The Montagu Arms

Since the last remodelling the service has improved a lot. Staff are always near and are very kind. Food is better than before.

I struggle to find anything good to say about this place. I had a fairly bad experience the first time, but went back a second to give them the benefit of the doubt. Now I’m convinced the problem is systemic. The biggest problem here is service, or lack thereof. The bar gets clogged up with so many people that you can stand in a queue for a VERY long time waiting to order a drink. If you also choose to order food in the bar area, you order and pre-​pay at the bar (no table service). This would be okay if there were never problems with food orders that might, say, require concessions from management. Once you’ve paid your money, you’re at the mercy of the restaurant. Normally when you order food in the bar here, one of the bartenders brings you silverware and napkins and tells you to have a go at the all-​you-​can-​eat salad bar. Unless they don’t, which was my case on two separate visits. By the time I was getting ready to go ask for a fork so I could eat my salad, the entrée arrived (still with no fork). The food experience was likewise disappointing. Mediocre salad bar, tough-​as-​shoe-​leather grilled chicken breast, and a jacket potato shriveled up from too much time in a microwave oven. Oh, and if you happen to go for another trip at the salad bar, it’s likely they’ll come clear your table (including your unfinished beer) and remove your silverware. This place fails miserably on the service side.