Ash Tree Farm — Restaurant in Tameside

We booked for a group of 22 people as we would be eating here for our Christmas lunch. Upon arrival, we took our seats at the table. Some people ordered starters but I hadn't, so I, along with others waited until the staff were ready to serve the Main. The waiting staff were simply shouting out orders and if you had ordered this, then the food goes to you. They had absolutely no idea who had pre-ordered what and passed around a list for us to check. When you pre-order in a restaurant, the chef already has a menu of what each person is having and the waiting staff ensure that this reaches the right person - its as simple as that. This brings me on to my order. I had pre-ordered a 'He's Bean Burger' (see photo of menu), knowing that this is 100% going to be vegetarian as I do not eat meat for religious reasons. I waited for one hour and five minutes but no order arrived. Instead, I sat there watching my friends eat their food and answering questions about where my food is. Even the people that had ordered a Carvery had gone to collect it, ate it and were discussing dessert but mine hadn't arrived yet. When the waiter finally arrived, she hands me a plate. I check the burger and it is full of meat - a Camembert burger (see photo of menu). I query this with the waiter and she says "oh sorry, that one should be for the other table across, if you could just swap over please" swap with what exactly?! he has no food on his plate too! so she then tells me that I ordered a Camembert burger so that is what she has given me. I know this to be false as I do not eat meat so why would I order a Camembert burger?! they have clearly messed up the order but wouldn't own up to the mistake. The male staff offered to make another burger, but this would be in addition to the Camembert burger, plus the £5.00 deposit that I had already paid as a part of the booking process - I declined. Why would I pay for two burgers when I only want one and hadn't even touched the meat one? so after all this waiting, I literally had no food at all due to their mistake. I had pre ordered a dessert (photo attached) which became my Main and dessert. When going to pay, the male staff told me to pay £11.99 so I told him if it was for the dessert only , since that is what I have had. He told me, "no, someone has had to make that burger so you have to pay for that even if you didn't eat it. I did offer to make you another one" yeah, on top of what I am already paying so who is benefitting there? I told him I didn't agree with him but I will pay anyway as there were other people waiting to pay and I didn't want to cause a scene. In total, this dessert cost me £16.99 - that is one expensive dessert. What annoyed me is not the mistake that was made, people make mistakes all the time. The least they could do was accept it, I didn't even get an apology so accepting it is way beyond them. I have been to many restaurants but this is just poor customer service. You don't tell your customer, well you can either eat it or order another - that's unprofessional. You would apologise, correct your mistake and take it as a loss. I didn't eat it for religious reasons so they pretty much put me in a position where I had no option at all. I have been to this place many years before and it used to be ok but I certainly wont...

We visited today as a family treat to get together before Christmas, especially as we won’t be seeing each other on Christmas Day and have recently experienced a bereavement in the family.

We arrived at 2 PM and placed our food and drink orders via the app. It took around 20 minutes for the drinks to arrive, and the food followed roughly 10 minutes later. Some of us ended up going to the bar for additional drinks, as the wait for drinks to accompany our food felt too long.

The service was slower than expected, and the atmosphere behind the bar wasn’t particularly welcoming, with staff appearing quite disengaged. For example, when ordering drinks directly at the bar, I waited around 10 minutes to be served, even though there was only one person ahead of me.

Midway through our meal, a server approached our table and asked how much longer we planned to stay, as they wanted to reserve the table for someone else. This felt rushed and a little discourteous, especially as we hadn’t yet finished eating and still wanted to order desserts. What made this more confusing was that all other tables in our area near the children’s play area were already empty. It wasn’t clear why they needed our table when so many others were free.

There was also an issue with missing items – we didn’t receive the pigs in blankets we’d paid for. However, credit where it’s due, the food that did arrive was hot, well-prepared, and nicely presented. The kitchen staff clearly did a good job.

Later, we decided to order desserts directly at the bar, as some family members wanted to see the takeaway cake selection. Again, the wait was quite long, and the service felt unwelcoming. When placing the order, I tried to use my Blue Light discount card, which I’d successfully used earlier in the app for our food orders for tables 1 and 3. The discount applied without issue for those orders. However, the server at the bar, an older woman with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair, insisted the discount couldn’t be used on Sundays. Despite showing her the app, which clearly states the discount can be used all day, every day, it was still refused. Her response was, “Well, I’ve been told it can’t be used on a Sunday.” This created an uncomfortable and awkward moment for us, and I ended up paying full price to avoid further discussion.

Overall, the experience fell short of our expectations. While the food was good, the slow service, lack of warmth from staff, missing items, and issues with the discount made it less enjoyable. It’s disappointing, as we’ve held similar family gatherings here before, but we may need to consider alternative venues in the future.

Update to owners reply

For the sake of the £1.75 and the already bad experience, being rushed to leave and the embarrassment and lack of interest already at the tills and long wait times, this wasn't brought to your servers attention as I'd rather be £1.75 out of pocket than stay another 10 minutes for the sake of 2 sausages.

Unfortunately we shall now be eating elsewhere at our family get together.

Some of us travelled from all over the north West to meet and enjoy a once a year get together at your eatery.

We were hoping for somthing special this year but we're let down by...

Ruined our 12 year olds birthday meal. Staff on 13/5/24 should be spoken to. First of all, when the food came the waiter looked at me and said "are you sure you can eat all that?". I'm a slim build and I felt this was very rude and unprofessional. Its like a larger person ordering a small plate and being asked "don't you want more?" I was really embarrassed and everyone at our table was shocked. I spent the rest of the meal feeling like I had a point to prove. The mushrooms were missing from 2 plates and there were no staff around to speak to. Worst of all we prebooked and in the special requests section we asked for a happy birthday and piece of cake for our 12 year olds birthday. This never came and was never acknowledged. No staff around in sight. Couldn't go to the bar to ask about it as it would have ruined the surprise and tone of the meal. I don't see the point of having this section for special requests when obviously nobody pays attention. We ordered through the app and on checkout it asks you for a tip upfront. I actually gave a tip as we were all in a great mood at the start but now I wish I could take it back. The meals are quite pricey and the service and standard was shocking. We should have just ordered a take away. Truly horrible experience, we felt uncomfortable and forgotten about and our child never got their happy birthday wishes or cake! This is something we've done every year and this is the only place that has let us down. Will not...