The New Prince, Surbiton

At 7.30 on a Saturday evening the pub was full of pushchairs and toddlers jumped all over sofas. Not what you would expect inside a pub on a Saturday night. OK if you like drinking in a creche. The sour faced barmaid didn't understand the words Thank You or Please. Couldn't want to get out. Don't bother. What a dump.

10 Apr 2016 19:05

The Running Mare, Cobham

The reviews on Tripadvisor for the restaurant at the Running Mare were very good so we thought we would give it a try. How wrong we were. It was my friend's birthday so we were taking her for a meal which turned out to be very embarrassing due to the quality of the food. There was only one Plaice left on the menu at 8.15pm. So we ordered one plaice and one turbot. The £40 bottle of wine was plonked on the table, no attempt to pour it and let my friend take a sample. No, we had to do it all ourselves. What kind of service is that in a so called restaurant with an expensive bottle of wine? My husband and my friend shared the mussels for starters, they were very small and the cream sauce was awful so it was all left. There was no finger bowl, we had to ask for one. I wish I had taken a magnifying glass to see my turbot. It was no more than three inches square. My friend's plaice was just full of bones, hardly any meat, she couldn't turn it over to eat the other side as it was literally just bones. A fish finger would have had more fish on it. The £3.50 side dish of vegetables was absolutely miniscule. When I complained about the size of the turbot the waitress admitted that she had seen larger turbot. That says it all. No apology, she just went off in a huff saying she would take something of the bill. We didn't see her again. Where were the waiting staff? There weren't any. There was a man behind the bar who eventually cleared our smelly plates. By the way we had to wait an hour for our main course. By the end of this main course, we just wanted to leave, and didn't order a dessert. When this man brought our bill, it wasn't itemised. It was just a total for 'Food' and 'Drinks'. What is going on here? I said my friend's fish was full of bones and he just gave me a dirty look. No apologies throughout the whole meal from him or the waitress who had vanished into thin air. There were no trained staff, just a barman and possibly his wife serving, and a glorified burger chef by the look of things. This is just an old pub that wants to make a fast buck on food, definitely not a professionally run restaurant. Whoever bought this fish should be ashamed of themselves. At no time were we asked if everything was OK, obviously they knew it wasn't. Running Mare? Run a mile. It has taught me a lesson … always try somewhere first before taking friends or relatives.

13 Apr 2015 14:00