Fairfield Arms — Restaurant in Tameside

We had a very disappointing visit for Breakfast with Santa at the Fairfield Arms this morning. It felt like the staff didn’t want to hold the event, they didn’t interact with the kids (which for me at a children’s event is a must) and weren’t very welcoming. We queued out in the cold turned 10am, whilst the host was just stood around indoors at the entrance. The host didn’t greet the children, never cracked a smile, nor advise anything about the breakfast to us, he just took us to our table and told us to go to the bar to order our drinks. Bar staff weren’t very friendly, the coffee was awful, kids fruit shoots were warm from the side not in a fridge. No menus for ordering and paying for upgraded coffee or festive drinks. We and others had no idea we were to order food at the bar at the same time as our drinks and nobody had an idea what the food options were (full breakfast, breakfast bap etc??). There was some form of music but so low we couldn’t hear or tell if it was Christmas music, there was no festive atmosphere at all. Lots of bored children, with parents scrambling to entertain them. The advertisement said Santa would arrive around 11:15. There was no announcement or big entrance for Santa. He just came to tables as soon as people had finished their food, with the gift bag and a quick photo by the tree. We had eaten breakfast, met Santa and left in under an hour all before 11am… and there were a fair few who left before us. Overall very disappointing, not festive & left us feeling deflated.

Such a shame, it doesn’t take much to put in a bit of effort and create festive cheer.

We had planned to stay a few hours and purchase drinks, but we didn’t feel welcomed so left.

We weren’t expecting the world, just a warm welcome, some festive cheer and entertainment for the little ones. The magic of Christmas was lost on the Fairfield Arms on...

I work in hospitality and have been meaning to visit the Fairfield Arms for years after being recommended to go. I moved from the area years ago and never had the chance until today when we decided to do a walk in for some lunch.

What I thought was great: Plenty of choice for seating. Walk ins accepted, no booking necessary. Lots of amazing options on the menu. Fantastic lunch deals. Table was clean and cutlery presented straight away. Check back completed with a friendly smile. Food was delicious!!! There was a slip with the cutlery with who was on the FOH and Kitchen - which I thought was a nice touch! Easy QR code to leave a review. Friendly staff (We came with my dementia mother in law who was unintentionally rude to one of the servers. He handled the situation really well and shook off the insult she had given him and accepted our apologies at the end. We couldn’t have apologised enough and felt awful as we are limited to taking her anywhere now without her causing a scene. So credit to the staff member, we didn’t catch his name, he handled it like a boss).

What could be improved: We ordered apple crumble for desert and was told once after we ordered that there was none but was given the option for something else. Only thing I could suggest is, maybe informing the customer when ordering at the till of low stock or no longer an option on the menu etc. Other than that, everything else was great!...

Booked a table for a Friday evening. Quite busy so had to wait for a member of staff to seat us. That was too much effort, instead she just said "table in the back corner" and left us to find our own way. While we were looking at the menus, a second 'manager' came over asking for his reservation sign back. Ordered our food at the bar since we had a voucher and an allergy. Nathan was very accommodating, making aware of any potential allergies and using the system to show what was available with the allergy. While waiting for our food, it was incredibly cold sat opposite the wide open fire door, so asked the female 'manager' who 'greeted' us if we could close the door... This resulted in a backhanded comment saying she didn't know how we were cold because all of the radiators were on... Not where we were sat they weren't! Later on just before the food arrived, got another snide remark from her asking if we were warm now Food-wise the Cajun chips are nice, but the fish was swimming in grease, soggy and almost translucent batter. No-one came to do a check back on our food so we went to the bar. Nathan was quick to apologise, but once again 'management' didn't bother apologising, just asked if I wanted something else before taking the plate away. Overall, Ember Inns has a good menu, but this is one to stay clear of. Nathan is the ONLY reason the service score was as...