Pen & Parchment

Apr 28th, 2023

Apr 28th, 2023

Apr 27th, 2023

I was in a party of four. Three of the mains were good but one was soggy and tasted old. The deserts were atrocious: 3 scoops of chocolate Beachdean ice cream was actually 2 and a bit scoops of a low quality replacement (certainly not Beachdean). The chocolate brownie sundaes were rock hard as if they had just come out of the deep freeze. Then I had to queue for 10 minutes to pay the bill. On top of all that, I heard the barman shouting commands at one of his female colleagues in a very disrespectful, loud tone in front of about 10 people. If you want a nice place to eat in lovely Stratford-upon-Avon, go somewhere else.
Apr 27th, 2023

I spent four nights in Stratford-upon-Avon and visited eight pubs, six of them for food, and this is the only one that did not make me feel like a welcome guest. In fact, they were just short of hostile. First, by all indications, including their own signs out front, the kitchen is open until 9 p.m., but when I arrived at 7:30 after seeing a play, there was some debate among the staff whether the kitchen was open or not. This was after I stood at the "Wait here to be seated station" for a good three minutes. They decided that I could get some food, but they were out of roasts. Fair enough. A staff member walked me to the table I pointed out and left menus. I sat there and watched while they went to other tables, including people who came in after me, presuming there would be table service. Apparently not. After 15 minutes, I went to the bar and placed my order, took my cider back to the table. It wasn't a very long time before my food arrived, and it was pretty good. The fish was crispy, the salad fresh, but the chips were like french fries out of a bag. Not terrible, but not great. If I ever get back to Stratford-upon-Avon, and I hope to someday as I had a lovely time otherwise, I will not return to this establishment.
Apr 24th, 2023