I ate my breakfast whilst waiting for service. There were NO EGGS hardly any bacon. I called, knocked on counter still no response. Eventually a man came out and I asked for eggs, a lady came out a few minutes later just dumped some bacon putting the last few scraps left in the old bowl onto the top of the new, and some potatoes. I again asked for eggs after another three/ four minutes she came out and just lumped the eggs into the bowl. No apology just walked away. I read that this is family run they need to appoint a decent manager, as this place is not in keeping with the name of the Toby restaurants.. They need a bell that goes into the kitchen. Very disappointing
Rachel Fitzpatrick
We were really disappointed with the service. We booked on to the breakfast with Santa it was the most disappointing event I’ve been to! It was hardly Christmasy in the restaurant we booked a table for the event turned up no one to seat us had to go to the bar where a very unhappy and unfriendly bar maid served told to pick any table but none in the restaurant free even though we had booked. As we where grabbing our breakfast the kitchen staff started bringing out the lunch stuff and refusing to bring out more pancakes and eggs for the children we had to speak to a manger who then got them to put more out! Once we had finished our breakfast we asked to see Santa we were directed to a room at the back where Santa was hiding in the corner. It was the most ridiculous Santa I have ever seen who had no enthusiasm for the role hardly spoke to the children and had to hold his beard on the entire time!! We walked out of the whole thing very disappointed and upset that we had waisted not only our money but our time, we thought it would get everyone in the mood for Christmas but it almost had the opposite effect. A couple came out behind us complaining about how bad it was!
Joshua T
Not the best Toby carvery around - the carving portions can be lacking. As other reviewers have said, they love carving out scraps for you. Really good if you're into that, though, but personally I am not. Should be renamed "Toby Scrapery".
Honestreviews2024
Decided to go grab some lunch with my family and as we walked in a member of staff walked right by us - didn’t say a word - so we thought ok maybe she’s busy so waited. A few minutes later still no sign of any staff until x2 members of staff appeared but neither acknowledged us again so we waited as we thought ok maybe they are busy, even though there was only 1 person there stood at the bar. The same x2 members of staff then started to put a toaster away - unsure how heavy this toaster was seen as it took x2 staff to put it away and looked like a normal toaster you would have at home! Altogether we were probably in there for around 5-10 minutes and didn’t get acknowledged from any of the staff so left for a nearby pub around the corner which was 10/10!
MZed084
Communication isn't great even upon entry. Got spoken to by waitress in an abrupt manner. Manager was not different either. Staff was just unpleasant and spoke rudely. Won't admit that they
Aaron Knechtl
Me and my family went here for a lovely Sunday roast at the start of December. The staff was nice bit of a slower start but they was very busy. The food where was lots of meats and potatoes etc. they seemed to always have fresh stuff out too and was replacing it all quickly. The areas we was searing was well lit but not to heavy on the lighting and it was very clean too. Would definitely recommend here!
KEEP REAL
Food here is excellent value for money, especially with regards to their carvery deals.The service albeit polite is very slapdash, you're told repeatedly someone will be with you "in a minute" and you're still sat waiting 15-20mins later. This is definitely something that they can work on.Atmosphere is as you'd expect from a Toby Carvery, warm, inviting, and the smell of quality meats in the air.Wheelchair accessibility: There's a ramp to the entrance.
Dave Tomlin
Christmas dinner pre booked £60 a head.Busy but so disorganized. Waited 30 mins standing outside in the rain to be be seated with zero communication. Booking a table time seemed pointlessImagine closing the bar so no one can get a drink whilst you wait? Or at all unless its via your server....then wonder why no one was leaving their table to make room for the next sitting. Love to know what genius decided to not allow drinks to be purchased at the bar. Logic.All very mediocre, waitress rude, couldn't even get to pay without having to just leave it on the bar to the non open bar managers objection.Been 3 years in row for Christmas dinner, won't be next year.Oh and the turkey was so under cooked we left it by the vegetables......Imagine not opening the bar on Christmas day.
chaos_and_disorder
First of all, this review is not regarding the food, which was excellent. It was regarding the service. I went on Christmas Day. Now, firstly, I have all the respect in the world for waiters/waitresses - I used to BE a waiter back in the day. This is not coming from one of those entitled customers. But I feel like because I was eating there on my own (as some of us are perfectly happy to do, thank you, and it is actually a choice) I was viewed as a very low priority. The waitress assigned to my table was polite and helpful towards me (although she did seem a little weirded out by the fact I was eating on my own). But she took an absolute AGE to switch between courses. I'm talking at least half an hour between me finishing and my plate being removed. Now of course I understand it is Christmas Day, and it was a very busy time. But after my pudding, I watched the tables on my side of the restaurant slowly empty, and looked around to see the other side of the restaurant also around half full by that point. All the carvery counter lights were switched off - but STILL my waitress just kept walking past my table. I felt like I was invisible. In the end, my drink still unpaid for, and nearly an hour later, thought "do you know what, sort the drink bill out amongst yourselves - I give up!!" and I left. Whether the waitress felt too weirded out by me I being there on my own I don't know. I was always as polite as I could be towards her and I do not believe ever inappropriate. I'm not criticising her per se, I'm just wondering why I was completely ignored by the end when the restaurant was clearly about to close. It was a very very disappointing end to my Christmas Day.
