Toby Carvery Hilsea — Restaurant in Portsmouth

I booked a table in advance on Saturday 5th August, at the Hilsea Toby Carvery, for Wednesday 30th August for 5 people at 1:30pm. I also added as a special request that it was a birthday celebration and we would like a lovely table with a nice view. We visited Hilsea Toby Carvery on 30th August, admittedly we arrived slightly early, around 1:10pm, only to be told that our table was not ready and if we wanted to have a drink whilst we waited, which we were happy to do, so we approached the bar, only to be ignored by the bar attender. He then greeted someone else who came up to the bar after us. When we explained that we were waiting for our table but wanted to order our drinks. We asked if we could add them to our table, but the man got very confused, so he had to get someone to help, and they said about opening a tab. Once we got our drinks, we then sat down and waited in the bar for our table. By 1:35pm, my son went to ask when we would be seated, there was nobody around, and he did see an empty table (booth) in the dining area that sat 6 people. My son went looking again and found someone, where we then got seated but not in the booth for 6, it was at the back of the restaurant and it held 4 prople with a chair for the 5th person, which was tight, there was no view and was in a dark spot. We asked the waiter about my daughter wanting ssusages instead of the meat, he also got very confused, I explained that she does not eat the Roast, he then told us to ask the chef when we get to the front of the queue. We then noticed that they had a kids meal which did have other options, I asked if my daughter could order from this but he said she could not have this as she was not under 10, so we then joined a very long queue and waited. As we waited in the queue, we observed how the vegetables looked extremely dry, very slow in bringing out fresh vegetables. When We got to the front, we asked the chef if my daughter could have sausages, and he did agree. My mum asked for her meal and she mentioned to the chef, that it was my birthday and asked if he would put an extra piece of meat on my plate, he responded 'No' and she explained that we have been to our local Toby on my birthday and they have always given an extra slice, we even went on my son's birthday, and they gave him extra, this time, the Chef completely ignored my mum, which was very rude and ignorant. When it came to my turn to be served, he did wish me a Happy Birthday but said nothing. When we moved onto the vegetables, these were very disappoiting, the mac n cheese was empty, I was trying to scrape the sides but it was stuck to the sides of the dish, there was nobody around to ask for a replacement. We ordered 2 sides of pigs in blankets, which we had to ask for whilst we were eating our food as unsure when or if they were going to bring them out. When it came to our desserts, it took 20 minutes until they arrived. The whole experience was extremely disappointing and a huge letdown, definitely not worth the money we were charged When it came to paying, we had to get the staff member to add our drinks from the bar as these never got added to our table. I booked this meal with plenty of notice, and sadly, we didn't even get what we asked for. The booth that was seated 6 was still empty. As a family who was looking forward to our celebration meal, we left feeling very disappointed, let down a huge lack of customer service and care from the staff and the establishment. I understand you may be short staffed, but what I dont understand is if a customer took the time to book a table in advance, why was the customer not prioritised? As you didn't meet the standards to give the level of service to reflect the...

I visited the Hilsea Toby for breakfast on the 30th November24. The pub/restaurant has recently been refurbished and was nicely decorated with Christmas decor. While my partner was pre-paying for our breakfast, I noticed three workman in filthy work overalls getting coffee and later on, at the breakfast counter. All three were in full wet-weather maintenance gear and work boots. One was absolutely filthy with some kind of muddy deposits all over his work clothes and boots. I had the misfortune to be behind all three at the breakfast counter, the especially filthy workman was wiping his hands down his clothes before using the serving implements. I found this to be unacceptable. These men were not staying at the attached Travelodge and were walk-ins off the local street where they were doing groundwork. Everyone else was acceptably dressed but some unfortunate party, not us thank goodness, had these reeking workmen sitting next to them. We finished our breakfast and went to leave but before I did I informed the manager on duty that I was very unimpressed and why. The young lady informed me that it is not company policy to tell people how to dress to enter the establishment. I pointed out that using that logic, patrons could come in dressed in swimming trunks and half naked and still be served. Surely some standards should be maintained? Toby Carvery is not some greasy spoon cafe by the roadside and the prices reflect that. I then asked the young lady if she would allow her husband to sit at the dinner table at home dressed in filthy groundworker clothes like those men or would she find it acceptable to go out to an eatery and have them sitting next to her family. No answer was forthcoming. This kind of work attire carries very unpleasant bacteria which can easily be left on food surfaces, serving utensils, furniture and door handles and is not acceptable in any eating establishment...even McDonalds. Bad show...

Will be doing a review for my two recent visits. Booked for today, but we didn't even stay as were told queue for food was 40 minutes. Prior to this I visited mid week about a month ago. We booked for 5.30pm so missed some of the queuing, but it got equally busy a little later. The queue for food was due to the following: Only one staff member cutting and serving the meat, I really felt sorry for him cause it is hot work and he had to bear the brunt of customers rightfully complaining about the following: Other staff coming from the kitchen and filling up box after box of takeaway orders. This resulted in even slower service (he had to cut meat for them too) and vegetables/sides not being topped up frequently enough/being taken for the takeaway customers sat at home, not those stood up waiting to be served and watching all the food disappear. I had to wait on the side, with several other people, as my meat got cold, waiting for the sides I wanted to be topped. Apart from being unfair to customers, especially those with young children or perhaps frailer people unable to stand up for long, I also really felt for the staff, particularly the guy serving the meat, who really got the short straw that shift. It's not really enough apologising here for it being busy, some real changes need to be made to how quickly the food is served. If you can't make changes to that, then there needs to be changes to how many customers you can serve. I'm sure this is out of control of most staff that work there and who would also appreciate a less stressful work environment for themselves. Management (not necessarily those based at Hilsea), need to make proper changes for all concerned (customers and staff). Well done to those who made it to the end of reading my full review!! :-D I'm not normally a moany...