The Swan At Iver

I agree with the most recent review. This restaurant used to be great. They had a great full menu, with beautiful dishes at good value for money. All of a sudden it is like being in a totally different restaurant.

I recently went with family for Sunday lunch and upon arrival we were handed a menu that did not even compare to the menu online or which we had ordered from the previous time we had eaten at the restaurant. The menu was poor in choice and considering I had rung a couple of times in the week to check the menu ( I have dietry requirements ) not once did they mention to me that the menu had totally changed, which was a bit ridiculous to say the least. There was also nothing for children, even though they had told me there was. I ended up eating an omelette and chips as there really wasnt enough choice for me considering my requirements. Had the menu been the same as they advertise online, and as we were given the last time we went, I would have had a lovely meal. DO NOT GO BY THEIR ONLINE MENU. THIS IS IN NO WAY ANY REPRESENTATION OF THE MENU CURRENLY ON OFFER. The Swan should have had the brains to advise me that their had been such a huge change to their restaurant when I enquired. Do not be fooled - it really is a completely different restaurant now and not a patch on the original Swan at Iver.
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Schloofer - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 4
Monday, May 22, 2006

What has happened to the menu and the service? My boyfriend and I visited the Swan on Saturday, 29th April and were bitterly disappointed with the change in both menu and atmosphere. There was hardly any choice and was a far cry from their previous menu - omelette seems to be the speciality now! Gone is the bread, the flowers and tea lights from the tables and there was no background music.

The service on Saturday was terrible. Considering the restaurant was nearly empty we were left waiting for a long time to place our order, only to have the waiter walk away whilst taking our order and another take over, waited until the end of our meal almost for our side dishes to arrive and was not offered a sweet.

Another complaint was the fact that we were charged £2.50 for a side salad which consisted of a couple of fancy lettuce leaves that only filled half a small bowl. Surely a bit of tomato, cucumber and onion would make this more interesting and more worth the money!

The food was ok but very overpriced for what you get (I'm sure the monkfish I ordered must have fed 3-4 people in total as I only got 2 small pieces!)

The wine that was delivered to our table was not the advertised brand. We should have been told that the specific brand was not available and an alternative brand was being used. By rights this is false selling.

And finally, the highlight of the evening was a couple placed by our side with a toddler who's shrill every now and then would pierce the most delicate of eardrums. Considering the restaurant was almost empty - how inconsiderate to place next to a couple who were trying to have a quiet evening.
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Deborah Harvey
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, May 02, 2006

It was just an ad for a full time chef me the head chef dominic is still here
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dominic green - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, February 24, 2006

We attended as a party of 8 for a work-day lunch. The first thing that went wrong was that the person who took he order for 3 of us couldn't produce a receipt. The last member of our party ordered a soda and was charged and given a diet coke. On being told that this was incorrect the bar-lady tried to suggest that our colleague would prefer the diet coke as it was too much effort to amend the till. As a group of 8, 6 of the orders were for paninis. The first order to turn up was for a variety that none of us had ordered. The rest of the orders then gradually appeared - the chips being grossly overcooked - with the exception of the last panini. We informed the waiting staff what was missing. Some time later we were told it was on its way. Sometime later we were asked what the missing order was. Some time later we were told that it was nearly ready, by this point I indicated that as everyone else had finished their meal, it was really too late. I was asked if I still wanted the order or whether I would prefer a refund, I chose the latter. There was then much muttering between the waiting staff and the owner who appeared from the kitchen.

Bottom line the owner accused me of having ordered the wrong panini and then changing my mind when it appeared. He then claimed that I had been sent the correct order, but that I had refused it. He then claimed that I had not been offered my money back. I suggested that the staff had keyed the wrong entry into the computer till, he claimed that couldn't be so. Of course I didn't have a receipt to prove it as they'd already said that they couldn't produce one!! Eventually I got my money back in an extremely begrudging manner. I'm sure that I'll now be barred from the pub, as if that bothers me, I won't be going back and neither will any other colleagues who work in the same place.

Oh, and the waitress's face when asked politely for some vinegar had to be seen to be believed.
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Friday, February 17, 2006

Just drove past this place on Saturday January 28th,and there was a big sign outside saying "WANTED FULL-TIME CHEF" .Thus it may be that the reviews below are no longer relevant .This is not a review ,but an Alert!
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C.Elder
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Having just returned from lunch I have to say I was very dissapointed. The menu, 2 courses for £19.50 or 3 for £25.00 seemed way overpriced for the food on offer and totally amiss with the lunchtime market in Iver. Starters varied from white onion soup to crab and avocado salad. Mains from Rib eye steak and chips (£2.50 suupplement), chicken kiev and chips to fish and chips. Desserts on offer included hot chocolate mousse and apple crumble. The choice was not at all inspiring and in my mind not good value for money, infact quite the opposite, nothing to reflect the very positive reviews that led me here

Instead we ordered from the bar menu and had a tasty rump steak and chips, a grilled pannini and a couple of glasses of wine (Chilean Selena Merlot was surprsingly good). All very tasty and for £23 which was much better value for money. Also given the slowness of service, it was all we expected to receive in the 70 minutes we were in the restaurant. Not sure I would return to try the a la carte menu.
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James Holden
Wednesday, November 09, 2005