The Swan & Castle — Restaurant in Oxford

I went to Oxford for the weekend, and as a coeliac was looking for a safe place to eat which offered gluten free food. All GF symbols had been taken off the menu, so I spoke to a member of staff. They took me to the allergen screen and filtered for items which didn't contain gluten. I explained I was coeliac, and they said that when I order at the bar tell the member of staff the allergy and the kitchen staff take measures to prepare the food separately such as separate utensils etc. I felt reassured so we stayed to eat.

I ordered a meal for my partners, then on the GF food I ordered 2 x halloumi fries and 1 x jacket potato with cheese and coleslaw.

When the food arrived, it was the waiter who I had originally spoken to. When the food was put down, the 3 meals which were supposed to be GF had purple allergen flags. I made a remark about how nice it was to see that, and that it makes me feel reassured. To which the waiter replied that yes, they were all GF - although the halloumi fries were cooked in oil with items made of gluten. I was shocked, and said well then they aren't GF and aren't safe for a coeliac.

He said 'are you super sensitive or something?' and I said no, this would be unsafe for all coeliacs and he said 'oh, I don't know anything about allergens. We're not allowed to talk to customers about allergens or you could sue us'. I said I can't eat that if it's been in a fryer with breaded items etc, and asked what else is cooked in the fryers with items sold to customers as GF and he said 'all sorts gets put in the fryers'.

He said, 'I can refund you for them' and I had to leave the table with my jacket potato on going cold to go to the till and get a refund for the halloumi fries. I explained how dangerous it is that you are allowing coeliacs to order items that the allergy screen is saying are free from gluten and that you're saying efforts are being made to keep separate, adding allergy flags, but then actually behind the screens cooking them in oil with gluten containing items. I asked that it was raised with a manager immediately, and the member of staff said it wasn't a pub issue but a head office issue. I emphasised how unsafe it was and that something needed to be done immediately as the next person to come in could be a coeliac and be exposed to the same risks, so the allergy information on the screen needing addressing immediately. The member of staff was not taking me seriously, treating me as if I was a nuisance and I was being ridiculous not eating them, kept saying he didn't know anything about allergens. I asked that it was raised with the pub manager for immediate action as allergens are a serious H&S risk and he wouldn't, he made it clear it wasn't something he thought was very important and said 'it's not a pub/manager issue, it's a head office issue and we have no control over the screens'.

The pub are responsible for lack of staff training, and not keeping food separately. The pub knows that these fries are labelled on the allergen screen as GF but yet knowingly cooks them with gluten and serves them to coeliacs.

I said 'I you going to go to the table and collect them?' and he did around 5 minutes later. I'm a vegetarian, and also respect diary products and really hate food waste. When he came to the table, I said 'if you're going to bin them the other person I was with would eat them' - as I really don't like animal products being put in the bin as obviously, the reason for the refund was because the person that ordered them to eat them - me - couldn't eat them because of how the pub had prepared them. Our meal on our weekend away had also been ruined, and in fact this experienced ruined me entire weekend. The waiter replied with attitude 'NO, you've had them refunded so I am taking them back now'. And disposed of them. He...

We went there after the Oxford Christmas Market 16/11/23 19:00 with my wife, 8 year old son/12 year old daughter for food and some drinks as was feeling in the festive mood. 1 of the managers (a young 'studenty type' brunette girl asked us to refrain from eating our own food in there as 'it's company policy' which we agreed to/apologised and moved outside to finish off their food. She then came storming outside and 'told' me ABRUPTLY that we weren't allowed to eat outside (at this point my daughter who is autistic got extremely upset). My wife responded by saying that 'they're children for crying out loud' and as a result left the pub in tears. I admittedly said to daughter (overheard by 1 of her colleagues) that I thought it was a 'jobs worth' thing to do as you're only children and as a result of this was refused service from that point onwards and was asked to leave????!!!!. She then was looking over at us whilst muttering something (no doubt derogatory) towards us to another colleague and laughing....professional🤔🤷‍♂️!! Before I left, 1 of her colleagues agreed that she had dealt with it in the wrong manner but couldn't serve me as she had made the call not to. STUDENT types with no people skills/common sense and not to mention rudeness at it's finest!! I thought you were supposed to lead by example when becomming a manager??!! We had intended to eat our dinner in there/buy drinks but you now have lost trade as a result!! If you're thinking of a quick bite to eat in there and your children haven't quite finished 2 chicken nuggets and 4 chips, I wouldn't bother if she's on duty!!...

I should first of all point out that I came in here for breakfast a couple of times 3 years back and my eggs benedict were fine. This has influenced my decision to give 3 stars. Today I came in to get out of the cold. I was served quickly by a polite, cheerful member of staff. (She adds a star to the score as well). I had trouble finding a table that didn’t have dirty plates on it. When I located one it was next to the door so I had to leave my coat on anyway. There was a young lad (early 20s) sat on the next table. His food arrived as I was sitting down. He said something to the waitress about the eggs straight away, that 2 meals had been ordered and that he had no cutlery. She went off and he remained seated with his food in front of him. Eventually his girlfriend came back from wherever she’d been and questioned why only 1 meal and why he wasn’t eating it. After a short wait (although about 5 minutes in total now) he went up the bar. He was then brought a knife and fork and her food arrived shortly after. His meal by now can’t have been very warm (we were sat near a constantly opening door). They both left a lot of his food and he didn’t touch his eggs. They left without saying anything. I cannot be...