Grantley Arms — Restaurant in Waverley

What has happened to the Grantley??

We live local, eaten many times here before and the food and service has been great.

Tonight, a table of 5, and food and service was really, really bad. The Grantley wasn’t packed as we expected it to be, maybe others knew that it had gone downhill recently? Who knows..

Starters took half an hour to arrive. One sent back to kitchen as it was freezing cold. One was wiped from the bill as the ‘flatbread’ was inedible and couldn’t be cut with a knife. Two of us had the salmon starter listed as being served with rye bread, came served with 1.5” slices of slightly stale feeling white bread. The salmon looked and tasted like a pack from any supermarket, opened and put on a plate with dry white bread!

Mains took over half an hour to arrive after starters cleared away. We had to ask where they were, and we’re told they were being plated, but still had a 10 min wait for them to be served. Fish and chips was greasy, the tartar sauce was simply mayonnaise with a some chopped herbs. The Christmas menu option of veal escalope for two of us was terrible. Really tough overcooked veal, the breadcrumbed outside was greasy and falling off the meat. Meant to be an anchovy and butter sauce, there was no sauce, and there was no anchovy flavour at all.

Then desert, which also included another 15-20 minute wait. One apple and cinnamon crumble (described at ‘adequate’ at best) and three cheese plates. Crackers were stale! Plate was of cheese, stale crackers, 3 sticks of celery and a cube of quince the size of a marble. So dry!! So unpleasant to eat.

3 courses, 5 people, we waited an AGE for our food, and not one dish that was great. What’s happened to the Grantley!? It used to be great, this was terrible, really terrible.

Have you lost your chef and have junior staff cooking the meals? It felt this way. Would love to hear your response Grantley Arms as tonight was not that busy for you, yet our experience was really poor in every course… real shame, we’ve been coming here for many years but we may need to find a new pub to eat after this...

Visited The Grantley Arms for Sunday lunch with some friends & we had an absolutely lovely time!

The pub itself is really nice, the exterioir looks ratger traditional & the inside doesn't disappoint, taking that cosey pub feeling the whole way through. Really nice atmosphere (every time I have ever been here it's been busy) with helpful, friendly staff. There is a garden area, it's not the biggest around, but it's still quaint & nice.

We booked for a group of 6, quite far in advance knowing it's a busy pub & on the morning of our booking we needed to change our booking to accommodate 7 of us, the pub went out of their way to accommodate, doing all they could to make it work for us. We eneded up on alovely round table with plenty of space for us all to eat & chat together. We were further from the bar area & in what you could call the 'restaurant area' beside the garden. It was quite a sunny day & the area was bright & airy, really pleasant!

The staff were brilliant throughout our experience & the food was excellent as well. Our starters were both generous & delicious & we tucked into our tasty mains so fast I failed to get any photos! We almost all had roasts (as was the great Sunday offer), they were also generous portions & even had all the trimmings, the veg came seperate so we could help ourselves. The potatoes were roasted to perfection, super crispy & tasted like the real home made thing & not something from the freezer. They even offer locally sourced meat & ingredients.

Overall a superb experience & I absolutely intend to return & recommend this pub to anyone wanting a cosey drink or meal, to a small group gathering! Would advise booking for peak times though , the locals clearly know how good this spot is!

Thank you Grantley Arms & keep up the...

Unfortunately, our Sunday lunch experience at the Grantley Arms was rather disappointing. We were celebrating a couple of family birthdays too. The waiter seemed to not bother writing down our table of eights order, and despite our attempts to communicate, the order came out wrong. Since then, it felt as though the staff intentionally avoided eye contact, leaving us waiting for multiple things, sauces, 1 side dish, drinks and of course one missing meal. The food itself, unfortunately, lacked flavor and most dishes arrived lukewarm. The absence of a check back prevented us from addressing these concerns directly. Post-meal, our table was one of two in the restaurant, so not as though the staff were rushed off their feet. We had to wave someone down for a dessert order, without spoons the waiter quickly dumped a pile in the middle of the table then ran off not allowing us to order any coffee or tea. To add to how empty the restaurant was at this point, a unattended toddler was racing up & down the restaurant stomping and shouting which added to our unrest. We received no apology about the missing items or lack of service we received, again having to wave someone down for the bill, we were shocked to see the service charge at the bottom of the bill which we asked to remove. Service was really shoddy, food was not worth £21 a plate, lack of attentiveness contributed to an overall sense of neglect. Wouldn’t recommend coming here for a Sunday roast, or for...