The Drift - Lyndhurst

This was disappointing. When we arrived we could not change the booking from 6 to 8. We were told that the rest of the empty restaurant was booked and we could not be seated together. We eventually managed to organise two tables. The service was very lax and the food came in different timings. Service was slow and haphazard. I would not visit again. The restaurant was still empty two hours later.

We were the first lunch guests to arrive at 12pm. They hadn’t finished clearing breakfast service. The restaurant was a mess, cutlery was on the floor tables not set up we were told to wait 10 mins past our booking time (with a hungry 1yr old) so they could finish getting ready. They forgot our drinks order (we were the only table eating so they weren’t busy) and the food was average to poor. I wouldn’t recommend travelling here when there are hundreds of better pubs and restaurants to choose from.

Poor service. Disinterested staff. Very slow to clear plates after each course. Gave up waiting to take pudding order.

We were sat at the table for 30 minutes before having to go and get the waiter who stated he had forgotten about us. The food then came which was nice although the Thai curry wasn’t the most full of flavour. We then waited a long time after we had finished and weren’t asked if we wanted pudding, which we did but waited so long we had to leave. I also did not get the pudding that comes with the kids meal. It is also VERY expensive. £27 for a curry and a pint!

We arrived for lunch and restaurant didn’t seem very busy. The food took approx 45 minutes to arrive which seemed odd given the lack of other diners. The food was good when it arrived. We ordered additional drinks which didn’t arrive but were added to the bill. Everyone seemed surprised they hadn’t arrived but the service staff weren’t checking on diners regularly as far as I could tell. The bill was paid before extra drinks were noticed so we requested a refund. What happened next was bizarre in the modern era! A paper form had to be completed and sent to head office for approval and then money would get credited to card in approx 10 days. No card refund available on the spot or cash refund as no cash on the premises apparently. Nice place to go for a long walk then lunch but their service needs improvement