The Medieval Banquet

this was without doubt the worst place i have ever eaten, DON'T GO!
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john britnell
2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Sunday, February 05, 2012

Absolutely DREADFUL place to go to. I am not a picky person but this was a complete waste of money at £50 per head! No manager there on the night to speak to - instead, we just got fobbed off to write in a complaint on a folded piece of paper at the bar (that would no doubt go straight in the bin). This is not a restaurant – it’s a cellar with poor lighting, overly loud background music and no entertainment (only 2 minute performances with 20 minute breaks in between).

We went there on 25th January 2012 for a special occasion and despite us being told that there would be around 70 other guests there (apparently when it's full there are around 400 guests there), there were only around 40 people. That alone was a letdown as atmosphere does count for something.

You would think that being so few people to serve, that the entertainment (if you can call it that) would be much more interesting and personal. Well it could not be less personal and awful all at the same time. The two waitresses for the two sides of the cellar looked like they would rather be at a funeral in the rain.

The food was of very poor quality - we did not stay the entire “meal”, so couldn't tell you about the "apple pie" we missed, but the first thing was a lousy pumpkin soup served with stale bread (no spoon - dip the bread to eat). The next was a platter of confused ingredients. Basically each pile consisted of a thin sliver of cheese, a slice of what looked like ham in the dim light, some shredded chicken and then topped with a thin slice of pate. Once again to be "enjoyed" with the stale bread. Each person got one pile of this. The next dish was chicken (COLD, cooked the day before or left overs – definitely NOT fresh) with hardly any sauce and dry, cold chips (white potato and sweet potato). The next dish was apparently going to be the apple pie. DISGUSTING stuff. I could have eaten better in McDonalds for £5!!!!

There was a rowdy bunch of around 15 people dressed in leather (I am guessing bikers), who were smashing their cutlery against the plates making as much noise as possible all night long. Migraine material - they were not challenged by the staff and to be honest, they were the only ones who had a good time as they just made it that within their own group ignoring everything around them. They were too drunk to notice anything around them anyway, so I am sure in their minds it was great. The other tables consisted of 6 very disappointed Asians (who left before us!!!) and another table of 6 and a table of 7 I believe, who looked equally as shocked and regretful of having spent the money to get in. The leather dressed group of 15 were throwing bread around all night long and when the chicken came, the chicken bones started flying!!! The staff said nothing.

The entertainment is a cross of a bankrupt circus performance and a recession-hit high school musical. Not medieval - the only medieval thing were the costumes of two people (won't even call them entertainers or actors). Mainly one lord looking costume with plastic sword and a knight shirt with yet another plastic sword). The others were dressed not one bit medieval - could have been Bavarian waitresses. The sound system kept on cutting out so while they were singing (and really, this is not a long performance and anything to listen to), it sounded like your hearing aid was giving up because it had dropped in a bowl of fish water.

The performance by the way was a spurt of 2 minutes with a break of around 20 minutes (while you get served cold food), followed by another 2 minutes with another break. So continuous entertainment this is NOT. It is a FARCE! The biker group kept getting up every 10 minutes (all of them) for a cigarette break so there was a constant coming and going in the already poorly occupied area. Furthermore, the music was turned up so loud, that you could hardly hear yourself think. I believe they mean overly loud music with entertainment.... not actual performances.

Truthfully, believe the bad reviews you can read on this site – these are true. Nothing is over-exaggerated. If anything, the disappointment is highly under-exaggerated. I will be raising this issue with my credit card company, as I am not willing to take this lying down.

£50 per head is better spent in your run of the mill high street restaurant like Pizza Express – and you get some change and don’t walk out with a headache!
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Maya - View all reviews by this user
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Thursday, January 26, 2012

please dont go. this was the worst night i have ever had, £110 a head. 8 in the party, not one person had a good word. have tried 3 times to make a complant but no success so far.
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kit britnell - View all reviews by this user
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Sunday, January 15, 2012

"DREADFUL"

I find it impossible to believe some of the reviews.

It was certainly not the place I was at.

I went on N.Y.E and there was a queue outside the managers office to complain.

