The Railway Country Pub — Restaurant in Rother

Visiting on a somewhat busy Friday night we were welcomed by the bar staff. The pub has a mixture of a bar only area, bar area with tables and a large restaurant area situated at the far end of the building. We visited on a rather cold night but there was a welcoming large fire in the bar seated area. Having not booked we were asked if we’d like the restaurant which initially appeared a good option as the bar area was full. However it was a little chilly and empty so we opted to return to the seated area and wait for a table. The bar staff were very accommodating and offered us some seats to await a table which came quickly. The menu was large with specials posted on a board with a good overall choice of items. Food arrived quickly and was served hot and full of taste. I would offer a full 5 starts except there were a few pointers. Our table was located next to the doors Leading to the restaurant area. One door however had been damaged earlier which caused it remain open leaving a nasty chill to roll into the room around our legs. The landlord was very good and attempted to resolve the issue but it did somewhat make the area a little uncomfortable for a short while. The premises appears to have had some remedial work completed in the last year with new owners taking over. This however appears to have not followed through to both male or female toilets. Such a shame as with a revamp of the facilities it would be a lot more pleasant. Overall, 5 stars for staff, couldn’t fault them, 5 stars for food and welcome and bar area, but 4 stars for facilities and the annoying draft.

Looking forward to perhaps visiting when it’s warmer to make the most of the restaurant and...

Not sure if we caught them on a bad day comparing our experience with that of the others that have previously reviewed, but our visit today was total rubbish. We had a table of 11 booked, we had to change the booking time by 3 hours at quite late notice which they were more than happy to help with, so kudos for that, thank you.

On arrival everything was fine, sat out at the back room where there was room for all of us, which again was fine as we had quite small children with us so it got us and them out of the way. We ordered our food in 3 different orders, the starters of the adults to come out the same as the mains for the kids - however some of the adults starters and mains came out at the same time, sent the roast dinner back otherwise it would have been cold by the time we’d have rushed our starters.

When some of the roasts came out later on, we had to ask for two to go back into the microwave as they were barely warm, which is already annoying. We had one vegan roast, one veggie roast and a lamb. The vegan and the veggie came out identical and I had to clarify if the Yorkshire pudding on the vegan roast was actually vegan, I was told it was. Then was told they would check and came back to me saying no it wasn’t. So why put it on there? Don’t advertise something as vegan when it isn’t. It’s really annoying and to be honest massively unprofessional.

One star is for moving the time of the booking and being really nice about it.

One star for having a great outside area for the kids.

It’s a really nice pub but I won’t be...

Appalling. Stay away ! Never experienced such poor service and arrogance in a pub.

I note your reply to my review. Please be aware that I took the trouble to call earlier in the week and on the day in question, early afternoon to confirm that you were able to accommodate our group of ten. I was told that there was a function in the garden but that we could eat inside which we were happy yo do. We were never advised that your kitchen would close. On arrival at just past 4pm we were very annoyed to be denied an opportunity to eat. We were told that the kitchen would open again for food at 5pm so we ordered drinks and patiently waited. Requesting menus a man appeared who was stressed and said he was the chef and no one had told him that we were there. He was impolite and said he could not provide food . Obviously at this stage I was very annoyed. I had my 21 month old toddler who I was waiting to feed. The chefs response to this was - “ don’t pull that card on us”. We were treated in a very disrespectful way. There was no manager on site to complain to - the chef announcing that he was in charge. Needless to say other parties that I bring to this area will not use your establishment for...