The Farmers Arms — Restaurant in West Lancashire

Sadly for our first time it wasn’t a great customer experience. The place at night looks Great but on arrival standing at the bar we were not welcomed/asked what we wanted to drink or if we had booked a table. A man came in after us who was welcomed so we felt the bar man could had made more of an effort. We did arrive early so ordered a drink but at no point after telling him we had booked a table did he say where to go or if someone would be over to let us know when our table was ready. After 15 minutes I decided to go to the bar and ask the barman only to walk into him calling one of the young waiting on staff something I can’t repeat behind their back when walking off. To make things less uncomfortable I jokingly said I hope you were not talking to me. After about 10 minutes he came over saying our table wasn’t ready in the main restaurant and didn’t Know a time it would be vacated. So he offered us to sit in some booths outside the main restaurant by the entrance to the kitchens and the toilets (I will come to that later) We were taken over but the table offered wasn’t ready (as set up for 4) so we had to stand and wait until it was cleared and set up for the two of us. We sat down and after 10 minutes hadn’t been seen to by the waiting on staff and when they finally did asked what we would like to order but mentioned we hadn’t even been given any menus!! We decided to order a nice bottle of Rioja but advised didn’t have any , then the chianti (the most expensive) again came back to advise didn’t have that either. We ended up having a the house Merlot which for £18.95 which was not worth it. When asked on what food we wanted we asked if any specials but was told only what was on the menu and had to ask what the soup of the day was. We decided on baked Camembert with warm crusty bread. Mains ribeye and lamb kebab. Well after 5 minutes came back to advise no lamb! By this point I was losing the will to Live so thought go for a simple patty burger. Starter arrived and tbh it was not a described. It wasn’t hot and gooey as it would have been that just came out of the oven it resembled a land slide and looked like it had been microwaved. As for the crusty warm bread were given cold hard croutons. Meanwhile when we asked about why they didn’t have any of the wine only to be told had stock issues since Christmas but surely had enough time to source others. Or even if they didn’t would have mentioned this when asked what drinks we wanted. Our table position wasn’t in a pleasant position, firstly we could see what was going on in the kitchen , staff eating food and the ladies toilet door constantly banging. When my wife went to the toilet the soft close wasn’t working and a piece of cardboard wedged behind but with no effect. My burger turned up but with no steak. Waited 5 minutes to ask where it was and a few minutes later it arrived. Surely the burger could have gone under the hot plate in the kitchen and then be brought together. On closer inspection my burger wasn’t patties just two standard burgers, nor did it have any gherkins (which I had to ask for) or the caramelised onions. It tasted ok , burgers were tough but by the time I got to eat mine it wasn’t that hot either. But that was my fault as wanted to eat together. My wife’s ribeye was nice/tasty but her mushrooms weren’t cooked in the middle and her chips had a mixture of chunky chips and skinny fries again warm. The waiting on staff seemed busy (our waitress was pleasant) and didn’t stop until they were bought out some food. So rather than management organising them to sit down in a quiet area they had to stand up and eat right in-font of us by the toilets. I could mention more but a lot of front of house issues could easily be addressed and sure with the right support / better communication on what they don’t have could to a better job. Which would result with a better customer experience. Sadly we won’t be going back or until we hear that things...

Wednesday evening we arrived for food for my myms Birthday. Waitress was lovely. Placed our food order which contained gluten free options as both my mum and partner are gluten intolerant. The waitress came back to inform us the kitchen had ran out of gluten free flour to make the batter for the fish and chips. Both my partner and mum had to rr pick off the menu. One ordered the gluten free bacon and cheese burger the other a steak. Waitress again returns to inform us they had no gluten free buns for the burger. Back to the menu. New order placed. Waitress then has to come back again to tell me they had no bums for my plant based burger. I said that's fine ill just have a different bun as it's just a bun to which she said I don't think they have the actual burger. No its like OK ill change my whole choice. So chicken liver pate to start then halloumi burger for me. Mum's starter arrives followed by mine. I went to cut some of my bread to put some pate on o ly to find all my bread had mould on it!!! Calls the Waitress back who was full of apology. At this point we should have walked out!!! They bring me another and my partners starter arrives. Rather luke warm for the mushrooms. Mains arrive partners steak that was supposed to be rare was cooked medium rare, mums cod loin was bland and to say mu burger was ridiculous doesn't cut it. A 2 inch thick block of halloumi deep fried and shoved between a half stale bun that's been toasted to disguise it on a pointless piece of avocado and a bit of dry salsa. Had to cut the halloumi down as was inedible. After that my partner is now suffering with his stomach which is only after eating here and started with the mushrooms. Still awaiting a reply from the email sent. So I called past today as after inspection of the bill they still charged me for the plant based burger that was out of stock. And to say they charge £4.05 for a pint of coke is extortionate. The lady who I spoke to today has said the general manager will reply to my email, refunded me for my meal but still tried to justify the service saying they get fresh produce daily etc etc in all fairness wasn't good enough. We where told by one Waitress the head chef had walked out not sure on when but whoever is in that kitchen shouldn't be. As the only other table that was in at the time we overheard the Waitress tell them their pie was being remade as the first one had exploded in the kitchen. This place is definitely being reported to food...

Went here 4th June 2022

I have to say, lovely interior/atmosphere and very friendly staff.

However, there was a long wait for food despite the place not being very busy, and staff seemed disorganised in terms of serving customers in the right order. Some customers were waiting inexplicably longer than others, some people who arrived after our party were served before us. There were no checks from staff as to whether we were happy with our meals, which any experienced hospitality worker will tell you is standard practice.

Food was of alright quality but unfortunately the portions were pretentious and small for the cost. My first reaction when the plates were delivered was "oh.. that's it?" and we left the establishment not feeling satisfied which is a shame, I expect more for nearly £20 per main.

Some of us ordered pie, and received stew in a ceramic pot with a pastry lid. This is NOT a pie and shouldn't be advertised as such, and again I'd expect a lot better for the price. The steak "pie" sauce was also too salty.

Due to these issues we swerved a dessert, and looking at other patrons servings, again the portions looked very small for the cost.

There's a good foundation here with the décor and atmosphere, but a lot of things need to be improved upon. The prices do not reflect the service/quality, and quantity of food and we actually felt ripped off on reflection. As things stand we would not return again, and we were happy repeat customers before the...