nickloman

Matthew Norman had a similar experience to me, it seems: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/200...ts.foodanddrink This rang true anyway:

Well, I was disappointed because the menu read really well, exactly the type of fare I really like. I think we probably picked a bad day (Bank Holiday Monday) - I felt if they had a really well-organised maitre d' the experience would have been much better, and I think a couple of dishes hinted at the possibilities. But sadly it didn't come together. I might try again off-peak and off-season.

The brunette and I ate lunch here on Bank Holiday Monday. After braving the Vale of Evesham Asparagus Festival on a very windy and rainy day and despite blunting my appetite with a late breakfast of asparagus and hollandaise sauce we were very much up for kicking back and relaxing with some delicious food and a few drinks in peaceful surroundings. Having seen AlexForbes' pictures and given the chef's background my expectations were high. Unfortunately, high expectations can mean big disappointments, and this was certainly the case here. First impressions were poor - the attractive, very young waiting staff also looked out of their depth and overstretched. There was no experienced head waiter or maitre d' attempting to bring order to the evident chaos. We sat at the bar for 10 minutes or so being deliberately ignored until our drink order was reluctantly taken. During this several people came up to the bar to tell whoever would listen that they were ready to order. However, determined to enjoy ourselves, we let the bumpy start wash over us and managed to enjoy a Bloody Mary - mine impressively spiced up with some freshly grated horseradish. So, to the meal. As it was a bank holiday I suppose I should not be too harsh that the starter we both fancied: potted crab with wild garlic jelly was finished. An unadvertised special of asparagus with what looked like poached quails eggs on mini muffins was also off. Which left us with guinea fowl terrine, with chicken heart and St. George's mushroom salad. The terrine was lovely, served with the roasting juices which were delicious. Hannah had fried duck egg, Trev's bacon and watercress sauce. Looking at the article posted above by Alex James, the egg is fried in goose fat with a breadcrumb coating. Although the yolk was nice and runny, the breadcrumbs had an unpleasant texture and oily taste. The bacon was in the form of lardons and the watercress sauce didn't taste of much at all. Still optimistic at this stage that the meal could yet redeem the disappointing start. However, evidence was accumulating to contrary - neither our wine had arrived by the time we were tucking into starters, nor had we been served any bread - despite the butter and butter knife starting at us from the middle of the table. I called after a rapidly-fleeing waiter for some water who seemed to be studiously trying to ignore us (and everyone else). Main course: again I struck luckier than my hapless companion. I had the foresight to ask how the beef came (medium-rare) and managed to change it to rare. The fillet was served simply, with triple fried chips and a watercress salad. Although unseasoned, this was quickly rectified and I have to say that triple fried chips are a pretty amazing invention with an almost obscenely crispy crust. Apart from the chips this was really just average bistro cooking however. Although the fish pie had been the first choice for Hannah, this was also off, so she settled for lamb hotpot served with wilted swiss chard. This was a culinary cock-up of huge proportions. The idea, as far as I could tell was to deconstruct the hotpot into discrete layers. Now I am not sure why you want to do that, but if you do, I think all the components need to be cooked perfectly. However, the onions, carrots, potatoes and lamb were woefully undercooked in this case. And by woefully, I mean the potatoes were 'al dente' - if that moniker can even be applied to a potato! The sauce was thin and insipid tasting. A side of swiss chard did nothing to redeem the dish. A real disappointment. This would have been sendable back and if I thought the waiters actually cared, I would have done so. Disappointing. The cheese order was mucked-up but eventually came as a very nice plate of Cotswolds cheeses, but I cannot award that much credit for local cheeses served properly as this is a regular event in my house! The chocolate pudding with vanilla doughnut was off, and replaced by a pretty horrid tasting chocolate cappucino which had a very unpleasant foam on top. So, all in all, a pretty poor meal. The positives: A few items showed flashes of culinary innovation - my starter and the chips that came with the main were well above standard bistro fare. The price was keen: £80 for 3 courses for 2 people including drinks. But the negatives unfortunately outweighted them here, the front of house was seriously bad and although I heard the waitress apologise to other diners that they were seriously understaffed, the staff which were there did not seem to be operating at 100% efficiency. I agree with anyone that wants to criticise on the basis that a lot of these points should have been picked up at the time when something could have been done about them, and that is a fair criticism. However, we are laid back diners and can let a few mistakes by an obviously inexperienced crew wash over us. For me, the only irredeemable problem really is if the cooking isn't up to scratch and I think that was the case this time. I would go back - but maybe on a night when I was sure that Emily was cooking - I've no idea if she was this time - when I expect it to be very quiet, maybe a weekday night in Winter!