The Why Not — Restaurant in Wychavon

The venue itself is beautiful and looked fab when we had decorated it (booked the marquee) The food served was amazing! Huge variety and hot, tasty food. There was lots left over due to the amount served. I was advised to cater for slightly less than the numbers confirmed as there would be a lot so catered for 45 with between 50-55 attending.

Now for the negatives At booking we were advised that the room takes 40 sitting and 60 standing which was perfect. We advised that we were planning a DJ and live music (singer) and were told that the music speakers would need to be directed inwards due to neighbours and that the music would need to be turned off at 2300 when we could move into the main pub. This was not a problem at all. We were also asked if we wanted the marquee bar to be open and definitely said yes as it would keep everyone together and prevent people having to go to the main bar (in the restaurant).

On the day of the booking we arrived at 4pm to set up as directed but when the events organiser suggested putting the Photo Booth in the extension (were the marquee bar is) she advised that we weren’t having that as we had less than 60 attending. I didn’t argue this at the time as I was thrown (the maximum was 60) and I should have highlighted my concern at this point. I also didn’t want to cause problems and just wanted to enjoy the celebration. She assured me that this wouldn’t be a problem as the restaurant had very few bookings so it shouldn’t affect anything. The evening amazingly well with the DJ playing a few tracks to create the atmosphere and get people dancing. We then had the delicious food and the singer began her set. From 9pm the restaurant manager repeatedly asked that the music be turned down and stated that they were getting complaints from the restaurant! There was a dispute between the DJ/singer and the events coordinator about this and then she approached me to ask that the music be turned down - I did say I would ask the DJ to play quieter music after the singer but I wouldn’t interrupt her song. Following the dispute there was a bad taste left and people started leaving so we concluded the evening at 2210 and arranged lifts back to our home to continue the party there. The coordinator spoke to me and said she was “mortified” that I wasn’t happy but placed the blame on the DJ who had been rude to her (afterwards- he said she’d been rude to him when he’d said that he was employed to create a party atmosphere, she had said “that’s not my problem mate” and this was why he responded badly). I did speak to both the coordinator and the deputy manager the next day and gave feedback: if the venue want to advertise as a party venue they should ensure that the Marquee bar is available and staffed, this will more than likely prevent the restaurant users from complaining (although how miserable are they?) secondly they could advise people using the restaurant that there is a party happening (this was booked 6 months in advance). The rules for music are that live music can be amplified to a crowd of less than 500 between 8am and 11pm so we were well within this period. The music was not anything out of the ordinary for a party and definitely not too loud although not background music (if we’d been told this was all that was allowed we would have booked elsewhere). I’ve had a day to think about this and although we made the most of the situation and did enjoy ourselves, I really feel the experience regarding the music and bar was unacceptable. I would recommend this venue for events that don’t include music (not a party) I have been told by the coordinator that they’ve never had this problem before and have hosted parties but I struggle to see how ours was any different. I do think that the main concern was the complaints from those dining in the restaurant but this could have been prevented with either better communication with them before they booked or even having the marquee bar available. Having spoken to the deputy today it would be good to have...

We were a large table and the experience was not good. I don't think their kitchen can cope with large tables. The amount of time it took for courses to come out was just unacceptable. Whilst the waiting staff seemed friendly they distictly lacked any of the basics of service which is a clear management issue. Mains being put down without cutlery even when asked for cutlery before hand. Having to wait 10 minutes with my main sat infront of me before a member of our party going to get the cutlery himself. Then they did it again with dessert. Having to ask all the time to take glasses away showed how inexperienced the staff were. I took my young son to the toilet a couple of times and saw five waiting staff stood chatting infront of the bar whilst leaving one or two staff to bring our food out and whilst waiting for our tables to be cleared.

Now the food from the festive menu....the starter was duck breast and it seemed more like a canape, there was nothing to it. And oddly the duck tasted fishy like it had been cut on a board that had been used to cut fish. The main was lamb and I just stared at it when it was put down. The lamb looked exactly like a tin of gourmet cat food had been emptied on my plate. The dauphinoise potato was bland and everything seemed way too salty. My friend had the beef and I think they'd had an accident with the salt as thats all you could taste. I had the pecan pie for dessert and I did enjoy that.

The venue was nice inside, clean for the most part. Just needs to cleaner to look up in the gents toilet to get rid of the spider webs hanging like streamers the entire length and width of the toilets.

Now we did raise the issues with one of the waiting staff who apologised but said there was no point asking for theiranager as she wasn't very good and nothing...

Lovely refurbished so much bigger than it used to be, lovely location with open views over fields on the back garden seating area .food was delicious and textures were fab enjoyed all my 3 courses , I chose gluten free my starter was the chicken satay which was devine , and my main was the seabass , although the fish was very thin it didn't dissapoint as the flavours were fab.. . The whole experience was perfect, the service was spot on & the waitresses were 100 % attentive at all times, cheerful , & caring nature. Dogs are allowed in the restaurant as I believe I saw one in there , there is a main seating area in the main part, lots of out door seating area over looking the fields & far views out the back, and a huge conservatory off the side of the main building which is a marquee, but it's done out inside extremely lovely which seems to gives it that conservatory feel . Parking is quite big at the rear of the main building. Will definitely be making this our go to place for special meal time Outings for myself & my husband, and our son & we will & have already recommended to family & friends, & will certainly be asking them to join us in the near future. Loved every minute of our time together there , its not very often we get to go anywhere because of my health condition. It would be even more perfect if the menu was also dairy free & gluten free options, as I'm very restricted on my diet , no gluten, no dairy, sugar & additives & preservatives very much more , those though being the main ones. There is only so much you can expect from eating out so some of my restrictions have to be ignored & suffer the consequences, but if these were available more wide spread more people would dine out . Thank you to all the staff that served us that evening it was so relaxing & extremely...