Sunday 28 August 2011

Where's my farking Brussels??

You know that thing about waiting forever for buses,then all of a sudden three arrive at once?Well,brace yourselves,we've had ANOTHER complaint.The following is an exact transcript of a letter which arrived this week.
Handwritten letter
[Yes,a great little pub.However after eating there for Sunday dinner we wont be going back,having invited friends making a party of seven and all having the Sunday Roast,we thought the order was wrong and that they gave us child portions;each plate consisted of 3 roast potatoes which could of been one cut into three,(excuse me, but you missed out the new potatoes)6 slices of carrot,2 peices of brocolli,some cabbage.Two slices of meat and one small yorkshire,the plate was not Big(its 12 inch actually)  but there was plenty of room(only were it to be piled vertiginously high) for the likes of,brussel sprouts,Turnip,parsnip,(in summer?whatever next..)cauliflour,MASHED potatoe and YES another yorkshire!!!(or maybe one of those giant stuffed ones?)for 9.50 it was a disgrace!!the food should have come in abundance(eh??) PTO

Insufficient Sunday roast displaying small Yorkshire
There was no mustard or Horse Raddish or anything for that matter,no hang on there was salt and peper(Oh you were looking for those little sachet things,the ones which you can help yourselves to and take some home for later..) we asked for some mustard.Two bowels arrived(surely not,I must apologise for that) spoon in each and with a blob of mustard stuck on the end (ouch)All for seven people,the three tables put together all AT Different levels and the creeking chairs "well" (now I know who you are, you're  Mr Winner aren't you?)no one ordered desert( I wish you had its farking freezing up here at the moment) we saw other diners with there's and for £5 so "forget it"!!
All this about localy sorced produce....
my wife cooks a better Dinner from Morisons (However the meat was nice)
Consolation nice beef.
(really??I would have thought you would have preferred your beef well done.) 
shame about the rest..."it could have been great"
PS I'm angry I didn't say anything when we were there.
PPS you will have seven people telling others the same.]

Squiggly illegible signature
(no address)


SIGH..I put it down to the weather,its dampened everyone's spirits..
Or maybe its time to bite the bullet and go all branded chain pub..


12 comments:

Alison Cross said...

oh dear - just read this post and the one prior to it. I have no idea how one keeps civil when this sort of behaviour rears up.

All I can say is that the local standard must be VERY high if they are complaining about that plateful of grub. I'd be DELIGHTED to wolf that down!

I run an organisation with over 600 members and all I can tell you with complete certainty is that no matter what you do, you will not keep everyone happy all the time, so just do what works for YOU!

Ali x

Mrs P said...

Sorry but I have to complain about his grammar and spelling - shocking! I never take anything seriously when it is written badly and neither should you!! Sunday roast looks lovely, sounds like they don't get out much.

Northern Snippet said...

Ali-yes I keep telling myself that,complaints are quite rare..and how many veggies did they want????

mrs P-Yes I'm a bit of a spelling pedant myself,was quite tricky copying it out without correcting..

TheBoyandMe said...

That is plenty enough food on the plate for the price, and it's about the quality not the quantity. I would rather have crisp roasties and a yorkshire than the soggy crap that is served in the Toby carvery. Those vegetables look succulent and cooked to perfection, again better than the overcooked, precooked rubbish that comes out of chain restaurants at Sunday dinner, where the 'chef' is little more than PFY who has been taught how to turn on the gas and cut a packet open with a pair of scissors.

Can't comment on the meat as I'm a veggie. This is the type of customer who is best suited to a Hungry Horse. Ignore him.

fattmatt said...

Looking at your picture of your roast dinner, I can see why the letter was sent, just from the way it is plated up. You have a 12 inch plate but have managed to easily fit it all in the 6-8 inch centre leaving a large portion of the plate not covered in food. I too would be disappointed in 3 roast potatoes (even though you were offering new potatoes, the meal was a roast dinner), considering what the wholesale price is for veg, an extra couple of roasties, more carrots and cabbage are, not going to destroy your profit margin. No mention of the gravy must be a good point in your favour. I would take this letter as a reason to make sure that you are very satisfied in your portion control and how you plate up. Adding more to the plate will not make your food worse to someone who cannot eat it all, but if you are putting off people who are leaving your pub still hungry and are telling everyone of their dining experience how many potential customers are you losing.

Northern Snippet said...

Fattmatt(you dont mind if I call you that do you?)-Hello and thankyou for your comment.
Surprisingly there isnt a great profit in the Sunday roast,the main expense is the actual meat(we buy beef ribs),which has almost doubled in wholesale price since we went into business.Traditionally Sunday roasts are cheaper in most venues than comparable meals at other times of the week.
I agree with you that adding additional vegetables would not destroy our profit margin,in fact it would hardly affect our GP at all.I do however, strongly disagree that adding more food to the plate would not make our offering worse to those who did not eat it all.I have a good appetite but find overfilled plates enormously off putting.
I believe we offer a generous portion,indeed I would be surprised to find many diners who would want more than five potatoes on their plate.
In fact over the past few months we've had ongoing discussions over our portion control as we seem to have an inordinate amount of diners ordering half portions/being too full to order a pudding.
We rely on Sunday lunch trade ordering more than just the actual main course, otherwise the profit made on the day is negligible.
Its a tough one,but all I can add is that we are always fully booked on Sundays and seem to have a loyal snd returning trade.
Having said that if you do ever happen to dine here and find the quantity of spuds unsatisfactory,please request more,there would be no problem whatsoever in providing additional supplies:)
All the best!

Nicky said...

I ate at your gaff a couple of Sundays ago. Left two potatoes and had 4 different veg, perfectly cooked. This is a good-sized portion of high quality food. My husband cleared his plate then dithered about pud. He was pretty full despite having a big appetite. The call of the ginger sponge proved to much of a temptation. It was beautiful, as I recall from the solitary spoonful I was allowed. Seriously though, with two large slices of beef, 5 potatoes, a large yorkie, 4 veg and a good serving of rich gravy, this is a more than acceptable size of meal unless you are a man mountain.

Nicky said...

Too much damnit! *Too* much! Grammar!

o jardineiro este algarve said...

Bowels- is that the new offal?
I would be so happy if that plate was put before me on a Sunday.
But believe me there´s always one.As Alison says you will never satisfy everyone. Keep up the good work and the entertaining Blog.

Twisted Scottish Bastard said...

I wish there was a pub as good as yours close to us. Most NZ pubs don't do such good quality meals, and I really miss a good Yorkshire Pudding and gravy.

Alix is right. You can't keep everyone happy. It sounds like your doing good, so Stuff 'em.

Wally B said...

Don't you bloody dare.
There is nothing wrong with the portions.

Deborah said...

Totally untrue all of it I am sure!! And besides, who could take such an illiterate seriously? I would love to eat at your pub - every photo looks delicious. Have a big glass of wine (or drink of your choice) on me!! How you put up with the public is amazing!

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