Crooked Billet — Restaurant in Wexham and Ivers Community Board

A copy of a email I sent with my experience

Avoid at all costs! Spend your money else where

I am sorry to have to go to the extremity to have to write an email on my recent experience today at the Crooked Billet Uxbridge Road, however the level of service was absolutely diabolical.

So my brothers and I decided to eat at the Crooked Billet, I am off work so thought it would be nice to catch up and have a nice meal.

On entering purchased drinks at the bar, and was informed that there was a half an hour wait for food. No big issue. Then proceeded to sit down and decide on what to eat. After waiting 10-15 mins for service I decided go to the bar to enquire why I have not been seen to.

The girl behind the bar then informed me that I am meant to order at the bar, that it's written in the menu in 2mm font! And it's written somewhere upon entering. Okay again no big issue, however that being said wouldn't take a lot for someone to mention that when buying a drink?? Or having an 'order at the bar sign,' posted behind the bar on the wall? Admittedly I kept seeing the waitresses walk pass and did feel slight ignored. I thought surely there must be a ticketing system where they can see the table I am sitting at hasn't ordered food? Come approach and me then tell me to go to the bar. From my personal experience as a Manager I use the motto the customers always right, I would of apologise and said I'm sorry I should have mentioned that when you ordered your drinks. (Just take the hit to make the customer feel abit better) - taking abit of ownership

So the complicated dish I ordered was the megasaurus, I customised the plate by asking for no chips, a jacket instead, extra mushrooms, no peas and pepper corn sauce. The order was the read back to me by the same girl I purchased the drinks from, and we reconfirmed. Okay, ready to sit back and wait for food. The wait wasn't to bad till my food arrived, But, the order was wrong. It was the standard menu version of the order with no customisation missing mushrooms completely. Okay, still being patient, I told them this is incorrect, I specified my order and had it reconfirmed by the girl who took the order, please can you change this. The waitress then came back exactly the same plate with cheese added to the chips and jalapenos , okay at this point I am started to get frustrated. My two brothers I am with are now getting struck into their food. Im still waiting. 5-10 minutes later, the food comes out again. No extra mushrooms and no pepper corn sauce. At this point I've grown inpatient. The experience of eating out is ruined and my steak is lukewarm, finally another 5 minutes later some extra mushrooms and my sauce has arrived. I've to to speak to the manager and it turns out the it was the girl who initially served me drinks. She offers me a refund and no food or a free desert, whilst my brothers are halfway through their food and I am still hungry, I want food. I have then asked for the managers email and been given the Uxbridge Crooked billet email instead. The girl who was serving Manager did give me a refund, but as I say the experience was ruined and the food was lukewarm.

Little things make a difference when eating out and I can honestly say I will not be recommending this place anytime soon, maybe the way food is ordered needs to be looked at?

And the level of training your giving...

Omg I was absolutely shocked by this place…online the last god knows how many reviews were all 5 star. In my personal opinion these are either false or the people that attend were paid to do a review online. When we arrived we struggled to get a car parking space, when we walked in we were shocked by how half empty it was. When we walked in there were 2 members of staff behind the bar and a sign saying find a table. I had already took it upon myself to book ahead expecting it to be massively busy. Now I know why it isn’t. When I asked a member of staff the team leader lead us to a table that wasn’t made up instead it was sticky and disgusting….worse was yet to come we took the kids to the toilets…omg I had to hold my breath or else I would have been physically sick 🤢 🤮🤢 the toilets in this place clearly hasn’t been cleaned in a very long time. Pics attached. When we decided what we’re having we made our way to the bar to place our order. Me and the kids are easily pleased but my partner is a bit more selective. She opted to have the bangin katsu banquet but she doesn’t like chicken on the bone so asked very politely to swap them for more nuggets but the team leader point blank said no they don’t do swaps. Her attitude was disgusting. As my partner suffers with ADHD and put on the spot she took a few minutes to find something she would eat and asked for the New Yorker but minus the BBQ sauce and the chicken to be burnt. When the order was placed said team leader came out and had ago at the girl putting the order through. The food was not very nice at all. The rice over cooked, the chicken even though was requested burnt was nowhere near burnt. The sizzler I ordered was certainly not sizzling when it came out. Also this place urgently needs a refurb, massive patches of the carpet ripped up covered in red & white tape. Bar full of dirty empty glasses walls covered in crayon. Please don’t visit here unless desperate. The staff need retraining. This place has the potential to be a great place but not until the above is completed. Theo’s review is my honest opinion. All other reviews I assume are lies cooked up in...

We arrived at the crooked billet en route from home, as a pit stop from a day out. Service was fine from the bar staff, they were friendly and dealt with our 7 orders very quickly. The problems really started with the kitchen. One of our kids ordered a £3 salted caramel milkshake from the menu. After about 15 mins of waiting, it hadn't arrived, we asked where it was and we were told "I'll just get it." When it arrived the tall tumber was filled to the brim with ice, so there was very little milk in the shake. Next the food started arriving; one order was brought out after about a 20 minutes wait, where the server said "who ordered the lamb kofte flatbread?... unfortunately we don't have any more left. Is there anything else you'd like?" Normally this would be fine, but Normally you'd be informed that there were things missing from the menu when you ordered, not when you're expecting to eat. The children's meal deals include ice cream, this however seems to take about 25 mins to scoop out. Not that I've counted the full occupancy of the bar. But we are certainly the only people dining in the restaurant side and there is minimal noise from the bar. It unfortunately has not left a memorable experience in my mind. Credit to the bar staff they did offer alternative meals, however, we weren't expecting to be here for over 2 hours. Who knows how long it would've taken if something else was ordered.

Edit: The review above was written whilst we were seated, waiting for the desserts to arrive.

As per the managers comments below, a full refund was offered. He was very amiable and understanding of our issues. On the basis of the good will gesture I'm sure we will be back in the future. A few notes on this though, while I understand it is disappointing to receive negative comments, reviews are a way for customers to share experiences both good and bad. The next time we're back, hopefully we will be writing about how brilliant a turn around the service was. The good will however, doesn't fully undo the experience, neither does the review detract from the brilliant work of...