Wallace W
Menu states minimum 3 meets got a selection from 2 . Beef was so fatty, dry and chewy. Some issue with the gammon. The portions of meet was small compared to previous visits and rude people serving the meet. I when for larger plate but got less meet than the wife and kids for normal plates. Complaint to waiter who just did not care either. Will not be returning to this restaurant again. Food was substandard and just awful. In current market your no care attitude will cost you customers, no wonder the restaurant was empty.
Honestly, nothing was great. I booked a 10.30 breakfast with santa for my 3 boys who were so excited. The woman who booked us in was barely focused and could not get the drinks/number of adults/ number of kids right and still managed to not give us enough cups. The food was OK, had clearly been sat there a while though- dry chewy bacon, overcooked hasbrowns.... We'd had one plate each and went back up to get 2nds, only to find all the breakfast stuff put away and staff getting the lunch out! Not even 11am at this point! I asked for the breakfast things and a very rude chef reluctantly brought a few bits back out- very disappointing. And Santa...well, the most uninterested uninspired Santa I've ever come across, barely knew what to say, kids right he was very weird, and the only think of interest in the bag was a kitkat. The worst £50 I've ever spent, and 3 very disappointed children.
Emily Tranckle
Me, my partner and 18 month old came here for dinner on 16th December 2023 at 5pm. It was the first time any of us had been to Toby Carvery, and safely can say will be the last.Firstly we got there and had to wait for ages whilst staff just walked past multiple times without even acknowledging we were stood waiting to be seated. After a while we were greeted and the guy said we had to wait 45 minutes for a table (5.45pm). We went to the car and booked for a table at 5.15 so went back in and was seated without hesitation. Weird but guess it's some silly policy.Secondly my partner asked a waitress what the process is here as we'd never been before, and she was so dismissive and rude. Made him feel instantly uncomfortable and even caused another family to stare. It was incredibly awkward.Our actual waitress was lovely, probably the only good part of the experience.Finally we got our food, the Parsnips were incredibly sugary, way too honey glazed. Nothing was labelled so, as non pork eaters, we couldn't decipher what we could and couldn't eat properly. The Yorkshire pudding was also very disappointing. The sauces were very poorly labelled so I had to sniff them to work out what was what.. ridiculous and unhygienic.Last but not least, I got sick. I was almost immediately sick when I got home, I felt intensely sick the entire way home but managed to make it home. I was then sick all evening and the next day.It has taken about a week to recover, and sadly we decided to go so close to Christmas that I cannot stomach to make Christmas dinner on the 25th so were having to make something random for Christmas day food.I instantly complained and was given a questionnaire to complete but have not had any response since.Really disappointed, such a waste of money.Thanks for an awful experience and ruining Christmas dinner plans Toby Carvery.
Elliot Chaytor
I go to Toby Carvery quite regularly because I enjoy the food. The service was quite good initially but has now become almost non-existent. Arrived on Monday 18/12 for my 3:45pm booking. There was a queue for 3 tables and two waitresses walked past saying "1 minute", 1 was just laying cutlery on a nearby vacant table and walked past us twice to get more napkins. We then had to wait for the manager to come and check the computer, he didn't apologise for the wait. When I was seated I asked for a glass of water which I was told would be brought by the waitress when the waitress arrived after I had gone to get my carvery she said no request for water had been made. At the end of my meal I asked a staff member if I could have the bill and he said "you'll have to find your server as I am finished now" I was fed up at this point and said "what do you mean?" And I think he realised he said the wrong thing and said he would go to find the server. Cheap decent grub but service is severely lacking and it's evident this comes from the top down, staff clearly unhappy. I hope it will improve because I like the food here.
Vijay Bhardwa
Tried the veg carvery for the first time. Please to say it was excellent. Potatoes etc were cooked perfectly and so was everything else. Ate too much and had to skip dinner after a huge late lunch. Thanks
Sarah w
For some reason they closed the bar at 8.30pm (meant to close at 11pm) with no warning of last orders while we were eating dinner. Refused to serve us either at the bar or at the dinner table. It was a shame as it soured the evening and we won’t be returning here again. Closing the bar early was not the issue but failing to give notice amounts to poor customer service. We weren’t the only people - they turned others away too.
