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This is a Brewers Fayre attached to the Premier Inn, Kembrey Park; we went there tonight for a small celebration for my wife's retirement from work and her and our son's birthday - what a disaster!!!  We had booked a table and were immediately shown to it, the place was very quiet and we soon found out why.  After complaining twice about the length of time to serve four main meals (1 hour) they eventually arrived and it was very evident that they had been reheated not once but several times if the chips, steak and onion rings were anything to go by!!  Calling the manager over we informed him we ere not eating it and were leaving, offered to pay for our drinks, two pints and a bottle of wine but he eventually decided to cancel everything.  Avoid this place like the plague!!  Sad thing is that this is our "local" but we will not be returning until we can be assured that management and kitchen staff have been changed!  :cry: :cry: :cry: :bye: :bye: :doh: :doh:

Trip Adviser is your friend.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g187049-d2419896-Reviews-Brewers_Fayre-Swindon_Wiltshire_England.html (https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g187049-d2419896-Reviews-Brewers_Fayre-Swindon_Wiltshire_England.html)

Gets a lot of stick for service.

It's a chain pub which does 'pingable' food.

All chain pubs are hit and miss. This one is definitely a miss.

very similar experience at Beefeater (Lydiard) We were in a big group, 15 or so so we know the score when going out to dinner.
We arrived at 5.45 and were told that there was a group of 62 arriving at 6.30 and we should get our order in by 6.15 to avoid a wait. We did this, with plenty of time to spare. almost an hour into waiting for starters the group of 62 were getting their food served before us. One of our party kicked off and were told they had pre-ordered regardless of the fact we ordered in good time.
The starters came and went and more waiting ensued. When we asked how long our mains would be we were told another hour to hour and half. We all just got up and left. The manager tried to make us pay for our starters..no chance.

The service at that Beefeater has always been terrible. I find it the same in most chain places, they don't have any clue about management or organisation. They section out tables per waiter/waitress, you'll have one section extremely busy with the waiter struggling to take orders, serve food and clear tables and then have another area that's completely empty with the waiter fucking about having a chat with his mates and generally doing nothing when they could be helping out and speeding up service in other sections.

It shouldn't bother me so much, but it really grinds my gears.

I have reviewed a lot of times on TA - hankertonboy!  Happy to praise where everything has been good, not afraid to criticise when required!

It is my "local" and we do use it on a fairly regular basis - be a long time before we go back!!  Upside was that Robin Phillips' fish and chip shop was still open so we got a takeaway and eat it at home!!

used to be OK in kembrey, typically chain pub. not been in for a couple of years.

I'll add it to the weighbridge as places to avoid

Eaten at the Kembury loads. Never had an issue.

Lower all expectations when eating at any form of chain pub and you'll never be disappointed.

Or find somewhere better.

I've been to The Lydiard a couple of times recently and I've been pleased with the service

I'd been a while back before and had a decent meal but this time was quite the opposite.

You get better service in McDonald's

It's really annoying you can't get a consistent service anywhere really.

Nando's? It's basically non-existent so pretty easy to be consistent

It's the question that only gets asked once. "have you been to nando's before?" No one with any sense hears it a second time.

It might just be me, but just about every chain pub I know of had gone down the pan in terms of food; it always seems to be reheated rubbish that takes an hour or more to arrive. It's reached the point that I won't go to a chain pub for good.

I have family who work in the pub trade and I'm told that even gastropubs are struggling to recruit chefs. These things are probably related.

I work in the hospitality industry, and it really pisses me off this kind of stuff.
All these chain places are basically corporate factory lines with big bosses thinking they know the best way to make a quick buck (by buying in cheap reheat-able food) and not giving too hoots about the guests that they get money from.
It embarrasses me that the industry is going this way.

There are plenty of nice restaurants out there, but they are generally the privately owned ones, with no restrictions on menu's, suppliers and other factors.

Problem is that a lot of chain places, like harvester, are very child friendly. Nowadays it's very difficult to find child friendly pubs and restaurants.

Have never been there but I am told that the new place past Aldi and David Lloyd at the - Robins Farm - has a separate area for adults only and one for children so you have a choice.

White Hart in Stratton is child friendly and decent

Chain pub with reasonable service? Toby Carvery. Problem with the wait for your dinner? Should have got off of your arse and up to the counter sooner :D

Surely there are more child friendly pubs than ever before?

Yep. I used to drink in there when I was a kid at school, decent cheese and onion rolls at lunchtime.

When we're in town the wife drops me off for the football i tend to meet her afterwards for a few ales and food at the Dockle Farmhouse. Only ever had one or two unpleasant visits but on the whole find it ok.

It may have changed a little since then. There's whole countries that no longer exist since then!

Bizarrely, I suppose tbf 10 years ago now, I had a nice divorcee who lived in Covingham, she wasn't very adventurous, but was happy to go to her localish pub, The White Hart. I swear it had changed little in 40 odd year, apart from serving food rather than pickled eggs, and the dart board was not to be found.

A lot do provide a child's menu but not necisarily friendly. For example, crayons and paper can be a life saver for keeping them occupied. Luckily, ours are well behaved but if we go out with other families it is quite frustrating.

I don't understand why people don't bring their own? My parents used to take me out to our local a fair bit when I was a kid but wouldn't dream of doing it without giving me something to keep me quiet. Expecting others to provide it for you seems kind of shitty.

If it's a child friendly place you would expect the establishment to like having kids?

A prime example on how to do it well is Pizza Express. They provide colouring and stickers.

to be honest most kids don't bother with crayons etc after the age of 4-5, heads seem to be in their phones all the time!!

I'm not saying places shouldn't do it, just that to expect it is a bit weird to me. I'd see keeping my kids entertained to be my responsibility as a parent I suppose, I dunno. I think it's because there are way too many 'parents' in my current local who just let their kids run riot while they go on the piss and they get on my nerves.


Their loss, I've got a colouring book in my handbag right now and I'm not ashamed  :D

Don't get me wrong, we don't expect it, it just helps. If a place doesn't provide, we normally take toys or stuff to keep them entertained. Some parents aren't organised though.

Another bug bear of mine, is couples who go out for a meal and then tut and moan when there are well behaved kids in the same vicinity. If it bothers you, don't go out for your romantic meal at 5pm!

Oh for sure, I'm not saying it makes anyone a bad parent. Bloody easy for someone without kids to say "I'd always do this" but obviously I wouldn't in reality!

I don't get that either. I usually say I hate children in pubs but that's only because I seem to encounter so many screaming little shits kids. If they're well behaved though then it just seems petulant to complain.

That's it Ells I have seen kids sit in restaurants and pubs and are well behaved it's the ones who can't be controlled who can spoil it for everyone.

I think it's all to do with context. A parent surely can't expect a proper restaurant to have all the play stuff and kids menus if their purpose is to serve good food and drink. Much like you wouldn't go to a family friendly chain pub and expect fine dining.

But going back to Sippo's point, I think it's reasonable to expect a reasonable level of service if you're paying it, even if it is in a family friendly chain place, especially if that's what you're limited to if you have the kids.

I expect good service wherever I go, regardless of what they are serving and who.  Now clearly you should then expect degrees of difference but it is a "service" industry.  Even a run down dodgy local should have good service, and in some cases you do get it where they know all the locals, have a cheery way about them etc.

This country is pretty poor for service to be honest.  As it is on the whole for what Sippo discusses.  For me family friendly is much more than a packet of crayons, or having a kids menu, it's about welcoming a family and truly wanting their business, all of the family.  That doesn't mean there shouldn't be other places which cater for a different market of course.

The Kembrey do a great breakfast.