The Mill House — Restaurant in Sunderland

I will say our server Ayse went above and beyond to make our meal salvageable and correct everything that went wrong. we could not thank her enough for her time and patience with us today. booked the table on the 31 July after speaking with Matthew on the phone. We had a discussion around my allergy and then further discussions on what’s app as it was requested we pre order due to the allergy and as the table was supposed to be for 8 people plus a baby. He was great around arranging this and making sure I was aware what I could have from the menu. as far as I was aware everything was agreed. when we arrived there was no table set up for us even though I had spoken to them that morning as one person could not attend. The lady who took us to a table stated “oh how many of you is there it going to be as it’s tight squeeze to fit you in I don’t know if we have room” this confused me as we had booked on the 31st July.

I checked they were aware of my allergy and pre order. Ayse arrived the pre order on and we confirmed everything. She then came back and told me I could not have greens as they are cooked in an oil/butter saute, I asked her to clarify this as that did not match what I was told and could they not boil or steam them instead. She checked and again they declined to cook a portion separately but said they would make sure I had more of the other vegetables.

When our meals arrived the beef was not cooked as per pre order and one was cold. My dairy free plate was getting brought over and only had lamb, 2 roast potatoes on and a tiny bit of what looked like cubed parsnip. Ayse saw this and took it back to the kitchen before it was placed in front of me. After a further 5-10 mins my plate was brought back out with more veg AND GREENS!! I asked if she could double check before I started eating as the kitchen had said i could not have the greens just 20 minutes prior but I was told this was fine after she checked for me.

I was informed that it was one of the owners cooking today called Nick and he refused to come and apologise or discuss my meal at this point.

Once this was all rectified we had our meals and the food was average, definitely not worth the price being charged. Ayse offered to discount our meal due to the issues we had encountered.

At the end of the meal I attended the bar to check the bill and asked to speak with the chef/owner so I could have a discussion about the meal, he refused and asked For a telephone number instead to call me later. I advised I was not happy with this and wanted to speak with him directly for just a few minutes and this is why I have come to the bar/door to kitchen rather than him going to the table, he refused again and instead sent supervisor Erin. Now I had no issue with Erin either she and Ayse were both very professional, approachable and completely understood my concerns however, I explained to Erin I did not feel it was appropriate to speak to her as the person who should be having the conversation is the owner.

My sister who was in attendance today also works in hospitality as a general manager and she was just as disgusted that the owner had not taken two minutes to address a concern around allergies

Although the service from Ayse and Erin was amazing and they are the only reason we stayed today I am deeply saddened that the owner of the mill house clearly lacks compassion and the confidence to actually address issues himself and would rather his staff take the responsibility and frustrations than himself.

I have been to the mill house for many years with my dad for birthday meals until he passed away, I’ve seen many owners come And go but my 30th birthday has been ruined by today and what should have been a very special day with my family has turned into something else. I will not be returning to the mill house especially when the ownership cannot even take two minutes to acknowledge their error and apologise. Ayse and Erin were top notch and a huge asset to that business whereas the manager...

I had a poor experience at the Mill House, which included chipping a tooth on the rocky road (described on the menu as Rocky Road Cheesecake, it was an individual portion of vanilla cheesecake with three large pieces of Rocky Road sitting on top. The cheesecake tasted strange and the Rocky Road so hard I chipped a tooth), dreadful customer service and no response to an email with feedback. Despite this negative experience, due to the location, the pleasant interior and having enjoyed the vegetable lasagne, four of us decided to give it a second chance. We should not have bothered. The customer service was mixed: truly awful from the young woman serving, good by the woman we assumed was the manager. As one of my friends said about the young woman "She's making me feel I'm an inconvenience to her". The special menu, lamb shank, was given alongside the main menu, to us and other diners. Two of my friends chose the lamb, one asked to swap the mash for any other potato. She was initially told she could 'upgrade' to chips, then on discussion with a colleague, she said there could be no change. This clearly indicates the food is not prepared and cooked on the premises, just heated. Even so, what chef could not remove a portion of mash from beneath a lamb shank and replace with boiled or chipped potatoes? After ordering, the grumpy waitress returned to say there was only one portion of lamb left. Is the kitchen so disorganised that at 6.30pm they don't know they have so little lamb left and can't let the waiting staff know? Meals arrived and were okay. Nothing to write home about but edible. The lasagne was not as good as previously, being a bit watery, but was edible. There are few vegetarian options. Back to the service - we asked for a refil of table water and it took four requests to finally get some. Three of our party ordered desserts and were told the chef was busy so 'they wouldn't be right out'. After 35 minutes we attempted to cancel, only to be told 'they're coming now'. The manageress removed the desserts from the bill which we felt was fair. One of our party always insists we leave a tip; however, on this occasion, she refused to do so, due to the poor service (in particular from the grumpy young woman who was the main server). As I had booked the table online, I was sent an email asking for feedback. I duly provided the feedback and also resent my original email to an alternative address. I heard nothing back. Obviously, we will not be giving the Mill House a...

Arrived for 3pm booking. We were seated quickly, order taken and 2 Sunday lunches served all within 15 minutes...(all good so far) I asked for additional gravy..after 5 minutes of waiting I caught the attention of a waiter who told me to wait one minute. Totally acceptable as he was dealing with others at the next table. After a further 5 minutes I again caught his attention to get the same response. I then observed this waiter go to take orders at other tables. By this time my meal was half eaten but looking dry. My partner then went to speak to someone at the bar and within a minute the barman brought gravy and offered apologies. Meal finished and the waiter that I had spoken to earlier came to clear our table. He asked if we wanted desserts and when told we did , said he would return with the menu. After waiting 10 minutes we decided to give up, we had, by this time had enough and did not want to wait any longer. We paid our bill at the bar and left... The Mill House has been our go to place for many years . This is only our second visit since it re opened under new management . The food was absolutely delicious. 1 beef and 1 belly pork both equally superb and plentiful. Shame about todays service. We will return and hope it will be a better experience as there was really no excuse for the poor service. As expected the place was busy but nothing out of the ordinary...