The Marsh Harrier — Restaurant in Norwich

Management must get a grip. On 1st December I took a party of five French visitors to the Marsh Harrier for an evening meal to show them that having a meal in a cozy British pub is a fun thing to do. Sadly it was about as much fun as root canal surgery and an embarrassment for me. 45 minutes after ordering, the three starters arrived. Somewhat slow but to be fair, it was a Saturday night and the restaurant was full. Once the plates had been cleared it was another 45 minutes before the main courses arrived. During the wait I looked around and noticed that only a few tables at a time seemed to have guests who were actually eating. The remaining tables appeared to be occupied by customers who looked as if they were waiting for something. It is odd to be in a restaurant where all the tables are full but only a few have any food on them. The three guests who had not ordered starters were sitting for an hour and a half before their main course arrived. The main courses could best be described as a ‘hot and cold’ combo. Clearly some items on the dishes had been left way too long under hot lamps after plating up. The sea bass was baked dry whilst other items on the same plate were cold. On my plate was the ever reliable, hot battered fish but accompanied by cool chips and irritatingly cold mushy peas. How can a competent kitchen get fish and chips wrong? Yes we could have sent food back but after more than an hour and a half waiting, I think we would have eaten the pub cat if it had walked past. Plates were cleared off the table 30 minutes later and three puddings ordered. Another 30 minute wait for dessert which almost certainly arrives at the Marsh Harrier ready-made, so absolutely no reason to be too tardy with service. During this delay I went to the bar to talk discreetly with the manager to express my disappointment with the quality of the cooking and service because I was finding the whole experience a bit humiliating in front of my guests. I asked if the kitchen had been experiencing some sort of crisis as I couldn’t understand why things had been so painfully slow and generally poor. The young manager is a pleasant lady but the explanation that the kitchen probably had difficulty plating-up at peak time when the restaurant demand had been busy just doesn’t cut it for me. That’s what busy kitchens have to do. If a chef can’t manage their kitchen service effectively when things are busy then a proper kitchen is not the place for them to be. The manager was apologetic about my guests having to wait so long and said that I should have told her about it. While she has a point, shifting blame onto customers is not a smart first response. Maybe it is because I am getting old and cranky, but my view is that the primary duties of table staff include being attentive to customers, know which tables have been waiting ages and chivvy along the kitchen when things get sloppy. I know it is hard work. I have worked in kitchens and waited on tables and I completely get that being on the ball with customers and staying business-like with the kitchen is what the job is all about. Don’t deflect blame on to the customer who is paying very decent money to be fed well and looked after. The table staff either don’t realise the poor impression they are giving or they had given up caring. I can’t make up my mind which one applied here last night, but it is a probably a mix of both. The staff looked thoroughly fed up.I have never written a negative review about anything. I prefer to sort issues out on the spot in a quiet, dignified manner rather than whinge on via an adverse review. However, my gripes did not get resolved and I was brushed off. It was an overly expensive three and a half hours out of my life which I will never get back. The building is great, the ambience is good but the evening food service last night was an absolute shocker. Everything that is wrong here is so fixable. I can think of at least three things that would sort this mess out. It is 100% down to the management to take proper control and knock...

My friend and I went here for our lunch today. We thought that the food would taste good because of the good reviews online and the pictures. But we were very disappointed. We arrived and were seated quickly, the waitress came to us many different times, before we'd decided what to order which stressed me out. And it made me order without really looking at the menu. I ordered some scallop, crab, and prawns with bread and mash mixture, which didn't taste very nice. The bread was a little stale, the mash was dry, and the fish that I did receive was very little and disappointing. My friend had the Calamari, which was rubbery and had no flavour. For our main, we both had the Katsu curry and rice. It looked tastey, but I couldn't even eat it all. The chicken was dry and not crispy like it said it would be. There was no flavour and the meal was very disappointing. I was not impressed 😕 I paid around £46, for both dishes, a latte, a pot of olives and some chips, and a soft drink. The chips had a weird aftertaste and were dry to the taste. It's definitely not worth £46. The only things I enjoyed were my soft drink and the olives. My friend had food from the lunch deal, but still, it was not up to standard. The atmosphere was OK, but it didn't feel like a place I'd come back and eat from again.

After we'd left, I looked further on the reviews to see that there were many bad reviews. I kicked myself in not looking further into the reviews before choosing the place because that was a complete waste of time, money, and effort. I was still very hungry after. The plates, cutlery, and glasses were dirty.

I would NOT recommend going to this place to eat, drink, or even chill out in. The staff were OK, the lady we had was nice enough. But the other waiters that served our meals seemed a little grumpy.

I have been in many pubs over my time, and I know what to expect from them, but this place...

Overpromises and under delivers. This is a nice looking pub the bar and the menu promise a decent meal. The truth is a little more underwhelming.

I couldn't get a table in the restaurant early evening at the start of the week so ate in the bar. The tables had been rearranged by afternnon customers and no one had thought to tidy them back up. Half the tables in the bar had the used plates of long departed customers and some tables by their design were unsuitable for those after a meal, too low and with odd chairs. Nice for afternoon tea but not for an evening meal. The food was ok. That's as far as it goes. My starter had maybe 7 or 8 elements, a balanced selection of 4 or 5 of which would have made a nice course. The 7 or 8 just didn't mesh or eat well it needed a far better chef to pull it off. The special was average, the meat reheated to order which is what you expect at this proce point, but bland and unloved. The microwave mash was the genuine high point of the course and the gravy/sauce was a gloopy travesty. Any of these 2 dishes could easily have been elevated with soome care and attenntion, start with a little seasoning, a bit vinegar, spice or something sweet.

This is not a bad place to eat, my meal wasn't offensive but every single thing about the experience could be better with more care and attention.

I mentioned the tables full of used crockery. My server brought my starter and then walked past 3 tables any one of which they could have cleared. They brought my main but left my finished starter plate at the table and then walked past other tables that needed clearing. That is just poor attention to basic waiting standards.

Could so...