do not go here for fast and efficient service. Writing this after waiting over a week for a response to email and phone complaint. No response, only heard anything when I called. Booked for mother's birthday and notified restaurant. Arrived on a quiet Monday evening. Staff claimed not to know it was a birthday gathering despite it being noted down earlier that day. Waited almost 1 hour 45 mins from arrival for mains, about an hour for starters. When asked about the wait staff initially claimed it was because one of the starters (which arrived late) had not been finished. They explained only before we left it was due to staff shortage, so no warning was given beforehand which would have made for a far better experience. Food and drinks were fantastic, but we waited ridiculously long. Diners were not prioritised.

Here is the email I sent last week: Booked a table for 7 30 yesterday for to celebrate my mother's birthday. I phoned to let the restaurant know that we were celebrating my mother's birthday and I was told this would be noted and special efforts would be made with decorations. However, when my sister's arrived, they were told that the restaurant was not aware it was a birthday celebration, but that a candle could be placed on my mother's dessert.

Although the food and drinks were fantastic, we felt the service was very slow, especially as the venue was not busy. We were not warned about this. Although the table was booked for 7 30 and our orders were taken by 8, the mains did not arrive until roughly quarter past 9, with no starters until roughly after 8 30. When we enquired, we were told that it was because my mother had not finished her starter, which arrived considerably later than the other starter dishes.

Some in our group felt that staff did not reasonably prioritise diners or check in with regards to any delays.

Before we left, a staff member apologised and explained the slow service was due to staff shortages. We understood and accepted how this could have affected service but felt that we should have been informed on arrival or atleast as the evening went on. This would have improved our experience considerably.

We would appreciate a prompt response to this complaint and hope that this feedback would be taken onboard. We do not feel this was the fault of any particular staff member but the service...

I’m sorry but whoever was seemingly in charge of the restaurant on 26th July was an utter disgrace.

We sit down, order some drinks and olives for the table.

The beer tastes like it’s at the end of the barrel, no big deal… however, the olives were rancid. They tasted off and were fizzing in our mouths.

After our experience with the olives, we decided that we’d rather take our chances elsewhere… and looking at recent Google reviews, our decision seemed wise…

I inform one of the waitress’ that we’d clear the bill for the drinks but would like the olives removed.

The waitress goes off and explains the situation to a ‘manager’.

The ‘manager’ proceeds to interrogate us about how we arrived at our decision. Not a single apology and we were berated and spoken to aggressively for sticking by leaving. It all culminated in the ‘manager’ slapping the bill on the table and storming off in a huff, WITH the olives still on the bill!

About 5 minutes pass with the ‘manager’ serving other people in that time and completely ignoring us. Eventually, we decide to leave as the level of rudeness on top of the disgusting food was too much to take on the chin.

We leave and halfway down the road the ‘manager’ is shouting at us from the entrance. We turn back and explain the situation once more about why we had left.

The ‘manager’ explains how it’s not fair as the ‘chef had started cooking our food’. A clear lie designed to try and guilt trip us into returning as we hadn’t even got to the point of ordering mains!

Rather embarrassingly I point this out, an awkward moment of silence ensues only for the ‘manager’ to go off on an insane ramble about how loads of other people had ‘really enjoyed the olives’.

An absolutely shocking experience, not even Basil Fawlty could dream this one up.

Honestly what the hell was that?! If you can’t handle people telling you that the olives were off, get another job!

Avoid this place like...

We recently had our wedding reception at the Banyers. The building itself is wonderful. We used the function room and booked a couple of the hotel rooms for getting ready and staying the night of the wedding. Everything is well presented and clean, a great setting for wedding photographs and all around a comfortable place to be!

What really blew us away is the staff here. When we approached the Banyers we met our coordinator Hannah and we were instantly put at ease and so excited to work more with her. Our wedding was short notice but it was never a problem. We felt like we could ask Hannah anything and we very much did! We met several times to update plans and we were always met with a smile and a fun experience.

We also got to meet the head chef and sample his wedding menu, what a mindblowing afternoon that was! All of the food is delicious and we could tell how much pride and effort he and the kitchen team put into their work. The process of ordering our food was simple and pricing was very clear for the various options available. They are super flexible which was great.

When the wedding finally came, Hannah was always close by making sure it all ran smoothly and offering any help we needed. The rest of the staff were also absolutely amazing. From being there late with us setting up the night before, to packing things down the day after. We got to spend several hours with them across our time there and they are a really friendly and caring bunch. Cannot thank them enough for all their help!

The wedding turned out super special and intimate, we absolutely made the right choice holding it at the Banyers House and will be customers at the restaurant many times...