Oatcakes & Milkshakes — Restaurant in Stafford

Great food but poor service/miserable staff.

We’ve been here a few times in the last few months due to the oatcakes and milkshakes being 10/10. I used to have the pancakes but on a recent visit these were different - not as big and not as tasty so on my last visit I had the waffle which was mediocre. In my opinion, the waffle needed more sauce as it was a bit overcooked (crispy) and therefore was a bit dry. However, my partner always gets the belly buster breakfast and always comments on how much he enjoys this. The milkshakes are always tasty, quite spectacular to look at and good value for money. Overall, the food is worth coming back for and I would recommend this place based on that. (And is the reason we keep coming back despite my comments to follow)

Unfortunately, every time we have visited we have been disappointed in the service but recently this was particularly bad which is what has triggered the review. We always visit on a weekend and understandably they are always very busy - we often have to wait for a table which isn’t a problem but I do think this could be helped if the restaurant was redesigned. Currently, you have big booths taking up 90% of the space (which are very comfortable) but this means that often tables of 2 or 3 are sat on tables that could sit 6 people. Free standing tables that can be separated or put together would make more efficient use of a smallish space. Anyway, I digress…unfortunately, every time we have visited we have been greeted by staff that look miserable/stressed/hate their jobs. I have never seen any of them smile! This makes us really sad as I believe this is a family business and if anybody should be happy serving their customers, it should be the owners. I understand staff can get stressed on occasion but this is a reoccurring problem over the past 6 months+. On our most recent visit, one staff member was stood right outside the entrance smoking (in uniform) and then returned to the kitchen to continue cooking. I also witnessed that same staff member deliver a milkshake, roll her eyes as she walked away and then return to the kitchen where she began complaining to her colleagues about the customer (not very professional in an open kitchen!).

That being said, food service has always been timely although sometimes fragmented. I.e. I got my waffle 10/15 mins before my partner got his oatcakes last week so we ended up eating separately. You don’t mind a minute or 2 difference but I don’t expect to eat at a completely separate time to my partner (this big difference in time was the first time to this degree but previously our food has been delivered separately by a few minutes). In addition to this/perhaps an explanation for the above - when my waffle was delivered, the staff member asked if that was everything - a Pepsi max, belly buster breakfast and loaded fries was missing so I am not sure if the delay was an issue with their new online ordering system or poor kitchen management? I do think the kitchen could do with better communication as I think the staff all focus on their allocated product without checking for other things. For example, my cold drink is ALWAYS delivered afterwards/with my food whereas my partner gets his coffee within 5 mins. I don’t understand this as all they have to do is remove a can from the fridge? Surely, the person delivering the coffee should check for any more drinks and deliver them together if not already done so? Similar principle with the food - different people seem responsible for different things and this contributes to the fragmented service

I didn’t want to write this review and I am certainly not writing this to make the business less credible as I think the food is great. I am writing in hope of seeing some change as right now I do not wish to visit again based on the poor service I experienced- I felt like a burden on the staff! I hope the review gets received well and I will revisit in a few weeks in hope of not feeling like a burden again. Otherwise, I think I’ll take my money somewhere that my business feels...

My initial review was 3 years ago when I have 5 stats and would have given more of they were available.

Sadly this was not the case when I visited on Saturday.  I had been telling my cousin about how fantastic its always been,  tempting her with tales of the milkshakes, cheesecake etc and the great service.

There were 3 of us.  Our order was for a breakfast,  burger and cheesecake along with 2 milkshakes and a coffee.

Sadly, although the menu said to select what salad to have with the burger we were told 'oh we don't have that stuff here' !!!

First to get bought to the table was the cheesecake with the comment 'do you want this now or shall I bring it back after the meals?' seeing as there was ice cream on it, bringing it back was questionable plus 3 food items and 3 people seems to point to all eating together! I was surprised to see that the portion was ½ what I have had previously, even though the cost was about the same.

