About a week ago I received an email from the new Brewhouse & Kitchen restaurant which has recently opened in The Brewery Quarter in Cheltenham. The email was advertising the fact they still had space for Fathers Day meals and that they’d be serving roast dinners and offering free beer tastings for fathers. Knowing Matt loves ales and all things beer and lager related I thought it sounded ideal, and who doesn’t love a roast? I booked a table via the website for 6pm on Fathers Day and that was that.
We arrived at the Brewhouse at 5:45pm and asked if we could be seated a little earlier. The four of us; Matt, me, Flo and Elsie, were shown to a table. We knew Elsie needed feeding and asked for some hot water which was quickly brought to us along with a kids menu and crayons for Flo. Good service so far!
We checked out the menu and Matt went up to the bar to order. I went for a New York Burger, Matt chose the Roast Beef and Florence picked Macaroni Cheese. To order you go to the bar along with your table number, although I do believe table service is available. Matt came back from the bar shaking his head and explained that the barman said that before Matt could place our order he needed to check with the chef to see whether they were still serving food! Unsurprisingly Matt was shocked as that was the whole point of us being there; for a Fathers Day meal! Matt also asked about setting up a tab and the barman seemed unwilling to set it up and asked Matt if he’d just prefer to pay there and then. We knew we’d be adding to the bill so wanted a table running. Eventually the tab got set up and we were ready and waiting for our meals.
We fed Elsie at the table and it was nice to sit and watch the world go by outside from our seats in the window. A few moments after we had ordered a waiter came to our table and said there would be a delay on our food as they were cooking the Macaroni Cheese from scratch…..well I should hope so?! Anyway, how long does Macaroni Cheese take? Not that long in my experience. What a strange thing to say! Immediately I thought “great, we’re going to be here ages!”
We waited, and waited and started doing that thing where you fixate your eyes on the kitchen and the waiters and wonder whether your food will ever, ever come.
The waiter came back over and said the meals were just being plated up. Hallelujah! The food looked lovely and was as ordered. I did think the prices were at the higher end of the scale for essentially ‘pub grub’ but not bad if you get a great experience alongside….
Florence’s meal came with a free ice cream which she obviously wanted and so after dinner Matt went to order another beer at the bar and ask for Florence’s ice cream to be brought out as Elsie was getting restless. The guy behind the bar said “what ice cream?”; he didn’t have a clue about the menu and when Matt explained about the kids meal deal the barman stated he usually worked on the brewing not the bar hence his lack of knowledge. Poor excuse if you ask me, if you’re working on the bar the bar manager should make sure the staff know their onions!
We waited for the ice cream but it never came, we got sick of waiting and left. Matt settled the tab prior to leaving and as he did I noticed the table two down from us were also lodging a complaint with the lady that lead us to our table. The same waiter who served us then went to their table and apologies for something. I’m glad we’re not the only ones who’ve experienced bad service.
Funnily enough, I posted a photograph on Instagram whilst we were at the restaurant and my friend commented that they’d had bad service too.
It’s such a shame when good food is let down by poor service. We certainly won’t be going back anytime soon, there are plenty of other restaurants in Cheltenham with great food, efficient service and friendly staff.
And, after all that, there was no sighting or offering of a free beer tasting either. What was supposed to be a nice treat for the husband was a total let down. I’d definitely not feel comfortably recommending the Brewhouse as an eatery. They really could have benefitted from having a management system, like the software at Inhouse Manager.
Oh no, how disappointing! I hate it when the service lets down the food xx
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It really was a disappointment and a rubbish way to end the weekend 🙁
This does sound so disappointing. Especially when you were hoping that it would be a lovely treat for Matt on Father’s Day. I think that good service is hugely important but especially when you have kids with you. They tend to get edgy, don’t understand who everything is taking so long and need their food there and then. I hope the service improves and other people have a better experience of eating there. Hugs Lucy xxxx
That’s terrible service and very disappointing not to have the beer tasting which was the reason for going there in the first place. It’s awful not to give a child the ice cream that was included in her meal too. I’d seen this place and wondered if it was worth a visit. I know not to bother now!
Author
Yes, I really wouldn’t bother. I’ve read similar stories of poor service on Trip advisor since. Luckily Cheltenham has many wonderful restaurants so plenty to choose from!