Chef and Brewer Collection Reviews 99

Booked a table for 8, 6 adults and 2 kids. Service was very good. Bar staff welcoming and waiting staff friendly and attentive. Shame the food wasn’t so good. The Sirloin steak ordered was full of gristle and not at all tender. The 7 hour cooked rib of beef, which should have been succulent and falling from the bone was tough as old boots. Other roasts were ok but as always, the roast potatoes were pretty poor. Given the price of eating out nowadays this was very disappointing.

Barley Mow, Clifton Hampden.
I HAVE COELIAC DISEASE (NOTE DISEASE) On arrival my daughter-in-law asked for a gluten free menu. The woman greeting us and showing us to the table kept stating that I HAVE A GLUTEN ALLERGY - despite me telling her that there is no such thing and that I have Coeliac Disease. She completely ignored me and continued with referring to my Gluten Allergy. If I had been alone, I'd have walked out there and then.
It was not only rude, but incredibly ignorant about what Coeliac Disease is.
There wasn't an actual printed menu, but a tablet where you clicked through to remove gluten then, it brought up the menu though it hadn't been changed to Spring 2026, it was still 2025. I thought using it was very easy.
I had pork belly, which though tasty was very soft, when I prefer the skin to be crispy.
I FAIL TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS ORGANISATION CAN NOT PROVIDE GLUTEN-FREE FRIES/CHIPS when small individual businesses can do this. Having a small dedicated fryer for gluten-free is hardly difficult.
All in all, I found my visit distasteful and I'd never recommend this or any other Chef and Brewer venue.

Went to the Chiltern Hundreds pub in Maidstone yesterday and the food was very good as was the sevice, Shirley our waitress was very welcoming, pleasant, chatty and polite. We will certainly go there again.

Dear All, we popped into the Cross Keys at Taunton Ta2 6NR, yesterday for a drink on our way home from a fishing trip it looked lovely from the outside apart from two lads smoking weed in the carpark which was slightly concerning. Inside it was ok so we went to the bar and after quite a wit we got 1 pint and 1 pint of coke. I asked where the toilets were and was snapped at by a member of staff which was a little unnecessary.
we sat down and enjoyed our drinks I used the toilet it was fairly unclean but ok. when on the M5 on the way home I checked the receipt and to my horror had been charged £11.00 OMG....... for ! beer and 1 coke
I checked the bill and had been charged £6.85 for the Madri which is extremely steep but the Coke was £4.15 I couldn't believe it what a joke so be very careful if you are thinking of drinking or eating there as its London prices I Do hope this helps you all

I ordered this from the main menu, costing £16.25 whilst my 3 friends ordered from the lunch menu at half the price. I had had this before in the past, and the fishcake I was served today was SO SMALL (and overcooked!) that I complained. Having filled up on the chips, when the waitress returned and offered to give me an extra fishcake, I turned it down.

Fox and Hounds, Wareham, Dorset.

We returned here for Mother’s Day (yesterday) to find it’s been bought by Chef and Brewer chain.

Apart from our waitress who was managing to maintain a plucky smile, everything about this place was awful, and it used to be so nice!

There were just six of us, so not a huge table, at lunchtime, which as you might expect on this day would be busy.

They couldn’t make a vegetable soup (my only remaining lactose free option as they already sold out of crispy squid), the veg in the main meal looked like the stuff we got served at school in the 80’s, small cubed everything, probably delivered in a bag to the place. I went for the extra scampi to go with fish and chips and got 3 1/2 pieces with two curled up half slices of bread for an extra £3.50. I didn’t even dare to try the deserts, as they looked like ultra processed pre-done rubbish!

Total service time was 3 1/2 hours for the ‘pleasure’, from our booking time to time of leaving. Time to get drinks, 45 mins, a further 60 mins for the starter, another 50 mins to the main, 30 min for desert and 15 for the bill, and a final 10 mins to pay.

We travelled across four counties to take my other half’s mother out to this place; we could have driven her home, fed her and driven back in the time it took them to dish this rubbish up!

Next time I’ll check first, if it’s got the Chef and Brewer name attached, I’ll be avoiding like the plague!
Food: 1/5 | Service: 1/5 | Atmosphere: 1/5

Group size
5-8 people

Special events
Seasonal / holiday event

Seating type
Indoor dining area

Recommendation for vegetarians
Would not recommend

Vegetarian offerings
Clearly labelled vegetarian dishes

Vegetarian options
Tasteless rubbish I’m afraid. I had to put so much pepper and salt in my soup, when the grinder actually dumped a load in by accident, it didn’t spoil it!

Parking space
Somewhat difficult to find parking

Parking options
Free of charge parking lot

Parking
Only two disabled spots one of which was occupied by a truck displaying no disabled badge

In conclusion they need, more staff, better food / ingredients, a software system that’s easier for their staff to navigate, time to execute their jobs better, police their disabled car park spaces and possibly allocate more, given the surrounding demographic. Communicate with customers regarding unacceptable delays and generally be more professional as a company providing a catering service.

I wrote to Chef & Brewer about 10 days ago,
complaining about the food & service I received at The Shipley Bridge pub/restaurant.
The response was that I would be contacted from the Shipley Bridge. This is the message I received:

Hi, sorry, uh, was calling to investigate uh, uh, um, uh, booking from his yakim through on the assist, which regards your food at ship leverage, I'll try again. Thank you.

This message is unintelligible & similar to the poor standards experienced last time I visited.
I would appreciate a contact from some who can communicate properly.
Thank you
Jill Jilani

I went to the Chef and Brewer pub in Iver, Buckinghamshire. It's become a regular, not least because of the always good quality food but the awesome service. Rosie & Michelle went above and beyond in offering a warm welcome and exemplary service. Always a pleasure to go there!

