We live in a lovely little town, very close to Oxford but also to Didcot with direct connection to London so I really cannot complain. Wantage has great public schools (best in the shire!), great infrastructure and there is always, but always something happening in here. We are privileged to live just off the Market Sqaure and so far King Alfred's Head has been our favorite pub and restaurant.
All of this has changed today and I am still so upset about our experience that I have decided to use this blog to warn all their potential guests, even though I did not even get to have a coffee there this time. Here's why!
My lovely boyfriend took us (me and my son) out for dinner to celebrate our second anniversary so we were really looking forward to it. My son did not even eat anything at home and started to get a bit hungry when we left - just to enjoy the evening. We have arrived around 6.30PM to be let into our favorite part of the pub and sat at a table with...two chairs. The girl serving us must have been really new to the job (and I have to be honest - unsuitable for it all together). Before we managed to sit down (or look around for the 3rd chair) she has already asked us for drinks! When my boyfriend asked for Hoegaarden twice she still did not understand so I had to help her out pointing out it's a type of beer.
Yet, we were cheerful and really happy to move out. Ordered food. Then I noticed that she did not bring kids menu (which I have spotted myself at the entrance) so I have asked my son to go and grab it and ask for crayons if possible. In the meantime we were offered two beers, but the waitress brought two glasses full of ice asking if we want those?!
At that point I was still willing to giggle but when my boyfriend poured the beer I noticed a lot of...something reminding a mini ash cloud in my glass. Now - I will be honest with you - I am not sure if Blue Moon has to look like that as I always had it from the bottle! Hence why I asked the waitress to check if it's ok for me to drink it - I have never seen a beer like that! Later my boyfriend order similar beer which was perfectly clear (as clear as Blue Moon can be) and my glass was full of fluff on the bottom. In the meantime my son was drawing on his kids menu which stuck to the table.
This is the point when I freaked out - I do not know what is wrong with the UK today and if it's something UK specific but nowadays I very often come across dirty tables! And from that point on I felt it was really really hard to stay calm - the only reason why I did was because I was invited.
Our meal arrived about 50 min- an hour after we ordered it - almost cold! My son's meal was not there so I hinted to another waitress (why someone else was serving us, not sure) that my son is hungry. We ate our meals, me sharing mine with Dawid, but his never arrived.
Turns out the first lady - the completely disoriented one - did not print my son's meal order! Agggrrrr....if you are a parent you know what I felt. I simply wanted to stand up and leave. My son then got his meal. We ate. We made it clear we would not pay for the beer and ended up having my son's meal for free too. We have left. My boyfriend politely lied that we enjoyed the stay. I politely shut up.
When I say politely I mean my boyfriend. I would never have been so polite on my own. I think my anger is born out of the disappointment of someone who studied restaurant rules for 10 months at the uni and who really used to love the pub. But this place has changed - the design, the professionalism of the team, food and everything you can imagine is simply unacceptable! If you ever go to Wantage and need a drink or lunch, I suggest you avoid this place.
Sylwia Presley
