The White Hart - Roydon

Well, where to begin. We booked a table here at 1:30pm for my Mums birthday and arrived around 1:15pm. The restaurant was completely empty which we took as a positive at that stage, as this would surely mean our food would be served in a timely manner. The waitress came and took the our order and at this stage everything was fine. The wait then began, and continued, and continued, with us finally being served our starters some 40 minutes after ordering. After finishing the starters it took an age for our plates to be collected (I would like to reiterate that we were the only ones in the restaurant) and when the waitress did collect the plates she shouted in to the kitchen (starters have been eaten) which we would later learn was a prompt for the kitchen to start cooking the mains! After another considerable wait our mains were served, well I say ‘our’, 4 of the 5 mains were served, the 5th was nowhere to be seen. After 15 minutes of waiting for the missing main, one of our party went up to the bar to question this and was told ‘sorry, the chef cooked the wrong meal so is now cooking the right meal, he is new’ this being the first we had heard of the reason behind the delay and only came to light when we actively pursued. The 5th main finally arrived and can only be described as something that would not look out of place in a fast food restaurant, not something you expect to find at a restaurant charging nearly £20 for the dish. Upon closer inspection of the ‘King Prawn Tagliatelle’ that arrived late, there was what appeared to be a grey hair in the dish. This was pointed out to the waitress whose response was ‘that is strange as no one in the kitchen has grey hair’. The dish was taken back to to the kitchen and the waitress returned with an old brush, stating it must have been a bristle from this brush, though I am not sure how that is any better? By this stage we could not wait to leave and very begrudgingly settled the bill and left. The prices charged in conjunction with the product and service received really do not tally up. I have absolutely no issue paying higher prices for quality food but this was the furthest thing from quality food and service we have ever encountered. I can safely say I will never be returning to this restaurant and would advise others to exercise extreme caution if they are considering doing so.

Great home cooked food lovely atmosphere Highly recommended

Love this place. It is an unassuming pub but with absolutely delicious food and friendly service. We bring family and friends here often. The play area needs an upgrade though!

Such a great little pub nice outside area with trampoline and swings for the kids we had Sunday roast was absolutely amazing the food was cooked to perfection great menu as well from lobster to tomahawk steaks proper hidden little gem and the staff were super friendly

Good Pub food and friendly efficient service. No vegan options on menu but chef happy to adapt where possible