We continue to visit The Swan at Winwick Warrington every 2 weeks, visiting my son who lives in Newton Le Willows. Today, 14/02/2026, Kevin looked after us again. Polite, friendly, helpful and great customer service skills. A credit to the company. We only ever visit The Swan because of the consistently high standards. The food is excellent, service is brilliant and value for money. Would highly recommend and looking forward to seeing you soon. Thank you, Kevin and the Team, for making our family visit so special.

We booked for today for 4 of us, Sunday 8 February, at 2pm at The Chequers, Redbourn, Herts
Despite only very few people eating in the pub, I was told that there was no Vegetable Wellington left - at 2pm! Really? . As I’m a vegetarian I was faced with either eating a burger or fish and chips. I chose the latter, but I really did not want to eat that on a Sunday lunchtime. I went, expecting a Sunday lunch and was very disappointed.
After the meal I ordered a flat white coffee, which came in a large cup half full and was told it should have come in a smaller cup, but they had none. Whenever I’ve had a flat white elsewhere it’s been a large coffee.
No wonder the pub was almost empty

Recently visited the Waterwitch in Hampshire and have to say the pub and food seems to be back as it was before glad to see this and will be returning more often. Great Sunday roast.

My friends and I have enjoyed EXCELLENT lunches accompanied by EXCELLENT beers and a SUPER and
FRIENDLY atmosphere.
I would also like to highlight the SERVICE and the
BRILLIANT CUSTOMER CARE consistently shown to Us by all staff, but in particular to SHIRLEY.
THANK YOU ALL.

😂Contact Customer Service? just to get another patronising response full of fictitious promises from fictitious people! Time to send all correspondence, both sent and received direct to the CEO of the Parent Company Nick Mackenzie we are sure he exists!

My experience of large party Christmas lunches in pubs is that they are generally only so-so. This was not the case at the Riverside Inn, Shrewsbury on 11th December. The food was good and plentiful and the service was excellent. The overall atmosphere in the pub was relaxed and joyous. I'm sorry I've lost the name of the magnificent waiter who served us wearing an equally magnificent Darth Vader Christmas jumper. This was my first visit to the Riverside Inn and i will definitely be returning.

Arrived at this “Dog friendly “ pub for the first time having booked a table to park and enter building through the nearest door in sight. Stepped inside entrance area and asked Wife to wait there whilst I checked with someone where the Dog friendly area was . Whilst I was at the bar doing this a member of staff approached my wife and and barked out “ you can’t bring the Dog in here, you Must go to the Bar, “Charming first contact. Found the Bar area and then waited about 10 minutes to to be told “in there pick a table.” 🙄 Got us a drink and asked if I could open a tab as I was having food ? To be told “ you.cannot open a tab because you’re sitting in the bar “ ??…( how does that work then ) we had a perusal of the menu making a choice for lunch, upon ordering to be told “ there is an hour’s wait for food because we have a party of 50 booked in and it’s a busy day ! My response to that was “ Not my problem “ So the poor bar man , bless him was then saying “ do you still want to order then ? “ No thanks I said I’m out of here ! 🤨 on the way out we heard a member of staff make derogatory remarks about us ! ( she could have at least waited till we was out the door) So needless to say the experience was not the best I’ve had and The Manager should be looking at the rudeness of the staff to customers and being “busy “ is no EXCUSE. I never do this but felt I needed to show people what we experienced on a first visit. Thank you

We had an absolutely wonderful experience at the White House Pub and felt compelled to leave a review.

As a family with children who have additional needs, eating out has been extremely difficult for us due to environmental factors, and we have not been able to enjoy a meal together for several years. From the moment we arrived, the team at the White House were incredibly accommodating, understanding, and genuinely compassionate about our situation.

They went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable and supported, taking the time to listen and adapt so that our family could relax and enjoy ourselves. Thanks to their kindness and consideration, we were able to enjoy a meal together as a family for the first time in a very long time.

Thank you does not even begin to express how grateful we are. The care and respect we were shown meant more to us than words can say.

We will most definitely be back.

It was a lovely warm and welcoming atmosphere at The Hatch in Old Basing. The food was delicious and the staff were very helpful and attentive at all times. We met for a catchup lunch and stayed nearly five hours. we have visited several times and have never been disappointed. JoJo our server did a fantastic job.

Visited Red Lion Todwick for one of our family Christmas meals, Laura ran the restaurant like a drill Sargent, I diligently checked and re checked my pre order before sending however, upon asking to order the child menu for a 4 yr old she barked that I had a kids meal booked and she frantically started to run off and stop the cooking of our meals urgently we said don’t worry iam sure she will eat some turkey and tried to carry on, food arrived all ok, Laura serving platitudes ‘how is it’ ‘ all ok guys’ etc then upon dessert being delivered we were one missing, she looked appalled that we were one missing and shouted ‘you only ordered one’ and stormed off, I was expecting problems with this meal as having being in communication with them no one seemed to know what they were doing, so I started pulling up all the screens shots of my order to show Laura when she stormed back, and lo and behold she appeared carrying said dessert with the excuse ‘oh someone can’t read’. But she plays the game and is all happy but not sincere. Totally ruined the meal for me and next year it won’t be at the Red Lion from start to finish it’s been painful.

Maenllwyd inn Wasn't impressed at all with the food the gammon looked like a slice of pork belly nothing like a gammon steak and the cod in batter well I can honestly say that I've had better in a weatherspoons bar so I will not be popping back in a hurry for what you charge for your meals is really disappointing