I ate my breakfast whilst waiting for service. There were NO EGGS hardly any bacon. I called, knocked on counter still no response. Eventually a man came out and I asked for eggs, a lady came out a few minutes later just dumped some bacon putting the last few scraps left in the old bowl onto the top of the new, and some potatoes. I again asked for eggs after another three/ four minutes she came out and just lumped the eggs into the bowl. No apology just walked away. I read that this is family run they need to appoint a decent manager, as this place is not in keeping with the name of the Toby restaurants.. They need a bell that goes into the kitchen. Very disappointing
We were really disappointed with the service. We booked on to the breakfast with Santa it was the most disappointing event I’ve been to! It was hardly Christmasy in the restaurant we booked a table for the event turned up no one to seat us had to go to the bar where a very unhappy and unfriendly bar maid served told to pick any table but none in the restaurant free even though we had booked. As we where grabbing our breakfast the kitchen staff started bringing out the lunch stuff and refusing to bring out more pancakes and eggs for the children we had to speak to a manger who then got them to put more out! Once we had finished our breakfast we asked to see Santa we were directed to a room at the back where Santa was hiding in the corner. It was the most ridiculous Santa I have ever seen who had no enthusiasm for the role hardly spoke to the children and had to hold his beard on the entire time!! We walked out of the whole thing very disappointed and upset that we had waisted not only our money but our time, we thought it would get everyone in the mood for Christmas but it almost had the opposite effect. A couple came out behind us complaining about how bad it was!
Not the best Toby carvery around - the carving portions can be lacking. As other reviewers have said, they love carving out scraps for you. Really good if you're into that, though, but personally I am not. Should be renamed "Toby Scrapery".
Decided to go grab some lunch with my family and as we walked in a member of staff walked right by us - didn’t say a word - so we thought ok maybe she’s busy so waited. A few minutes later still no sign of any staff until x2 members of staff appeared but neither acknowledged us again so we waited as we thought ok maybe they are busy, even though there was only 1 person there stood at the bar. The same x2 members of staff then started to put a toaster away - unsure how heavy this toaster was seen as it took x2 staff to put it away and looked like a normal toaster you would have at home! Altogether we were probably in there for around 5-10 minutes and didn’t get acknowledged from any of the staff so left for a nearby pub around the corner which was 10/10!
Communication isn't great even upon entry. Got spoken to by waitress in an abrupt manner. Manager was not different either. Staff was just unpleasant and spoke rudely. Won't admit that they
Me and my family went here for a lovely Sunday roast at the start of December. The staff was nice bit of a slower start but they was very busy. The food where was lots of meats and potatoes etc. they seemed to always have fresh stuff out too and was replacing it all quickly. The areas we was searing was well lit but not to heavy on the lighting and it was very clean too. Would definitely recommend here!
Food here is excellent value for money, especially with regards to their carvery deals.The service albeit polite is very slapdash, you're told repeatedly someone will be with you "in a minute" and you're still sat waiting 15-20mins later. This is definitely something that they can work on.Atmosphere is as you'd expect from a Toby Carvery, warm, inviting, and the smell of quality meats in the air.Wheelchair accessibility: There's a ramp to the entrance.
Christmas dinner pre booked £60 a head.Busy but so disorganized. Waited 30 mins standing outside in the rain to be be seated with zero communication. Booking a table time seemed pointlessImagine closing the bar so no one can get a drink whilst you wait? Or at all unless its via your server....then wonder why no one was leaving their table to make room for the next sitting. Love to know what genius decided to not allow drinks to be purchased at the bar. Logic.All very mediocre, waitress rude, couldn't even get to pay without having to just leave it on the bar to the non open bar managers objection.Been 3 years in row for Christmas dinner, won't be next year.Oh and the turkey was so under cooked we left it by the vegetables......Imagine not opening the bar on Christmas day.
First of all, this review is not regarding the food, which was excellent. It was regarding the service. I went on Christmas Day. Now, firstly, I have all the respect in the world for waiters/waitresses - I used to BE a waiter back in the day. This is not coming from one of those entitled customers. But I feel like because I was eating there on my own (as some of us are perfectly happy to do, thank you, and it is actually a choice) I was viewed as a very low priority. The waitress assigned to my table was polite and helpful towards me (although she did seem a little weirded out by the fact I was eating on my own). But she took an absolute AGE to switch between courses. I'm talking at least half an hour between me finishing and my plate being removed. Now of course I understand it is Christmas Day, and it was a very busy time. But after my pudding, I watched the tables on my side of the restaurant slowly empty, and looked around to see the other side of the restaurant also around half full by that point. All the carvery counter lights were switched off - but STILL my waitress just kept walking past my table. I felt like I was invisible. In the end, my drink still unpaid for, and nearly an hour later, thought "do you know what, sort the drink bill out amongst yourselves - I give up!!" and I left. Whether the waitress felt too weirded out by me I being there on my own I don't know. I was always as polite as I could be towards her and I do not believe ever inappropriate. I'm not criticising her per se, I'm just wondering why I was completely ignored by the end when the restaurant was clearly about to close. It was a very very disappointing end to my Christmas Day.