1 milkshake then arrived followed a few minutes later by the other one.  When the coffee arrived the waiter spilled a lot into the saucer, he commented but didn't offer to bring a clean saucer, he had also forgotten the sugar.  After we asked for sugar, he did bring some and proceeded to put them into the saucer which was still full of coffee!

We waited and finally the breakfast was bought to us.  Sadly there was no sign of the burger.  When it did finally arrive the breakfast and cheesecake had almost been eaten.  The burger looked unappetising and the cheese had been folded over so didn't cover the burger.  it was just placed on the plate with no garnish obviously seeing as they 'don't do that stuff!'

All the portions seemed vastly smaller than all our previous visits with friends and grandkids although the prices were still roughly the same!

Before leaving I went to ask about the ½ portion for the cheesecake.  I was told that it was because some people don't eat it all and so it's now served with a small pot of ice cream.  I pointed out it had always been served with ice cream to which the lady shrugged her shoulders and just said 'I don't know about that' . She then tried to tell me that the price was far less,  again not true!

Until this last visit I have always taken photos of what we ordered so I can compare what we used to get and what we were served yesterday.  Looking round the other customers I also noticed that other items seem far reduced in size.

To be honest, whenever we have visitors we always recommend going here and in the past it has been a traditional treat when the grandkids come to stay.  However,  based on the service,  food and lack of value for money we will not be doing so in the future. There are lots of places to eat in Stone and so it seems sad that the standards here have gone down so badly.  Maybe yesterday was a one off with the lack of service.  My cousin, while waiting so long for her burger,  did comment that all the staff behind the counter seemed to just be drinking milkshakes and being on their phones.

We shall now find somewhere else to go as a couple, with visitors and...

Visited on the 3rd August 2016 after a trip to the nearby Trentham Monkey forest. Unfortunately it was not a very good experience. First off. If you have young children or children with special needs (I have a 5yr old and an 8yr old with multiple special needs) or are a wheelchair user. This certainly isn't a good place to visit. There isn't space for wheelchair users to access the building or to access the seating area as the queue and tables take up 90% or the accessible space. Toilet area is in a very cramped corner of the building and are maintained to a very poor standard. I struggled with my daughter when she needed to go and while in there. The area looked like it hadn't been cleaned all day and no toilet paper. Luckily I carry wipes with me.

Onto my order. After a 50 minute wait in the queue (luckily I'd put 2hrs on the car park) I was finally able to order. This was the quickest part of the experience. I ordered 2 choc orange milkshakes with cream and popping candy for my children and an Aero Mint one for myself. I also ordered a bacon,cheese,beans oatcake, bacon cheese, mushrooms oatcake and sausage cheese and mushrooms oatcake. All as doubles. When the milkshakes arrived. They were considerably smaller than expected for the price paid. The supposed choc orange milkshakes - One was basically just 1/4 plane milk with cream and a bit of popping candy and no orange flavour while the other was 1/2 full with chocolate pieces (which blocked my sons straw), milk and cream (there was a slight orange flavour to this one though). The Aero Mint one was again just 1/2 full of mint flavoured milk with cream on top.

Onto the oatcakes. These were some of the worst oatcakes I've ever had. The food was very inconsistent. The bacon on my children's was only partly cooked and was still pink in places. The sausage on mine was of a poor quality and again only part cooked. The bottom oatcakes were mushy which I can only compare to how oatcakes go when they are past their use by period and the top oatcakes were so hard and overwarmed/overcooked they could be used as Frisbees'.

The experience was made even worse when returning from taking my daughter to the toilet to find mine and my daughters food had disappeared and my 5yr old had been moved to another table!!!!.

I tried to speak to a member of staff about all this but they just responded with a shoulder shrug and walked away (I wasn't the only one to experience this attitude from a staff member as a customer 2 tables over had to speak to another staff member about their attitude).

In the end I couldn't wait to get out of the place as it was distressing experience for my children. Particularly my daughter who became...