Cowper Arms — Restaurant in Welwyn Hatfield

I booked this restaurant for a pre Christmas meal with family. Upon arrival I was impressed with how the pub looked and was decorated for Christmas. I arrived 10 mins early and had a short wait for the table to be prepared. Once we sat down straight away it felt like sitting on a roundabout. There was a very narrow walkway behind my seat which was being used as a thoroughfare for staff to collect drinks and customers to pay. We asked if we could move tables and as a large party was leaving we were able to do so. Good service to this point, however that’s where the service stopped. We had to wait ages to be asked if we wanted a drink. The food arrived and was nice, but the service was just really poor, no attention to asking if the food was ok, nobody asking if we would like anymore drinks, basics that I would expect when having a meal. Looking around it was clear that the staff were clearly more interested in the larger table parties, where they couldn’t do enough for them. When we had finished our mains, the plates were left in front of us for about 20 mins with staff looking at this and just ignoring and walking by. I should have to ask a member of staff to clear my empty plates from my table and when I did they were almost shocked by this strange request. Having since read reviews of the Cowper arms it seems to be a reoccurring theme over a long period that the service is very poor here, and despite replies to reviews from the manager that they take on board feedback and will address it it seems to be empty words. It’s a shame as the pub is nice and food was ok but service is a big part of the experience and it left me feeling very underwhelmed. I wouldn’t return here and wouldn’t recommend it. Feeling like your forgotten about and that you may have to clear your own table...

Fathers Day - Short post - Bad Bad Bad Bad Service! Walked in, sat in the corner, no one came to us for 20 mins, guy with a pin striped business shirt on which was blue and was wearing grey Jeans said to me ill get to you soon “Dude” and I responded excuse me and he said “Fathers Day Dude”….. Alrighty…… Then I asked for 2 small glasses of wine. Gave us large glasses. Anyways, I’m from the area, so this is a major let down and I won’t be coming back here if I can help it. The food order also took forever! This place sucks!

Total Bill - £67.85 for the worst food, made us pay for large glasses of wine when we didn’t order that as well. Poor Service, Poor Atmosphere and Food was Horrid and yes we raised that to the waiter. I hope he reads this post. He needs to be trained!

Response - To the person (owner) who responded to my review.

Never said "Pinstriped Suit".... I said Pinstriped Blue Business Shirt! I am not mistaking you with another place called Cowper Arms. Next to the station is exactly where I was. A normal response would have been "sorry you didn't enjoy your meal and experience with us, we hope you come back again in the near future so we can try again". Yes there was an issue with the wine glasses size. When you have 3 options, small, large or bottle. A normal question would be "Would that be the small, large or bottle". You don't just assume. I was also pointing directly and said small glasses of...

Staying in nearby Welwyn Garden City on a weekend visit, we were looking for a venue for Sunday lunch, and booked up based on some earlier reviews. We booked a table for three and all of us opted for a traditional Sunday roast dinner, specifically the roast beef option. The meals arrived very promptly, but we were left wondering if we had forgotten to order side dishes as the veg on the plate seemed rather inadequate. The veg, was "complimented" by the thinnest, scabbiest slices of beef that I've ever had. That wouldn't have been too bad though, if it actually tasted like beef as it had a strange texture to it. On a positive note the Yorkshire pudding and 3 roast potatoes were delicious. Fortunately noone came around to ask how the meal was, underwhelming was the consensus of all of us. Perhaps we should have spoke up, but we were all fairly miserable and after being soaked in a torrential downpour prior to arrival (out of your hands) and didn't want to make matters worse. Lovely pub, attentive service, but the food was really very...