If you still want to pay a fortune for a dreadful night. BOOK!!!

However I suggest you check several review sites and when reading the reviews ponder how many friends the owner/manager has when reading the rave positive reviews (just a thought).

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!
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J.T - View all reviews by this user
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Monday, January 09, 2012

NYE was one great party with everyone singing and laughing. I loved the way they brought the food in to music, very dramatic. The food was nice and a lot to drink.
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Sparty - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, January 01, 2012

I got sent to the Medieval Banquet with another 90 of my work buddies from all over the US and Canada before we made a trip to Africa on a big project. These guys were incredible! I have never seen so many meals come out so quickly. Any faster and it would have been too crazy. Food was decent and the show was energy fun and most of our guys were up and dancing with the wenches and the rest of the show people.
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Fousey - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, December 29, 2011

We have recently used this location for Xmas party. Following on from the previous reviewer we unfortunatly did not have a good experience on the 8th December. The food was not only very late but the chicken was also badly cooked and most of it was wasted. I was also sat with a four vegetarians and despite raising the issue of a very late and very dull starter their main course actually arrived at 11.15!

When we started to complain about the service and particulary the vegetarian options we were fobbed off by the manager and told that it was a medieval banquet and vegetarians should accept this. I can only assume from the comments that vegetarians are not really welcome and should expect poor service if they go to this venue. I am not vegetarian but the attitude seemed very poor.

The entertainment was pretty good but the food quality and timely delivery was really disappointing for an apparently well established group venue. I would not recommend this location and would not attend here again. The surroundings and entertainment are all good but the basics need to be right as well.
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R Parsloe
4 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Just got back from the Christmas office party, probably too drunk to be doing this right now, but here goes. Got there, place was packed mainly full of corporate do's. The place looked great, everyone was buzzing. It looked like they really made an effort with the place and it looked fun. Really early on the mens toilets got flooded. This was the start of what ended up being a very long and very frustrating night. Basically, something went wrong in the kitchen which meant that we waited about an hour and a half for our main course. The food was all very good, the beer and wine not fantastic but drinkable and the entertainment was entertaining but after a while it just became frustrating to wait and wait and wait. The wenches tried to lift spirits, but they weren't bringing food so there was little they could do. To be honest after drinking and then drinking more and waiting it became a bit awkward. Eventually the food came out and it was actually good but to be honest it was late and most people couldnt be bothered. They also seemed to have fixed the toilet which was lucky because there was nothing to do but drink for a long time. I dont know why they didnt bring out the mince pies earlier because by the time they arrived no one was eating and they just got wasted. Some people did get up to leave early but as I live quite locally I stayed till the end and it was definately worth it as the cast were all very friendly; especially the blonde acrobat/hoola hoop girl who is definitely the highlight imo. If you are planning to go for your christmas party soon or to book this venue I recommend you call them to see that they have fixed the problem as it could have been a great night instead it was ok, but long and awkward.
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Simeon
7 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Friday, December 09, 2011

It was a wonderful evening! It was a last minute decision me and my friends made to experience the medieval banquet today and it was worth it. we sat on the place right in front of the throne where we could see the fantastic singing of King Henry..it was amazing! The wench was so efficient and noticeably accommodating that made our experience so marvellous..the food was great but i found the chicken too massive to consume where i ended up eating just half of it. overall, it was fun and fulfilling!
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Akiko San
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Had a great night at Medieval Banquet!

Staff is friendly and knew exactly where the group was place. They asked who was vegetarian or had food allergies (very impressed by that!!) The atmosphere was relaxed a waiter was on hand but never in the way! Courses was served with enough time inbetween the entertainement to never rush a guest! Compliments to the chef who served AMAZING vegetarian food! I sometimes feel that some restaurants serve 'boring' options for vegetarians but in this case I felt WOWED by the look and taste of the food.

Entertainment was great and I liked that they got us involved with lots of clapping etc. The Christmas dinner was round off with perfect hot Christmas pies!

This was a great evening with friends! Thank you for the amazing experience!
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Antoinette Liebenberg
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, November 26, 2011