Menu states minimum 3 meets got a selection from 2 . Beef was so fatty, dry and chewy. Some issue with the gammon. The portions of meet was small compared to previous visits and rude people serving the meet. I when for larger plate but got less meet than the wife and kids for normal plates. Complaint to waiter who just did not care either. Will not be returning to this restaurant again. Food was substandard and just awful. In current market your no care attitude will cost you customers, no wonder the restaurant was empty.
Restaurantji Recommends
Honestly, nothing was great. I booked a 10.30 breakfast with santa for my 3 boys who were so excited. The woman who booked us in was barely focused and could not get the drinks/number of adults/ number of kids right and still managed to not give us enough cups. The food was OK, had clearly been sat there a while though- dry chewy bacon, overcooked hasbrowns.... We'd had one plate each and went back up to get 2nds, only to find all the breakfast stuff put away and staff getting the lunch out! Not even 11am at this point! I asked for the breakfast things and a very rude chef reluctantly brought a few bits back out- very disappointing. And Santa...well, the most uninterested uninspired Santa I've ever come across, barely knew what to say, kids right he was very weird, and the only think of interest in the bag was a kitkat. The worst £50 I've ever spent, and 3 very disappointed children.
Me, my partner and 18 month old came here for dinner on 16th December 2023 at 5pm. It was the first time any of us had been to Toby Carvery, and safely can say will be the last.Firstly we got there and had to wait for ages whilst staff just walked past multiple times without even acknowledging we were stood waiting to be seated. After a while we were greeted and the guy said we had to wait 45 minutes for a table (5.45pm). We went to the car and booked for a table at 5.15 so went back in and was seated without hesitation. Weird but guess it's some silly policy.Secondly my partner asked a waitress what the process is here as we'd never been before, and she was so dismissive and rude. Made him feel instantly uncomfortable and even caused another family to stare. It was incredibly awkward.Our actual waitress was lovely, probably the only good part of the experience.Finally we got our food, the Parsnips were incredibly sugary, way too honey glazed. Nothing was labelled so, as non pork eaters, we couldn't decipher what we could and couldn't eat properly. The Yorkshire pudding was also very disappointing. The sauces were very poorly labelled so I had to sniff them to work out what was what.. ridiculous and unhygienic.Last but not least, I got sick. I was almost immediately sick when I got home, I felt intensely sick the entire way home but managed to make it home. I was then sick all evening and the next day.It has taken about a week to recover, and sadly we decided to go so close to Christmas that I cannot stomach to make Christmas dinner on the 25th so were having to make something random for Christmas day food.I instantly complained and was given a questionnaire to complete but have not had any response since.Really disappointed, such a waste of money.Thanks for an awful experience and ruining Christmas dinner plans Toby Carvery.
I go to Toby Carvery quite regularly because I enjoy the food. The service was quite good initially but has now become almost non-existent. Arrived on Monday 18/12 for my 3:45pm booking. There was a queue for 3 tables and two waitresses walked past saying "1 minute", 1 was just laying cutlery on a nearby vacant table and walked past us twice to get more napkins. We then had to wait for the manager to come and check the computer, he didn't apologise for the wait. When I was seated I asked for a glass of water which I was told would be brought by the waitress when the waitress arrived after I had gone to get my carvery she said no request for water had been made. At the end of my meal I asked a staff member if I could have the bill and he said "you'll have to find your server as I am finished now" I was fed up at this point and said "what do you mean?" And I think he realised he said the wrong thing and said he would go to find the server. Cheap decent grub but service is severely lacking and it's evident this comes from the top down, staff clearly unhappy. I hope it will improve because I like the food here.
Tried the veg carvery for the first time. Please to say it was excellent. Potatoes etc were cooked perfectly and so was everything else. Ate too much and had to skip dinner after a huge late lunch. Thanks
For some reason they closed the bar at 8.30pm (meant to close at 11pm) with no warning of last orders while we were eating dinner. Refused to serve us either at the bar or at the dinner table. It was a shame as it soured the evening and we won’t be returning here again. Closing the bar early was not the issue but failing to give notice amounts to poor customer service. We weren’t the only people - they turned others away too.