Reviews in Cheltenham

Restaurant is in a great location, it’s clean and tidy. Food was ok, I had the chicken burger, when it arrived I was shocked at the size of it, and soon realised that it was and oversized chicken breast in a coating that was too big not to be dry. My husband had the pulled pork bun, which he enjoyed. The service was not great. We were seated by a window at the front which was lovely, but I think we got forgotten and it looked like the adjacent table were too. Once we were finished with our food we waited, and waited and waited. I’d guess close to 45 minutes. In the end I gave up on the option of another drink or a dessert and hunted someone down for our bill. Others around us appeared to have arrived after and left well before us. I think I’d skip this next time. Not terrible, not great. Could easily be improved.

We booked a table for Monday 31st May. The meal was good, a lot of things were missing off the menu as it was so busy, but we were happy to have the burger. I was annoyed that I was charged for tap water, I thought that was supposed to be free. I also don’t like having a service charge added to the bill, I would rather give a tip if the service is good.

Fabulous food, we had the Croft breakfast and the vegetarian breakfast, both delicious. Excellent service, will definitely eat there again, thank you.

Dear Sir / Madam, I hope you and your staff are well in these difficult times. I write this mail in an attempt to be constructive albeit its contents does not make for pleasant reading. My wife and I made a 6.30pm reservation on 30th May 2021 at the Croft, Boughton On Water. We were met at reception at 6.05pm by Tom (whose name we asked for towards the end of the evening). Tom, on reference to his I Pad promptly assured us we had no 6.30pm booking so my wife pointed it out to him on the I Pad Tom was referring to. We advised we would go elsewhere for a drink or go for a walk and come back noting we were 25 minutes early for our slot, being advised our early arrival to not be a problem we went to our selected table without any more than Tom pointing generally at an area of tables for us to select from. We had some menu issues, Tom had “done his bit” and it was obvious he wanted no more involvement with us. We understand the “Q Code” process which we completed, but also had menus on the table which confused us. We simply could not get Toms attention despite being seated only metres from him, Tom was too engrossed in drinking his J20, texting and dealing with a private phone call, repeatedly looking at his watch and generally doing all he could to avoid contributing anything to the business of hospitality. At 6.20pm Max arrived at out table asking if we wanted a drink, Max was a saviour, he explained why there were two menus, one being specials. Max got us paper menus, we asked what the soup of the day was and the pie of the day, to avoid losing the attention of Max, as we could tell we would never get Toms attention, we made an immediate selection, Max took our food and drink order as we dismissed the specials. At 6.40pm, still trying to get the attention of Tom without success, Max again arrived at our table and we chased our drinks. When Max did deliver the drinks, I was given a glass and a bottle to pour my own drink. My soup arrived with no knife to spread the butter. When I did ask for a knife I was given two sets of knives and forks for the mains, using one knife for the butter I was now short on a knife for the mains. The wife and I shared a desert but despite qualifying our intention to do this, we had only one spoon. The food was all fine, no issues there. I awaited a second drink but without anyone to order from the sale was lost. The wife and I were incensed with Tom, from when we arrived to his leaving time of 8pm, we witnessed him take two meal payments, at both tables he had great delight at pointing at his Black BMW parked opposite saying he had a parking ticket. Tom repeatedly walked passed queuing patrons without any eye contact or so much as a “Be with you shortly sir”, he walked about aimlessly. We witnessed many people walk out through lengthy waiting at the reception counter, Those that did queue were invariably sent away when asked if they had a booking, which a sign would have dealt with and we even heard one couple call out to Tom and say, “why don’t you simply put a sign up saying no tables left without reservation” as they were fed up with a huddling queue around their table. I cannot exaggerate what a wasted “on cost” to your business Tom is, to the point, I said to my wife, that’s probably a 35k car he has, I would suspect he only has the job as he is the owners son. We actually witnessed Tom talking to a set of four that had a booking, mid conversation, he looked at his watch, he walked inside, come out with a jacket etc, waked straight out, put the stuff in his boot, come back in the restaurant, collected some phone leads, and went…. Astonishing. To say the service was poor was an understatement, Max was doing his best to cover the gaps. We watched Tom stand by a ladened table whilst max cleared up with no assistance from Tom. I understand the hospitality trade with allocated posts to prevent duplication but there is nothing wrong with assisting an overloaded colleague. Shame on Tom, I am sure his parents would be horrified.

