THE MALLOWS — Restaurant in Tunbridge Wells

I had purchased a Virgin Experience voucher which included a one night stay at the 4 star Mercure Hotel and a £50.00 food credit to be used at The Mallows restaurant within. When visiting any food establishment, I always like to look over the menu prior so I have a good idea as to what I want.. . I am one of those that can take ages to decide so, for the sake of my poor partner... it is good to have a good idea as to what is on offer. I had made my tentative decisions and was looking forward to my meal. Upon our entry to the restaurant, we were greeted by 'Tim'... who's very first words were a very stern 'wait there, I'll be with you in a minute'... no hi, hello, how you doing?...sorry I'll just be a real quick moment, then I'll be with you. I work in a customer based industry and found both his wording and tone to be very demeaning and quite, frankly rude! Once we were finally seated, we were then handed a piece of A4 paper with a 3 course menu and advised that the restaurant was 'currently changing its menu' and this is what's left.... none of which was what I had decided on, having spent time choosing from the menu on the website. The food itself, was very average... nothing to get excited about and probably just taken from the freezer. Having since checking the menu online nearly a week since my visit... the 'new' menu is not to be seen! Leading me to believe that, being a Virgin Experience customer... I was fobbed off by a cheap, inferior menu which was made up of the cheap bits from the actual main menu. This sort of practise is very poor, to discriminate someone for using a voucher instead of actual money!

Now, my 'Experience' voucher, then also included a full breakfast the following morning... unfortunately, at the same restaurant, this would normally cost in the region of £20.00! This would include both full English and continental options. The full English was pre cooked and left to fester under heat lamps, cooked on the outside but pink on the inside sausages, rubbery hash browns and overcooked eggs! It was at least something to see where a previous review had been acknowledged and both beans and tomatoes were now included with the full English... At what point would these items not be included?? However, I will give credit where credit is due... the continental options were actually quite good, you can't really go wrong with cold meats and cheese! The service for the breakfast was much much better by a chap who was very friendly and gave good advice regarding how to get to our place of interest. The decor was dated. The chairs were tired, flaky leather and required replacing. And there is no place for cheap, fake candles and plastic plants anywhere these days. In short, Tim certainly requires more customer service training. His initial greeting put us on a bad setting from the start and the food needs to be more becoming of a 4 star hotel the restaurant is located is located in. I feel that value for money was not received. I feel cheated by the menu swapping. I will not be returning. I will not be...

quite boring, food is nice, staff were very rude and...

Lovely place, great...