The Carpenters Arms Info
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Best KPortal Reviews
If I could rate a 0 star I would.
I went here today after visiting a lovely but wet and windy lacock. Looking for somewhere to cover ourselves from the rain and wind and warm up with a hot drink and a light snack.
I arrived today and was greeted by a lovely women (I assume one of the owners) and a younger female. There was 6 of us and I said if needed were happy to spread across 2 tables, they kindly gave us a reserved table of six. We was directed to our table, shown our menu's, special board and told to order at the bar when we were ready.
After sitting for a few moments we decided to order;
2 x Pots of tea
1x English breakfast tea
1x Earl Grey
1x White hot chocolate
3 x Chips (for the kids)
I went to the bar and was greeted to see nobody there. I waited around 5 minutes before walking through to the bakery/ice cream section, the kind women apologised and directed me back to the original bar and asked the gentleman in the kitchen to come and take my order.
The gentleman came to the bar that I was stood at and was fiddling with a laptop, then continued to say 'so what do you want' as I began to give my order my mother came to the bar and asked if 1 pot of tea can we have an additonal mug (so the kids can share a pot).
After our drinks order he said 'well that's only 4 drinks' .. we explained yes that's right we have 2 mugs for one pot so that's 5 drinks and can we also...... then we was rudely interrupted with him saying 'yeah I got all that but its only 4'. I tried my best to bite my tongue and I said to him again, that's fine. But I would also like a white hot chocolate.
Before finishing our order he had rung it up and told me the total, I said I'm sorry I would like to order 2 portions of chips, can you tell me what size they are please. His reply was 'well they are chips, it's a portion. They are chips in a soup bowl' I replied if thats the case can I have 3 please.
He told me the total of £21.00. And mums being mums she wanted to pay, I said sorry to be a pain can we split the bit £11 on one card £10 on another as my mum wants to pay something.
With a undeniable loud sigh and a roll of his eyes he took our card payments. We went and sat at our table. My niece was struggling with th wait and asked to try some of my Lardie Cake I had in a bag. (I wouldn't usually bring food it but we was shopping). My niece opened the packet and pulled the tiniest piece of cake and began to eat it.
With a glare from the bar the barman almost ran over to the table and said extremely abruptly 'your not allowed to eat outside food In here' now I am very annoyed as he spoke that way towards an 11 year old child. I said 'okay, I apologise my niece is hungry and wanted to try some Lardie Cake. He replied 'I dont care' he turnt on the spot and walked away.
After being very tempted to ask for a refund I began to collect my things together and told my family we will go elsewhere a lovely young lady bought out drinks over, serving us with a kind smile. She asked if everything was okay and we explained the gentleman was very abrupt and the server couldn't apologise enough. A short while after the server and a younger gentleman bought out our light snacks and they were both very proffesional, smiling and couldn't do enough for any of us. I explained to them that the malt vinegar was very clear and looked watered down with white vinegar. The server quickly replaced this for us and refilled our sauce bottles.
It is such a shame that a vile and damn right rude gentleman could be that rude to his customers. Especially a child. The lovely women and servers were the only reason we stayed and didnt get a refund and leave.
The food is decent priced, some things are above average in price but this is mainly due to the location. Great quaint pub, clean and tidy.
But. With a manager/owner like that, I am very suprised that the place is even open. Such a shame. Ruined a lovely afternoon.
Not really a pub now, think of it more as a licenced cafe / tea room and you will be nearer the mark.
Food is definitely pub grub / tea rooms / cafe style, not the fine dining of the "sign of the Angel" just down the road, but it is done to a good standard, is an appropriate portion size (good, but not too much) produced in a timely fashion and served with a smile.
Locate a table, then order at the bar which us currently a little hidden in the centre of the building, and everything is brought to you.
The building lacks some of the old world charm inside that other places have in Lacock, but it has charm of its own, and is currently undergoing assorted work inside.
It is quite spacious, and you feel you have space around you.
On the day of the visit everywhere in Lacock was packed full, but this place kept it's cool and served us well.
Worth a visit if you want food and drink.
