All reader reviews by Anonymous

Canteen (RFH)

Awful lunch. We were initially shown to a table for two where the seats were actually next to each other, despite the place not being even near full so we took it upon ourselves to move to a window seat on a table for four where we were more comfortable.

A waitress came over and said very over-enthusiastically "Are you ready guys?" when we had barely sat down for two minutes. We ordered a glass of rose and a half carafe of the cheapish and cheerful chardonnay and the latter arrived warm. I asked if they could chill it more and after about ten minutes, the waitress came back and said everything was at the same temperature in the fridge and she could get me some ice cubes. I said this wasn't ideal as it would really ruin the wine (despite being a mid-range option, ice cubes are surely reserved for a nasty £5 bottle from Sainsburys!) but this was the only way round the problem. She didn't offer to chill it for longer.

Our pie, mash and greens arrived literally 3 minutes later and the pie was small (I'd say a mini-pie) with dry, microwaved pastry so they had clearly just nuked a couple from the batch they had in that day. For £11.50 it was a total rip-off and the pie probably had a quarter of a chicken breast in and I couldn't taste any tarragon.

All in all, totally overpriced and staff who are more focussed on getting tables turned around than creating a good experience for diners.

Not even mediocre - I could have recreated the same with a service station pasty and a bit of heated up mashed potato.

AVOID!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1