Restaurants in Preston

3.0

Allen

Visited Ribchester Arms last evening for dinner along with my wife, Lindsay. We have visited this establishment regularly over the years but during our last few visits have been disappointed in a number of ways with the food and, having drawn this to the attention of the staff, their attitude and method of dealing with customer dissatisfaction have left much to be desired. Previously, I have on many occasions ordered the same two starters from the menu so I have good experience of what to expect when the food is correctly prepared. On many prior occasions I have ordered really tasty "Chicken Kebabs" from the starter menu and have thoroughly enjoyed them. However, on one visit I ordered the same item and was presented with a single kebab rather than the usual two, effectively you had doubled the price of the starter, give or take a lettuce leaf or two. When I complained about this I was met with an argument with the waitress saying that this "has always been the same!" Patently this was not the case as I had probably been going there much longer than this particular member of staff. Nonetheless, nothing was done about my complaint at the time, nor was any financial amends made or offered. I further pointed out at this time that the description of the items is "Kebabs" plural so that a customer should expect to receive more than one item. I also expressed that this description needed to be amended on the menu for the future. I felt deceived at the time but gave the Ribchester Arms further chances as the food had previously been good. Last night I visited again and asked the question about the "Kebabs" prior to ordering as the description had not changed. The waitress confirmed that the dish was only one item, even though the menu still describes more than one. Despite this now obvious deception, I ordered a different meal in the form of a prawn cocktail which was lovely. However, for my main course, I then ordered a main course sized Chicken Caesar Salad. Again, I have eaten this dish at the Ribchester Arms on numerous occasions, sometimes as a starter size and often as a main course size so I would say that I am now eminently qualified to recognise the difference between the two items. When my food arrived I immediately recognised this was not the normal main course size but in fact, the starter size portion. I immediately sent the food back and asked the waitress to have the chef rectify the error. My expectation for a main size was that this should have come back in a larger bowl with slightly more content of each constituent ingredient. I believe that expectation to be fair! When the waitress returned she was clutching the same salad bowl and stated that chef had said this was actually the main course size but he had "added some more bits to it anyway!" Subsequently, it transpired that the "added bits" were actually a large pile of very dry bread croutons which, at this point, had become the single largest constituent item in the salad. Patently, this was not good enough and, after a couple of mouthfuls of dry croutons I returned the food and asked for it to be removed from my bill. In the meantime, my wife's food had arrived and again, it was incorrect, in that the vegetables with the meal were not what was ordered and had to be sent back. Most people would have simply refused to pay for any of this but, in view of the argumentative attitude of the staff and my having a job which precludes me from getting into public confrontations, I decided to have my food removed from the bill and settle up for the rest. My wife's meal, an expensive steak, was ruined, having had to get it put in a take away container and take it home with us. I am hoping you will now take the opportunity to put this right by making a full refund of what we had to pay for what amounted to a horrible evening out and the removal of a previously good eating establishment from our list of regular eating venues.

Having read the derisory report on this restaurant by "c" I felt compelled to write a rebuttal, an drateful thanks he doesn't live in the area. He clearly wouldn't recognise good wholesome food if it jumped out of the pan and smacked him on the nose. This restaurant visited for the first time since re-opening as The Silk Route is a quality place. Great friendly staff, an ample varied menu, and thechef can make anything a customer wants, So "c" if you want the usual tat,of burgers,weird chicken or wispy washy fish and chips just go there, seems more like your style, and leave the classier places to those who know, are prepared to enjoy and pay for good food, service and ambience. A rare thing in Corbyns Weary World sadly but we will see more when we leave that awful set of demented money grabbing thieves in Bruxelles. Keep going down the Silk Road, they know how to do it.