The Chequers — Restaurant in West Oxfordshire

Extremely extremely disappointing! I came with my family for food on a Sunday after my sister had recommended it. The service was very good, so in detailing what happened with the food, I feel extremely sorry for them… but here it is.

The first red flag, merely a prelude to this Cotswold tragedy was that the FOH wanted to sit us on a table with a water leak from the ceiling dripping on to the table, that they knew about but were still trying to seat us there. However, they did acquiesce to our protest to being moved to a ship shape spot of the pub.

I ordered lamb roast which was ok - inoffensive, but a little bland and in need of seasoning, some flare and originality. My accompanying cauliflower cheese was also under seasoned and lacking in flavour. Totally forgettable - which makes it the best meal of the lot to be honest… we haven’t got to the good stuff yet.

My brother in law’s roast beef was brought out raw. And I don’t mean like a little red, I mean like it was still mooing. And I’m not squeamish about eating raw beef - I like rare beef, but it was raw. Burnt on the edges and cold in the middle so not actually cooked through at all. The deep sinewy red of uncooked beef flesh. So he complained and the kitchen re-fired that. Which also bothered me if I’m honest, that they didn’t just offer him a fresh portion rather than continue to cook his beef… fine… for now. He also complained that his carrots were raw enough to be unable to drive a fork through, but honestly there wasn’t enough headroom to alert this to the server on top of everything else.

After waiting an extra ten minutes for my Dad and Sister to get their Caesar salads, as there was a problem getting all the mains to arrive on time, the chicken on my sister’s Caesar Salad also arrived visibly raw - to which in shock, the server agreed and was highly apologetic. My sister then left to go and be sick in the bathrooms.

Some of the meals were removed from the bill thankfully, but it was an utter gastronomic car crash - and all for the privilege of affluent Cotswold prices. I have no ideas what’s happening here, or whether the management care because the first review I stumbled upon before writing this was the exact same thing - another local patron complaining about how his beef roast was still raw inside a...

Been a regular for some years before and after new owners. Expected price increases as place has improved, but my sole reason to visit is for the Sunday roast meal. This time was my last visit after being served a raw beef steak which was supposed to be Sunday roast beef. Sunday roast is normally sliced not hacked off in 3/4 inch thick raw steaks.

Not only that they couldn't be asked to cook proper Yorkshire pudding, preferring to dish up frozen ones instead. On my plate. I got 2 sliced new potato sized roast potato's, my wife got proper sized ones which we ended up sharing. The beef was covered with a layer of pulled brisket so I never noticed the raw beef underneath until i tried to cut it. So I was far from happy when none of the serving staff bothered to ask how was my meal was and then at the end only probably because my plate was half full of leftovers.

30% increase on prices and meals like that, Ill never go back again and will happily share my poor experience with friends, neighbours and family who also occasionally eat there,

I was offered a free sweet, but after a such a disappointing meal didn't want one, thought the minimum they could have done was reduced the bill by that amount , maybe given us our drinks on the house seeing that would have only cost them less than a tenner. So I paid the bill in full and tipped waiting staff £5 as the service wasn't the real issue.

So goodbye for ever, lets see how many others reading this review and people I know also stop visiting.

I'll guarantee it will cost you more than looking after customers with a problem you failed to...

Honestly I would give it a miss. It's a lovely looking venue and thats what made us decide to eat there. But that is pretty much where it ended. The service is the bare minimum and whilst the staff are making a good effort they are clearly in need of training and I did feel sympathetic for them. The food was very average. I had their surf & turf which was an unseasoned steak with a few bits of scampi on it. It was cooked medium like I requested but otherwise quite dull. My wife had the lamb burger which was just an average lamb patty stuck between 2 bits of bread with nothing else in it. All the accompanying sides were basic, plain and looked like they had been purchased from a cheap supermarket. We ordered a bottle of Malbec and when it arrived our waitress said here is your Merlot. When I asked if I was able to pay with American Express she asked me "Are you American then?" She had been speaking to me throughout our meal and I have a very noticeable London accent. They are nice staff but seemed to have been chucked into service with no noticeable Management present and no real idea on what they are doing. The guests sat next to us also made comments about their food to the staff as they got up and left. We left feeling underwhelmed and a little disappointed with it all. It wasn't priced cheaply either.

It's a nice looking old style pub but go just for a drink and...