Dog and Duck

We arrived promptly for our 7:45 booking in the 'barn' area to be told the table would be 5 minutes and to have a drink at the bar. After 1/2 hour when we inquired we were told that this area was not available but we insisted we had clearly specified this when booking. We were then told we could go in the barn area but there were 2 dogs in there! We were seated about 8:30 and waited a while for the order to be taken, we did not start eating until 8:20 over 1 1/2 hours after our booking. The starters were ok but I ordered a rare steak which came 'raw' with greasy limp chips. The steak was inedible and extremely fatty. We complained about the lengthy wait and the steak but no one came to apologise or offer us anything 'on the house' to compensate inspite of our suggestions! We got the bill to find we had been charged £14 extra for items which we had not had! The excuse was that we had started with a tab at the bar and other people's items had been added on to our tab!! Would not be in a hurry to return.

We had visited the Dog and Duck at Old Clipstone on 2 previous occasions and enjoyed good food with acceptable service.

Unfortunately, our third visit on Saturday 12 August was far from acceptable, to the extent where we seriously considered walking out.

We arrived in plenty of time ahead of our booking and decided to have a drink at the bar. When our booked eating time arrived, we were not approached by any member of staff, and had to remind the Host that we were waiting. Eventually, we were shown to a table, and our food and drinks orders were taken. The drinks arrived followed soon after by the starters. All well so far apart from having to ask for cutlery as there was none on the table.

The problems now started. We waited and waited for the mains to arrive. After approx 45 mins, we asked a member of staff to check when we would be getting our mains. Another member of staff came to us and said the mains will be no longer than 8 mins. Very precise figure we thought which to us, indicated they had only just started to cook them. The 8 mins came and went and so did another 12 mins before they arrived. In total from completion of starters to arrival of mains had taken over an hour. On top of that, one of the mains was lukewarm. We informed a member of staff who apologised and offered to have it replaced but we declined the offer on the basis that we had waited long enough and didn't want to wait any longer.

We didn't particularly enjoy the mains and just wanted to leave, so did not order any desserts. We made our feelings clear when paying the bill which to be fair did not include one of the mains.

In our opinion, the order for our mains was forgotten and comments from the staff of being very busy are not acceptable. Whilst waiting for the mains, there was a period of time when it appeared that no staff were visible and no food was coming out of the kitchen. Other diners also appeared to be waiting for food but not for an hour. No customer service was