The Coopers Arms — Restaurant in South Derbyshire

We attended The Coopers Arms as a suprise birthday lunch, however what made this a bad experience was mainly the food. The place is nice in an old quirky way, however quite dangerous entering for people with limited mobility or sight issues. The entrance is a set of very dimly lit stone stairs down to the meet & greet station where you are then shown to your table. The menu mainly rotates around a carvery. There was only one menu on the tables and we had to guess that the food with 19.5 next to it meant short decimal format? Which we guessed was meaning £19.50, however we saw other food being served that we couldn't find on our menu. So we asked the staff if there was another menu and was informed and supplied with a second menu, which had other lower priced items such as sandwiches and cobs with chips etc. My question would be "Why were we not offered this before we had to ask?" But we know the answer. As we both weren't overly hungry and couldn't face a full carvery we ordered the 'Hot beef cob with roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding' which was priced a £9. In addition to this we also ordered a portion of onion rings at £4. What we were served was a couple of very thinly sliced tepid beef in cobs that broke apart as soon as you touched them. The roast potatoes were only just warm and we struggled to cut them with a knife - and yes we checked that the knife was actually sharp. The Yorkshire pudding - stone cold and tough. We concluded that the potatoes and Yorkshire puddings had possibly been standing from the carvery the night before and an attempt to reheat under a heat lamp had left them like this. The onion rings? Each a single ring of onion in batter with fat dripping from them, which we found unable to eat. When we were finally table checked and asked if everything was ok? We both sat there for a few moments looking at eachother and taking into consideration the reason we were there IE 60th birthday, didn't want to say anything for fear of upsetting the other person. However the look on each others face you could tell, it just had to be said! We politely expressed our dissatisfaction and received an apology and the bill was discounted somewhat which made the whole experience a little bit more tolerable and far easier to swallow than the food. Needless to say, we'll never eat...

We booked a table for four for a birthday Sunday lunch on the basis of the fabulous reviews of the carvery and the beautiful garden/setting around an interesting old building. The building was, indeed, beautiful but the weather was sadly not nice enough to sit out with two oldies nearing their nineties (we popped back the next day to collect the car and enjoyed it then instead). The food was as wonderful as the reviews promised: the beef was cooked to perfection, the nut roast was the best I've tasted and the vegetables and sides were heavenly. I haven't eaten so much in one sitting for a very long time! Everything was tasty, fresh and piping hot. But the cherry on the metaphorical cake was the service and the management. At first we were seated in a room that had a big group and was a little noisy so the oldies had great difficulty hearing and making themselves heard. There was also a small queue for the carvery, which worried them a little (standing and then carrying plates of food etc.). I spoke with James and he could not have been more helpful: he found us the quietest table in the place, made sure the oldies didn't have to wait in the queue, personally ensured the meats were cooked the way everyone liked and periodically (but not intrusively) checked everything was still okay. He made sure we had the best time possible. When I told James I was planning to give him a good review, he asked me to reign it in as the staff tease him about glowing praise. So, Coopers Arms staff, here's some more material for you to work with: James is a wonderful manager who clearly cares deeply about customer service. He will do what he can to make a good experience for the customer without being overbearing. He deserves every success in his career. And he has lovely eyes. OK staff, do...

Twice in the space of 9 months we have been here to eat and whilst the food is okay and it’s in a lovely location, both times we have been sat in an area where you can’t hear yourself think let alone have a conversation with the people you’re with.

First time, we were told our table unfortunately was moved because of how busy they were were. The sat us next to the bar/restaurant walk through. The bar was really busy and really loud. We mentioned this at the time and they apologised. They did not speak with the loud group until the second time of asking.

Today we went for a family meal and were placed next to a table of 10 girls who were there for a birthday party. Our food had come just as they had all arrived. Strategically if you know you’ve got a surprise birthday party of 10 you’d sit a small table of 4 in a different area.

When giving the feedback to the owner, he preceded to say … ‘why didn’t you say we’d have moved you’

We had literally just received our food so to then move all food and drinks would also have caused more inconvenience.

He also preceded to say

‘It’s unfortunate you’ve have this issue twice but nobody else has reported it’

There was an apology but surrounded in defensiveness and little empathy to the fact we had a second bad experience.

I have no issue with large tables and people being loud and having fun but what should have initially been planned is where you were seating people who had come for family get together knowing you had a birthday party.

The feedback was no listened to the first time and happened...