"We were really looking forward to a Sunday roast lunch at the Chequers Inn and upon arrival we were quickly seated at our table, which was lovely and cosy. We were asked what drinks we would like, and asked for a wine list, to be told they had red, white, or rose. After asking what wines they had, we opted for a bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, as they only had a Merlot or Pinot Noir available as red wine. After a short while our waiter returned to say that they did not have a full bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, so we changed our order. (Having subsequently found their wine menu on line I guess they had also run out of Malbec, Rioja and Shiraz, which is why I had to opt for the Pinot Noir from Romania). After a long wait our drinks of one glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, one glass of Pinot Noir, two large glasses of lime and soda and one small glass of lime and soda were served and we placed our lunch order, having been told there were no burger buns not a problem as all five of us wanted a roast lunch. For starters we ordered a ‘selection of warm bread with butter, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and tapenade’ and deep fried whitebait. After a very long wait the ‘selection’ of bread arrived. This consisted of a sliced overcooked baguette, with the tiniest drizzle of balsamic vinegar at the bottom of the olive oil and the tapenade had been replaced with finely chopped tomatoes and onions. The exceedingly overdone whitebait turned up after a further long wait. Then one of the roast beef main course turned up, which looked lovely, followed by the roast belly of pork with hardly any gravy so we had to order additional gravy (at a cost of £1 for a very, very tiny pot). The two roast turkey dinners and children’s portion of roast beef turned up after about a further 5 minute wait. The additional gravy followed 5 minutes after that. Despite numerous front of house staff walking past our table it was exceedingly difficult to attract anyone’s attention to ask for more drinks. Whilst we were eating our main course we could overhear the front of house staff laughingly updating each other with what was not available on the menu. Whilst we were waiting to place our dessert order another family came in, but on being told the lengthy list of items which were not available on the menu, they got up and left. When it came to dessert our granddaughter wanted sticky toffee pudding. We were told they had the pudding but no sauce. We asked for floater coffees and were initially told they did not have the cream for floater coffees. We were subsequently told they had the cream, so order a decaf Tia Maria coffee, a normal floater coffee and a rum floater coffee, and another lime and soda. After an exceedingly long wait, (we thought they had forgotten the order), our floater coffees turned up but not what we ordered. The decaf Tia Maria coffee was caffeinated coffee, when we were told this we asked for a replacement and were told they had no more Tia Maria. Great shame as this is a lovely venue, but we will not be coming back, or recommending it to anyone as the service is so slow and the selection of what is available is not what is advertised."
