Review by Amanda on 1st November, 2008

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I booked the Beeches Restaurant, Standish for my mother's 80th birthday under the impression it still had its a la carte restaurant not just the brassiere. On arriving I felt that it lulled us into a false sense of security with this very attractive lounge and piano bar where we were asked to sit. However, after taking our seats and being handed laminated menus (we were not informed of the "specials" board)the reality hit home. The lamb I ordered was "off the menu" even though it was only the beginning of the evening. After ordering we were ushered into the brassiere itself which had no atmosphere whatsoever and it became quite apparent that this so called restaurant was masqerading as such but was actually a hyped up fast food joint. There were hooks to hang our coats but they were placed right behind one of our party so completely inaccessible and we ended up folding them up and placing them on the floor, the same as the table next to us. It was only after our starter that we realised that we hadn't been given a bread basket as all the other tables had. When the main course came, I wasn't offered any sauces and had to get up and find a waiter. Overall, the food wasn't too bad but we felt we were being rushed inbetween the courses. When the dessert came which was extremely nice, halfway through I found a clump of hair in it. I called for the Manager who came over and apologised and offered to send another sweet through but by that time I had found it too off-putting. When I went to pay the bill at the end of the night I was asked by the main receptionist if we had enjoyed everything and when I started to tell him, he very quickly organised the bill obviously trying to get rid of us as soon as he could. He then realised about the hair in the dessert. He apologised and said he wasn't going to charge me for the dessert and that the cook concerned had been told she must tie her hair back! There was no offer of taking anything else off the bill which a decent food establishment would have done to maintain their reputation and that just about said it all. Needless to say, we will not be going there again.

Date visited: 31.10.08