The White Hart Bar and Restaurant — Restaurant in South Hams

It makes me really sad to leave this review but I think really its the only way to express my family's sheer disappointment at the service that we received on Tuesday evening.

We have been to the White Hart many times over the years and it's a family favourite for us, great food and a lovely location in both the summer and winter.

On Tuesday we took the children to the cinema and had planned to stop at the White Hart for an evening meal afterwards. When we arrived there was only one table that could accommodate our parties size but the was an employee laying across the bench seat looking at his phone!? Not a great start and certainly not the first impression I would be happy with my staff giving. My wife asked him if he was using the tables but he just ignored her so I then asked again (politely) "Excuse me, are you using these tables?" he just shrugged and looked back at his phone!! I couldn't quite believe it. I said to him this is the only table big enough for us to sit at, is that OK and he agin just looked back at his phone. I told him it was very rude to ignore customers but he didn't seem to care at all.

We went to the bar to see if there was somewhere else to sit and we weren't going to say anything but then decided no, we should because if it was our business we would want tot know. We explained top the barman what had happened and he went to investigate only to come back and say "yeah, sorry about that..we arnt serving food now anyway"

Unbelievable!!

I called in on Wednesday and explained what had happened and was told that it was unacceptable and that the manager would be in touch within a few mins but nobody called me back.

Overall, as a long standing customer we feel very...

This was a quirky experience which could easily be improved on with a little attention to detail, perhaps.

Firstly, the menu interpretation was difficult - it was impossible to get our order right.

For example, the "mains" list apparently all came with trimmings so we were looking forward to roast potatoes and Yorkshires to go with the veggie option but they didn't arrive - staff referring to the menu saying trimmings are served with "roasts" only. Other non-veggie mains did not mention "roast" but we're served with trimmings. This was not clear at all and was a disappointing start.

The "key" for interpreting dietary requirements did not match the codes against the meals (eg Ve and * were not listed - Vn was a guess but no *).

The chosen GF dessert it turns out was made by a new chef and they were unsure whether GF oats were used. This meant the GF member of our party sadly went without a dessert while it would have been simple to offer a custom dish eg an ice cream scoop.

The Plum crumble with custard arrived with ice cream instead - without explanation.

In this time of dangerous dietary food allergies it is really important for a menu to accurately reflect the meal's content.

Another disappointment was that none of the ladies' loos had loo paper and this needed to be (embarrassingly) pointed out to staff.

However, let me just say clearly that the food served was great, the serving staff were very friendly & helpful and the dining hall was lovely. As I say, getting the menu right and to loos stocked could have helped make this a 5 star...

You know when, as a customer, you feel like you are giving good customer service because the staff aren't? All big smiles, nods and every politeness you can muster in the hope that they reciprocate, if even just a little...

Specifically I'm talking about the breakfast team who appeared to be less thrilled to be awake and at work as I was.

One female staff member in particular made it pretty clear she was doing me a favour by taking my room number. Didn't point me in the direction of the food, didn't ask if I needed anything, just turned around.

Anyway, that can be overlooked. Or maybe it's part of the charm. The breakfast was surprisingly good... The sausages were excellent and the mushrooms were an unexpected delight. The eggs were overdone and the bacon sweaty and flaccid, however. The coffee is served in a large urn, and was rather burnt and bitter both mornings I was there.

The evening bar staff were a different story, chatty and personable and the range of beers excellent.

The space itself is impressive. They've turned the structure into something resembling hogwarts canteen. You can, and should, take your breakfast outside onto the lawn to get a full appreciation of the...