Rushbrooke Arms Sicklesmere — Restaurant in West Suffolk

As a retired business owner I hate giving bad and/or negative reviews. It is tough out there. However you have to speak as you find. I visited this establishment very recently with a old friend of mine who I was taking to lunch. Quite simply never again. Upon entering we encountered a very prominent sign commanding us to go no further until dealt with by a member of staff. We are two elderly people and not good on our legs. After a few minutes a young lady appeared wearing a permanent grin. She quickly rattled through what was not available on the menu that day and then directed us to a table, making it very clear that was where we were to sit without any further choice despite the fact that there were lots of other empty tables. We later learnt however that we had been lucky as we had been placed on a table with ample room. Two gentlemen arrived a little later and were ordered to a table no bigger than a large chess board. They were not happy and asked if they could sit somewhere else. All the grinning lady would offer them was an alternative chess board in close proximity. They decided to tough it out. An obvious strategy was in place to keep all customers together in order to minimise leg work. After being seated for a few minutes a very polite bearded young man appeared and took our orders. Ten minutes later he returned with our drinks. My pint of IPA was extremely well chilled and as a result condensation streamed down the outside of the glass. When I first picked it up it nearly slipped straight through my hands. I just managed to hole onto it. It was a glass with no handle and tapered from the bottom upwards. Upon close inspection I am certain that it was a flower vase and of uncertain volume. Believe me this is an area of expertise for me. I have been a member of CAMARA for 50 years and never have I been served a pint of ale in a container like that. Another ten minutes later the grinning young lady appeared to inform me that the kitchen had NO GRAVY. Yes that's correct NO GRAVY. I was speechless. Whilst still in shock she went on to inform me about some gravy substitute that they could offer. I had no choice. Another 15 minutes later the bearded young man appeared with our meals and asked if there was anything else that we needed. I requested some English mustard. A minute or so later he returned with an already opened small squeesy bottle of mustard. How many seconds does it take to take to put a teaspoon of Coleman's powder into a small pot and stir it with a few drops of water in order to make fresh mustard? Whilst he had been getting the mustard my guest noticed that she had not been brought any tartare sauce with her scampi. So upon his return with my mustard the young man had to once again return to the kitchen to get my guests tartare sauce. We were praying that they had some. We would describe the food as very average. Luckily my meat pie had such a moist interior that the need for gravy was very negated. I did try the gravy substitute. What ever it was it was not gravy. However the pastry around my pie was as tough as old bullets and in the end I could only manage to eat about half of it. By this time we had unanimously agreed that we would not risk a pudding and finally requested two coffees, which after 15 minutes had still not arrived. I managed to catch the bearded young man's eyes and five minutes later the coffees appeared. Throughout all of this we had been sitting with the entrance in site and during that time spotted two would-be diners arrive and wait at the control point. After about ten or so minutes, without no one dealing with them, they both turned round and left. I would suggest that who ever is in charge becomes pro-active and just not leave the whole management of a restaurant to two young people. Lastly scrap Check Point Charlie with...

Hmmmm Well apart from the screaming child that was hollering its lungs out, the place was as dull as dishwater. The bar person didn't know what was on offer on the drinks menu, and asked me to point out the correct wine. Wine finally sorted out, soft drink with it, maybe things are looking up! Wrong, the coffee that was ordered took 15 mins to arrive at the table, this followed with the " I'm sorry for the delay but I had to do some drinks for the restaurant ". So, under impressed we chose not to take the food menu and we left.

The food that was taken to the next table did look good and there seemed to be enough of it.

Sadly we won't be rushing back for a second visit just yet.

Well, eat my words. We happened to be in the area again, and after reading the reply to my review we decided to give the place another chance.

Greeted by again friendly staff, polite and pleasant is all you need and that's what we got.

Nice clean table in a good spot. Lovely, pocket sized server that new her stuff. She was delightful and bright faced, all smiles. She had a good knowledge of the menu and new wine list, checking to make sure that the new selection was indeed available from the supplier.

We waited for about 15 mins for our meals, which were absolutely top notch. I thought that the food looked good on our previous visit and was not disappointed. Lunch menu fish and chips. I defy you to find better in a fancy restaurant anywhere. Perfectly cooked fish in a crispy batter without gallons of excess oil draining from it. Good fluffy centered chips and peas. Really good food!

Continued good service for our pancake sweet . YES, you must try them, absolutely delicious and probably too much for most appetites, but I ploughed on and cleared my plate.

So, recapping, my eyes have been opened to the possible and my memory is no longer tainted with my first impression from our previous visit.

Rebecca and her team deserved the second chance, and I'm glad we gave it them.

Thank you for a lovely...

Technically our local pub and had been coming for over 10 years but we had totally stopped visiting because in the last couple of years the entire experience from the service, the food and the wait for food was totally intolerable and we really aren't hard to please! We'd seen it was under new management and since we weren't in the mood for travelling into town for food we thought we'd give it another go. We booked a table,this was another of the problems before that we would order drinks and then be told that they weren't doing food for walk ins meaning we'd spent close to £10 for drinks we didn't need or want seeing as we had to then go somewhere else so we can't comment on whether this is still the case! We arrived and were glad to see that the staff had changed, we got a friendly welcome and fast service. We did have a little bit of a wait for our food as did some others around us. It was relatively busy but not packed. When the food came it was very very nice, equal to if not better than other greene king pubs in the area. We were very pleased with the improvement in the friendliness of the bar and waiting staff as they really went above and beyond to make sure everyone was happy. After at least a years absence we are personally prepared to give the Rushbrooke another go that though it still has a few problems with food times the new management and staff are clearly trying to bring the pub back to the flagship greene king establishment that it once was.

It is a beautiful pub in beautiful surroundings, just be prepared that you may have a wait for food but if you do the staff will do their very best to make sure you are kept updated and informed.

Once again we are personally very happy with the service we received and will...