Chambers in Stafford

[Moby Dick]

Sounds good to me and am dead jealous. Pricey you bet. Watched the prices sour over the years and could not believe their arrogance when challenged on TV about their increases over the school hols, they said why reduce it when we get 9?% occupancy! Got a point but infuriating.

Yes, my heated seats are getting stoked up to.

 

[Chick]

After originally planning on going to The Sun a group of 8 of us went to Chambers tonight. Interior wise it's not too dis-similar to the Hogshead. It's been freshened up but no layout changes that I could see. Food wise I had the fishcake for starter & it was very nice! Others in our group had the meat & seafood sharing platters & said they were very nice too. For main course I had the chicken which was delicious, very tender with lovely sun dried tomatoes giving a burst of flavour. Others had the sirloin steak & were equally impressed.

The only faults were that the pork belly was very fatty & over cooked so much so it was sent back but they did offer the lady a free drink while a fresh meal was brought out and overall the service was a little slow

It was a fun evening & I'll be trying it again with the Hubby

 

[John Marwood]

Is the Wolsley Arms one of those chain pubs with wooden spoons on the tables?

 

[Moby Dick]

I believe it does utilise Mrs Beeton's spoons and is tied in with the 3 Crowns at Aston, Stone.

A very nice place too!!!

 

[basil]

Had a most disastrous meal in the Wolseley Arms a couple of weeks ago. I selected the sausage and mash option which had 'award winning sausages' sadly the meal was overcooked to the point where the bangers resembled rock-hard digestive biscuit and the gravy not only wobbled it left a ring on the plate when moved. Unable to eat the fayre i took it to the bar and offered it to a senior member of staff. Although they apologised i was not offered a refund i was told another meal would be forthcoming, as i was dining alone i decided to leave and telephoned the manager later in the day. Surprise surprise he knew nowt of the incident however he called me back the next day and offered me dinner for two as his guest. We are going to take up this offer this sunday lunchtime.........

 

[darben]

I had a duff meal at Wolseley Bridge on Sunday, I decided not to go for the Sunday lunch menu and had something off the main menu which was a greek chicken dish which was pretty well dried out and cremated in places, what was supposed to be feta and basil topping tasted of neither (which is a difficult thing to achieve) was dried out in a wodge unceremoniously on top of the chicken, and crusted over (in a left out too long sort of way) very much like a a cow pat baked in the sun, so it was a completely different colour underneath. It wasn't inedible but it definatley was not great either, so I ate it as I was desperate to get out of there as we were sitting directlly by a family who were loudly delighted with their young son eating his meal standing up with his hand ceremoniously down his pants (backside end mostly) taking his hand out occassionaly to pick up his food and eat with the same hand that he had been lurching about in his pants with.

When we went to pay we were asked if we enjoyed our meals, to which I politely said no and explained that my meal looked as if had been cooked a week ago and left in some warming device. He politely retorted that he didn't know what to say! as most people enjoy their meals, so I'm sadly relieved I'm not alone in my observations.

 

[GraphicsMan]

Been to Wolsley Arms a few times and I can honestly say the food has been great every time and the staff very helpful. Even washing our daughter's cutlery for us.

I have to admit that my wife usually has a glass of Prosecco with her meal and the last two times we've been it has been flat. But, once mentioned to the bar staff, they've opened a new bottle both times to replace it.

Anywhere can have an off moment. I guess it's how they deal with it that determines if I go back or not.

 

[basil]

Agreed on the 'one off moment' however flat wine twice and the cutlery needed washing, they are both unavoidable in the 1st place. The wine should be checked as it is poured and the cutlery checked when it's placed in the jars on the tables. A lot of eateries deliver cutlery just prior to the food arriving this gives the staff the responsibility of giving the punters clean cutlery. Although in Wetherspoons it maybe stops the stuff being nicked........

 

[GraphicsMan]

Agreed on the 'one off moment' however flat wine twice and the cutlery needed washing, they are both unavoidable in the 1st place. The wine should be checked as it is poured and the cutlery checked when it's placed in the jars on the tables. A lot of eateries deliver cutlery just prior to the food arriving this gives the staff the responsibility of giving the punters clean cutlery. Although in Wetherspoons it maybe stops the stuff being nicked........

Sorry, I didn't make myself quite clear there. The cutlery was my daughter's that we take with is. They washed it for us after we had finished so it was clean to take home.

You are, of course, correct on the wine front. Although my missus knows they'll open a new bottle if it's flat. I think this is why nowhere else serves Prosecco by the glass, because once the bottle is open it goes flat quite quickly.

 

[John Marwood]

Agreed on the 'one off moment' however flat wine twice and the cutlery needed washing, they are both unavoidable in the 1st place. The wine should be checked as it is poured and the cutlery checked when it's placed in the jars on the tables. A lot of eateries deliver cutlery just prior to the food arriving this gives the staff the responsibility of giving the punters clean cutlery. Although in Wetherspoons it maybe stops the stuff being nicked........

Goods points
Well served

 

[John Marwood]

Britain still appears to be alone in treating the catering industry as a place for part time temps to earn some quick cash and offer typically low standards of service
Is this down to most other Nations relying on tips?
Or are we just shit?

 

[United57]

On the continent bar and serving staff are held in high regard. I'm not sure its a tipping thing, more a way of life, food is taken seriously. Even in the States service is generally very good where its certainly due to tipping. Could it be that a lot of UK staff don't understand what good food is , clean cutlery and service . I fear a lot of people eat without cutlery. Children turn up at school unable to hold a knife and fork?

 

[Gramaisc]

I feel that there is a class element in it. Serving people is seen as being of the lower orders. It applies to a lot of things. It's why 'we' will give Wayne Rooney a thousand pounds an hour, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week - but pay minimum wage to a Filipino to work in a 'nursing home'....

 

[Jade-clothing]

Mr. JC and I went to Chambers last night after work and we were both very impressed. It was fairly busy but the service was quick, the ambiance was good and the food was lovely - we had the seafood sharing platter for starter which was very tasty, Mr JC had the pork and black pudding and I had the mushroom pancake with parmesan and sweet carrots - we both thought the mains were very good and we sampled some of the chips too - which were delicious. Mr JC did say though that as he ordered a side dish of mash, a small jug of gravy would have been nice as the sauce with his meal wasnt enough for the extra mash but apart from that we couldnt fault it and will definitely be going back to try more - I could happily have eaten every single one of the starters and mains (not at the same time!) and really couldnt decide what to have. I did think the dessert menu was a bit boring though but couldnt have managed one anyway.

 

[Wormella]

Goldilox & I shared the seafood platter and some chips for lunch today - very yummy and reasonably priced for the quality.

 

[John Marwood]

what does one get on a seafood platter?

 

[Gramaisc]

what does one get on a seafood platter?

◦Seafood board to share: Deep fried whitebait, smoked salmon, garlic tiger prawns, peppered squid, caper, fennel & cucumber salad, mild chilli dip £11.95

 

[Jade-clothing]

what does one get on a seafood platter?

the whitebait is absolutely delicious - I could happily have eaten a whole platter of it. the squid was cooked almost perfectly but even so way, way better than most restaurants cook it - who usually do it to death, the prawns and salmon were also lovely. We didnt get any capers or fennel though - we had a garden salad but the dressing was really nice.

 

[Wormella]

It was all very lovely, we complemented them on it not being a big plate of yellow things in breadcrumbs.

 

[basil]

Goldilox & I shared the seafood platter and some chips for lunch today - very yummy and reasonably priced for the quality.

Is there enough for two, or should a side of chips be added?........