I'm day after surgery loopy but I am pretty keen to write this review before I forget the order in which things happened.
I was excited about lunch at The Beehive, mainly because, for the past week, I've had a big hankering for some posh pub food, and I knew that if I didn't satiate the need before Monday I was going to have to wait for a couple of weeks.
The fates had other ideas...
My fiance and I entered and the atmosphere seemed OK albeit noisy. The place is small and something about the acoustics makes everyones voices bounce off the walls, especially today as it was full - a promising sign.
So, onto lunch.
My fiance ordered the steak sandwich and chips. He had been to The Beehive before and loved this dish. Instead of rocking the boat, and working on limited time, he chose it again.
Veggie options are present if not plenty, but I was not in the mood for pasta, so I ordered a starter of grilled halloumi bruschetta to come as a main with a side of chips. We both chose a warming (and awakening) cup of coffee to drink.
The coffee here is good, strong but not bitter.
I would really love to tell you what the food was like, but sadly I cannot. Let me explain.
We happily chatted while sipping on our coffee. Then we waited...and waited for our food to arrive. Thirty minutes later we asked our waiter where our food was. He simply smiled and shrugged. We waited another fifteen minutes for an answer. A total of forty-five minutes later, out of hunger, a need to stick to our schedule (I was going in for day surgery the following day and I had a list of things I needed to buy...that, I probably should have bought before) and lack of any information or reaction from the two staff working that day, we decided to cancel our food order and leave.
I'm not great with confrontation so my fiance went up to the bar to do the deed, while I supported him...silently, from our table.
This is what happened: My fiance spoke to the other member of staff on duty and asked again how long our food would take. He disappeared, and after another ten minutes of guy number 2 being M.I.A he asked our original waiter what the delay was and could we now just cancel the order. Our waiter, previously adequately versed in the English language appeared to lose some ability in the understanding department and then proceeded to serve people who came up to the bar after my fiance. Apparently, he can take your order, he just can't take your complaints. But he can inform you somewhere in his 'confusion' that there is only one chef...ok, fine - so then tell us how long our wait is for what is essentially a sandwich!
Exasperated, my fiance returned to the table. Previously afraid of confronting the situation, I lost my rag and went up to the bar. At which point, twenty minutes after we started the complaints process, our food arrived.
I was done. Done with the lack of instruction, the lack of aid and the lack of customer service. Guy number two came over to talk to us, his excuse again, there was only one chef and 'it's not like we said, oh we'll make those guys wait'. I told him that I understand it's busy and if they are truly understaffed then they should have told us this was case, either when we sat down, or when we enquired as to how long our food would be. I told him that I wanted to leave and that we were fully prepared to pay for the coffee. He pointed out that our food had now arrived. I told him that the food has now arrived, an hour after the order was made, and frankly, twenty minutes after we told him that we wished to cancel our order.
He then said you don't have to pay for food or drinks and that he apologised but they were very busy. I remained willing to pay for our coffees and my fiance asked him how much the coffees would be to which he replied 'I don't need your money cause I ruined your Sunday right?'. It wasn't a question, and it reeked of a disdain and sarcasm that is not acceptable given the situation. In fact, given any situation.
It was glaringly obvious that because we had been polite at the 30 minute mark, and again at the 45 minute mark that they assumed they could make our food while stalling and expect us not to notice that people who came in afterwards received their food within twenty minutes while our 'sandwiches' apparently took far longer. Why not simply cancel the order instead of making the food in that interim? Why not simply just tell us when we asked how long we would have to wait? Why be rude as we left?
Thankfully, despite the huge delay on food, Canteen and extended Christmas shopping hours, the day was saved.
Price: It would have been approximately £28.00 for two americanos, one starter, one main, two sides and service charge.
Veggie Friendly: 2.5/5
Food: I have no idea, but from his last visit my fiance gave the steak sandwich a 4/5
Service: 0/5
Atmosphere: 2/5
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