White Hart — Restaurant in Tandridge

We've been here twice before & been impressed by food, service, surroundings & ambiance, so I chose here for a special 70th birthday celebration. I booked & liaised with staff beforehand, explaining that my husband was coeliac. I asked if they could do anything special for his birthday -they couldn't but said it was no problem for me to bring a cake & then they would bring it out with the candles lit. I was welcome to send them a banner to put up by the table beforehand. I didn't have to pre-book unless there was a definite preference for something from the Xmas menu (in case they ran out otherwise) When we arrived there was no acknowledgement that it was my husband's birthday & no sign of the banner that I'd posted 1st Class several days earlier I'd booked the table for 12.30. We were 10 mins late arriving although the rest of the family had got there much earlier with the balloons. There was only the normal menu on the table - we weren't offered the Christmas one. There was no indication on the menu as to what contained gluten so I had to go & find a member of staff who gave me a separate G/F menu (bearing in mind that they already knew we had a Coeliac diner) After we ordered starters the waiter returned to ask which soup my husband would like. He asked what choices there were and, between tomato or mushroom, he chose the latter. A while later the waiter returned to say that the mushroom soup was unavailable! Another member of our party had ordered pate -the waiter returned once more to say that was unavailable so he had to choose an alternative. After a bit of a wait the starters arrived (we only ordered 3 plus a child's one). My husband's soup was warm as opposed to hot. Onto the mains, the waiter came back again to say that what I'd ordered (sea bass) was unavailable and so I re-ordered. Then we had to wait an extremely lengthy amount of time for our mains to arrive (it was about 2.15pm by then). My chicken, bacon & avocado salad was very poor- the chicken was as dry & tough as old boots - I actually found it hard to cut and in the end I gave up and left it. The avocado was clearly over-ripe and brown. Then we had to wait a long while for the table to be cleared and dessert menus. Again I had to ask for the G/F dessert menu. We were told upfront that there was no sticky toffee pudding. The waiter did have to return once to find out if custard or ice-cream was required with the crumble So, after we got our desserts (must have been almost 3.30 by then!) it was time to get the cake. My son & I got it from the car & tried to find a member of staff to ask for matches. They were unable to procure any & eventually the chef came out with a blowtorch! Obviously too powerful to light candles on a cake so we suggested lighting a table candle first. Again it took a time to find a suitable candle. So we took the cake to the table ourselves and really the shine had worn off by then. They were unable to find anything to wrap the portion of the cake that we were cutting off to give to the members of our party who came separately other than a lot of paper serviettes so we made do with those. Eventually it was almost 4 pm by the time we left and that was down to the very lengthy delays with everything. I must mention that they weren't even busy - we were surprised by how few tables were occupied - this is a sure sign that the pub has gone downhill We won't be returning - I don't know what's happened to this place, it's such a shame as it's a lovely venue and used to be so good. I do want to give credit to our waiter though. He was very pleasant and tried his best. I just think all the staff were young and inexperienced and, even though it was far from crowded, there probably weren't enough staff on duty. There was no sign of a manager or anyone who knew anything about our requirements so it was a big disappointment for what should have been a very special birthday celebration. Also, one of the ladies toilets nearest us was blocked and I visited the other toilets further away and noticed definite bad...

Family with a 1 year old and buggy.

1- pre-booked and was given a table up 5 steep steps and then down 1. With buggy this was difficult, arrived at table and table next to us had children and buggy also. So not only us who had to struggle.

2- baby high chair provided had visibly loose bolts and was very wobbly

3- while waiting for food to arrive, steak knives were placed in front of 1 year old. Sauces given in small glass bowls and placed in front of 1 year old.

4- hot children's meal on hot plate put in front of 1 year old

5- steak was not very tasty and very expensive. Given only handful of chips

6- pudding was ok

We will not be returning

EDIT: 01/11/21

In response to your reply...

Thank you for your unprofessional, immature and rude reply. Not even an apology, you should be accepting of feedback and take it on board instead of making up excuses.

The number of people you served has no bearing on my family. We were not the only ones who had a terrible experience, as we have spoken to others who also experienced poor service. Generally most people with young children have them in buggies, however we had never been to your pub before therefore didn't know we would have to go up steep steps. Your staff who made us wait for our table should have seen that we had a buggy and discussed this with us. Initiative goes a long way. Plus another family next to us had a buggy and struggled with it too. Your steps are not 'very small'. Yes our high chair was replaced, however you seem to have missed the point. You should not be offering high chairs with loose fittings, this is unsafe. Your waitress put a steak knife INFRONT of my 1 year old, as if it was for him. Common sense should have been used here and the knife handed to an adult or placed away from my child. We did not speak with anyone, so I think you must be referring to someone else with complaints.

There are hardly any options for vegans and frankly your food is poor and expensive for what it is.

There are many negative reviews of your pub on Google, Facebook, in local Facebook pages too. I suggest you work on your customer service, then you may be more popular in the local area.

We have visited The Godstone Inn a few doors down from you on a previous occasion and recieved a completely different service than what we got from you. They were welcoming, friendly and accommodating which left us with a positive experience to remember. We did try to book with them on the August Bank Holiday but unfortunately this was not possible so we had to give your pub a try. Definitely something I regret doing, a waste of...

We arrived a little late for our pre-booked lunch, but the receiving staff seemed to know who we were without asking my name. There appeared to be only two staff present, and I was surprised at how few customers there were, though it was a little late for lunch, I guess [there were quite a few more when we left 2 hours later at 4pm]. We were offered a highchair for our infant grandson, also without asking. I was immediately impressed with the table we were given, a standard square oak table but with the surface scrubbed clean of varnish, bare clean wood. I really dislike the sticky feel of varnished tables cleaned with commercial spray product, which leaves a residue. Other circular tables nearby were varnished, though the place was immaculately clean, as were the toilets, according to my wife. There was plenty of space for our grandson to run around in when he got tired of sitting in the highchair. I also liked the substantial and large napkins of a material that felt a bit artificial, but softly felted, nevertheless. I am a messy eater, and like to tuck it into my collar to spread over my embonpoint to catch any drips, and these were, unlike most entirely inadequate tiny paper flimsies, really up to the job. Our young waitress, Amy, took our drinks order, giving accurate advice as to availabilities [the fruit cider is lovely and available as an alcohol free version too], and for an initial pot of sweet potato fries as a shared starter and for the infant to snack on [he eventually ate most of them!], which turned up very swiftly. There were a few vegan options for our daughter, and the rest of the menu was varied enough for most tastes. I asked if our 30% off mains voucher was applicable and after one glance at it on my phone was assured it was. Our choices - a vegan burger, sausages and mash, and a baked chicken dish - were entirely satisfactory, and in my case, the chicken, came with an excellent sauce with a variety of flavours, if a little salty from the bacon lardons. But well proportioned such that even with my hearty appetite, I was pleasantly full up. We had no starters [apart from the fries] and no dessert, and with the discount had a superb meal for less than a visit to a cheap burger chain. The service from Amy was intelligent, quiet, attentive and respectful and at the end the bill came with an off the cuff joke which charmed us all. We spent some time after with our grandson running all over the spacious green opposite and the whole experience was thought by all to be one of the more memorable afternoons we have...