Fishcakes
The White Swan

The White Swan

Ash RoadAsh, Sevenoaks, United Kingdom

Pub • Wine • Cakes • British


"I have just got back from an unfortunately VERY disappointing meal here today. I was recommended this place by a friend who said the food was great, and as it is so local to me we thought we would try. However, we went in and first off the only menu was a Sunday one which just offered various meats with standard roast accompaniments, no matter o chose a steak as it said it came with chips and onion rings. My first mistake. Secondly we ordered some bread and olive oil and balsamic dip. And a lamb shank. It took 53 minutes for the kitchen to send out our order and we didn’t even get the bread and olive oil to pick on. We had to ask a very rushed looking waitress how long table 59 would be, and could we at least have our bread and dip. She went in and came out another 5 minutes later with two plates one with bread and oil and another with some kind of pate on it. I said straight away we hadn’t ordered it so she took it away and then reappeared 5 minutes later carrying the same plate and saying that we had in fact paid for it so it was ours. No refund or apology was offered so I graciously said ok, we will try it. It was AWFUL, really warm pate and the bread was dry. Awful. Now onto the mains; My steak turned up with peas which I did not order. It was also bland and unseasoned and was brought dry with no sauce options or anything. I ate a few mouthfuls and ate 5 chips and I honestly couldn’t eat anymore as it was just tasteless and chewy. The lamb shank was ok, the gravy with it had no flavour at all and there was no salt or pepper offered or on the table at all ‍. We waited another 35 mins and no one came over to check or ask us if everything was ok. In the end. We got so fed up we left. I am incredibly disappointed, I never moan or put up reviews but I actually feel seriously unhappy that a meal for two cost me £65 in a mediocre setting and was flavourless. That combined with being charged for a starter neither of us would ever order in a million years and the fact we had to clear our own table and dust ash off of it gave me an experience I’m massively unhappy about. For a restaurant with apparent 4 stars online it was mediocre at best. And that is only because the lamb shank and a few mushrooms on my plate were edible and I was hungry! I really would like to hear back from someone, and for you to morally do the right thing and have my ‘unordered’ starter refunded back to me at some point. I have no issue in returning in the future however I would like some assurance that the whole experience will be far better and that all the issues here are addressed to give me an incentive to come back again."

The Royal Oak Hotel & Restaurant

The Royal Oak Hotel & Restaurant

The Royal Oak Hotel and Restaurant Chester Road, Dog Lane Kelsall, Cheshire CW6 0RR, CW6 0RG, TARPORLEY, United Kingdom

Cafés • Pizza • Hotels • British


"I visited here with my extended family for a meal. It was very quiet with only a few other tables occupied. We decided on dining here due to the offer they had on which was 30% off on a Thursday. We’ve been before to take advantage of this offer as it’s such great value for money. The evening started off great. We were welcomed by the manager and shown to our table. Our order was taken promptly, again by the manager, and then our drinks arrived followed by our food. Unfortunately, it went downhill from here. I guessed the manager had gone home by this point. The two young girls serving us were so miserable, no smiles, nothing. They spent most of their time hovering at the bar, chatting. We asked one of them for more drinks and nothing happened. Eventually, after a good 10 minute wait, a gentleman arrived at our table to take our order. (He looked like the supervisor or assistant manager? We then waited a further 20 minutes with still no sign of them. By this point I was getting annoyed so I went to the bar to ask myself. The bar man said he’d bring them asap. His exact words were “My bad, I’ll bring them straight over”! My bad?! What an unprofessional comment to make! Had the bar had been busy then fair enough but, there was hardly anyone in there! The staff seemed more interested in chatting at the bar instead of looking after us. My daughter then asked one of the young girls for a spoon as she didn’t have one. This never arrived so, again I had to go and get one myself from the bar. We also had to ask for napkins, twice! Those two girls were useless. No customer service skills at all. When we asked for the bill, we noticed that the discount hadn’t been taken off. The gentleman came over and said that the offer wasn’t on?! We explained that it was even on their website! He never even asked to see the proof that it was on the website, just said sorry, no discount. We said that we weren’t happy and wanted to speak to the manager. He then disappeared for a good 10-15 minutes. We assumed he was maybe calling the manager but, no. He came back to our table and said that the offer has definitely finished so we can’t have it! He said, if you like, he could call the manager. Why had he not done this in the first instance? No idea what he had been doing for the 10 minutes we were waiting?! In the end, he spoke to the manager and the discount was taken off. It was such an effort and it ruined the whole evening. We will not be returning. Other choices available in the village with much better staff!"