The Woolpack - Mid Sussex

My dining experience at this restaurant on Easter Sunday was not relaxing. I had booked a table for two to meet a friend who lives nearby. Despite the restaurant being fairly empty at 1pm, I was unable to change tables from the one that was reserved. Just as I had taken off my coat, we were asked to place our order. The roast we ordered was average, nothing special. I felt uncomfortable as it seemed like the manager or landlady was watching every bite I took. It felt off-putting. There was no rush to clear the table for another sitting, so it felt unnecessary. After our meal, we stayed in the bar area for a chat, and I must say the bar staff were friendly, which is why I gave it a 3-star rating. If I were to rate just the dining experience, it would have been a 2. The fact that the restaurant is in a residential area with little competition, and with empty tables on Easter Sunday, says a lot about the overall experience.

We arrived a bit early for our reservation and were seated promptly, but ended up waiting 40 minutes for our food. The food was frozen and not freshly roasted, which was disappointing for Easter Sunday. I ordered the pork roast, which was dry, with cold carrots and overall bland. I didn't say anything at the time because we were with friends and didn't want to cause a scene, but I definitely won't be returning.

We were visiting the area for a wedding and grabbed lunch here before checking into a hotel. Just looked it up and Google maps. Staff were very friendly, food was quick to be served and very good. Nice bitter shandy with the local bitter, although thought the price of a bottle of coke was a bit steep! Overall, would recommend!

I went in with my family today for a Sunday roast really exited as I haven’t had one for a while and I was really surprised with the customer service as well as the food. From the moment we walked in after reserving a table and being told it was externally busy and wasn’t sure if we could be accommodated but we’re grateful to be squeezed in, the pub was nearly empty and we’re met with a member of staff who didn’t even acknowledge us, we said our names and the waitress said nothing but walked us to our table no smile or any contact, which was really weird. We sat down and she walked away. This happens through the whole experience and I noted it was the same with the rest of the staff on each table. Still really excited for my roast I had high expectations, but the food was bland and surprisingly not edible, I had the chicken and it was rock solid and couldn’t even cut into it, it was so dried out! The swede mash had seeds in it and just seemed fussy and ruined it.. all in all it seemed very over priced for what was received, add in terrible customer service and it was a shocking meal experience. I was going to speak to whom I assumed were the owners about how I felt but they seemed they were in the same attitude as the rest of the staff. Extremely unapproachable. I definitely won’t be eating there again and only writing this to suggest people avoid a terrible atmosphere while dining..

This is one of the finest places to visit, the staff ,food and the general environment. Lovely beer garden which is part of the original grounds. Brilliant.