Fortunately I booked day before, as we visited on an extremely busy day for lunch. Staff very polite, attentive and dealt with rejecting customers admirably given the demand for tables. Was seated outside and had a great lunch, food was great

We had a delightful lunch in this beautiful building on Bank Holiday Monday. The staff are lovely, very friendly and helpful and the food is tasty and beautifully presented. Service excellent. We will definitely be making a return visit!

We called in for Breakfast having booked ahead and we had a fantastic start to our Sunday, great bacon, sausages and perfect scrambled eggs. Really good value, served with a smile by Donna and her team. All served quickly and Andre such pressure. Wow were these guys busy, so book ahead guys. Despite the best efforts of the team there are still idiot customers out there who forget what we have just all been through and they show no grace, manners or consideration, getting grumpy when THEY haven’t booked and THEY haven’t thought through what they should do when going out for a meal. Shame on you, this is a great place to eat excellent good quality food at good prices, all with a Free stunning view of the village.

Terrible meal and service. Didn't got what we ordered but by this point we already couldn't wait to get out so didn't bother re-ordering. Toast on the croque monsieur was barely even toasted and cheese unmelted. Fish fingers in the fish finger brioche were hard and tasteless. Whilst waiting for my partner to come back from the bathroom (the staff thought the restaurant was empty), a number of staff were gossiping about how much they had earned in tips, insulting several customers along the way. I was grateful when I got out!!

Excellent and attentive service and very good quality food. Great location right next to the river. If you’re in town -go here!

Wonderful restaurant! Great breakfast choices and smooth coffee too - recommended!

Fantastic food, great atmosphere and superb staff! Donna and her team make you feel so welcome and have done an amazing job, it's so good to be able to go to one of our favourite restaurants, keep up the good work.

We enjoyed a very good breakfast at the Croft on Saturday 15 May. Our family always look forward to going there as do we oldies. The welcome by Donna was really warm and we thoroughly enjoyed our various breakfasts-all of which were served efficiently and very pleasantly. Donna runs a very good business and we hope that she’ll enjoy great support from the community as they recover from COVID. Well done team Donna and thank you. Chris Davies

Easy to book. Excellent food and service. Look forward to visiting again.

Absolutely fantastic experience, the food was excellent, the service was great and had a lovely time!

First meal in the Croft since things started to re-open - and it's as if nothing had changed; everything surpasses expectation every time - including the weather - and staff as friendly and efficient as ever - especially concerning that my wife wanted something "off menu" and there was no problem at all. Food came out quickly considering we all (3 of us) ordered different meals. The staff are a credit to Donna.

Really enjoyable evening at the Croft again. We were made to feel welcome upon arrival. Lovely waiting staff and great food. What more can you want... Thanks guys..

Food was amazing and so was the outdoor seating area. One of our items of food never arrived and we were forgotten towards the end when we wanted more drinks and desserts. Other tables around us that arrived a lot later were taken care of first.

Had a great meal and service, one of our favourite places to eat, I noticed a lady on the next table received her bill and questioned the service charge with raised eyebrows but paid, I could tell she wasn’t happy about it, When my bill arrived I asked the waitress was this charge compulsory as it’s automatically added with nothing said, I was told it was at the customer’s discretion, so had it taken off. I know this charge is used in some countries, and I don’t mind tipping for good service, but this should be down to the individuals to choose. I do love this place but do think this could stop some people from returning.