Very unpleasant owners. We entered this pub to buy something to eat for our 9 year old daughter. We ordered sausage&chips to go. The package was too big to be handled on the go so we chose one table (all tables were empty but one) and we sat down. We were prepared to pay the difference but the owner came and told us we had to leave because we had a take away meal. The pub was empty, in any case we went outside and we saw an old and very rusty table far from the entrance and we tried to let our daughter seat there in order to eat. Nobody was there. Before we could take a seat the wife of the owner came out and told us to leave the premises, again because we bought a take away meal. We explained it was to big to be handled on the go, but she didn't offer any alternatives. We left and we will never go back for sure.
Thought we'd found ourselves a hidden gem...walked through the doors of what appeared to be the entrance of an antiques shop and discovered a cafe. Spacious but a little on the chilly side. The lady behind the counter was welcoming and chatty. There were a few people in the larger room but in all not busy at all. It was 3pm on a Sunday....
We ordered an orange juice and a pork roast dinner each.
The food was satisfactory - 6/10 £11+ ahead.
It could be such a wonderful place but seemed to lack atmosphere and needs some attention to period decor and detail.
Our afternoon in Lacock was spoiled by the extreme rudeness of whom I assume to be the manager. We bought cups of tea in the bar, and had hoped to buy cakes but nothing was listed on the menu and we weren't aware of the cafe counter. I went to take a bite out of a snack I had brought in from the shop opposite. Immediately the barman shouted across the bar at us. I stopped and apologised, but he continued shouting and even made snide comments about us to another family of customers. At no point were we discourteous, but we felt humiliated in front of the other customers. I phoned the pub later to explain the situation, and even apologised again for bringing a cake in, but he continued to rant at me before putting the phone down.
I fully accept that the cafe has to make a living and I was in the wrong to bring a snack in, but I would gladly have bought an item from the cafe if I was aware of it. The situation could easily have been handled quietly and courteously, but instead it has left a bad taste in the mouth. Fortunately as a customer I do not have to return. The other staff were very friendly and their service was good. I feel sorry for them for having to work with this rude and unprofessional man.
We visited the Cornerstone Cafe which I believe is connected to this business. We came in for their ‘special’ carrot and coriander soup and unfortunately it had way too much pepper in it to the extent that it was inedible. I very rarely send food back but unfortunately we couldn’t eat it so I reluctantly went up to the counter and spoke to Frank and very politely explained the situation with the food and apologised that we couldn’t eat it. He got us some cream to cool it down while muttering that carrot and coriander is a “peppery soup”.
I reluctantly took it and the soup was still inedible. We went back up and politely asked for our money back and what we received in return was incredible. Frank was beyond rude to us and refused to give us our money back, he said he’d only refund half and that the soup wasn’t peppery and it was down to personal taste. We explained that it did have way too much pepper in and asked for our full money back on the food which he refused to give us.
His tone was beyond rude as he told us the soup was a “best seller” and we were made to feel extremely unwelcome. As a person who rarely complains about food when eating out I was taken aback and left with feelings of anger and disappointment. We’d paid for half a meal we couldn’t eat and received no apology from Frank. It’s by no chance that you have to pay for your food before receiving it!
How this man continues to run a business is beyond me, he shouldn’t be in the business if he refuses to offer simple customer service. Please please please don’t give this man any of your money. I strongly wondered as two woman whether he would have spoken to a man like this, however, reading other reviews it seems that his manner is common place.
I can honestly say this experience ruined our visit and memory at Lacock and we won’t return as a result.
What dreadful experience, we stopped for lunch and moved a chair to sit 5 around a table, a which point a dreadfully rude man (who I assume was the owner) rushes up to us in an aggressive way and told us that they don’t allow five at a table, at which point we left. Totally ruined our trip to the lovely LaCock. Can’t believe that someone in the hospitality business could be so rude . . . given the look of some of the food that was served to other customers I think we had a lucky escape. What a dreadful place . . .
Never seen such disgusting service before. Grumpy staff, raw burgers and unhygienic place. Please avoid if you can, not worth a single penny and wish we never went there. Avoid especially if you are not white british as you will get looked at like you are an alien and treat you like you are a criminal. Such a shame that there are still people like this in this day and age. The staff were so rude that they had a go at our group and other customers it was as if they were being forced to work there! Would never go back there!!
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