The Malt Shovel Hartshill — Restaurant in North Warwickshire

Phone reservation, check-in and ordering was a breeze in a clean environment and welcoming atmosphere... We were allowed to choose any available table in the garden patio (where there is a kids park as well) Our roast beef Sunday roast arrived 3 minutes after we ordered and things went downhill from there... The beef was dry on all edges as if it had been set under a heat lamp for an hour or more... Lightly covered in gravy and accompanied by over cooked vegetables. After one bite I requested the manager replace the meal with anything else on the menu with no refund required... ( I am not fussy and would never return a half decent meal) I was informed this was how roast beef is served and sent back to my table where I ate none of the meal. I requested horseradish to mask the dried beef and was informed it was unavailable only to be brought some later. Several lovely young staff, however uninformed, checked in on us with full plates sat in front of us.. we expressed dissatisfaction and they seemed unaffected or unable to handle the matter.

On departure I dared to enquire with the manager on how the manner was handled... And was affirmed that this is how roast beef is served.. He offered a refund at the end of our one hour unpleasant stay, I was grateful.

If you are looking for a good pint, garden, child's park and atmosphere... This is your place. If you are looking for food accomodations, I would highly...

Booked here for a birthday meal, but had to wait ten minutes or so for our table. It was very busy so this was understandable and my partner was pleased to find they had Old Speckled Hen as well as Doom Bar. Chose mushroom and brie wellington and my partner had pork. Although the menu said this was served with stuffing we had to ask for some. I was disappointed to find out the stuffing wasn't vegetarian and I also had to ask for a Yorkshire pudding. Like many pubs the Malt Shovel doesn't seem to understand that a Wellington is not the same as a pie and typically the vegetarian option was substantially smaller than the meat options. Roast spuds were barely browned, green beans were cooked until mushy and although the pie was scalding hot the plate and subsequently the rest of the meal was nearly cold. We waited a very long time for the dessert menus as by then a group of 11 had arrived, and gave up waiting for them to take the order and went to the bar to place it in the end. Clearly they need more staff at peak times. The pudding was delicious but the portion was a bit small and the ice cream was...

We were told a 1 hour wait for food which isn't ideal but decided we could manage. Waited a full 2 hours in the end which is completely unreasonable - we didn't get food til gone 10pm! I understand short staffing etc but it is unacceptable to mislead customers about the wait for food with no update from staff even when we politely asked if it was coming soon. Furthermore, after asking to speak to the manager about the bill we were told that since we were walk-ins they would do nothing to compensate as 'we were warned about the wait' despite it taking twice as long as stated! This was also not the case as we were a party of 9 so we had of course called in advance to book. The manager was essentially telling my elderly grandmother she was lying/mistaken about booking the table. I had to get her phone call history up to prove we had booked! This should have been irrelevant as 2 hours is an unreasonable wait for food whether you are a walk-in or not, but it was a totally unpleasant way to be treated. We would not...