The Fox and Duck, Stotfold

I visited this pub on Saturday 12th December with my parents as it was their anniversary. We did try 3 other places first but all were fully booked and the Fox and Duck had a table (this should have given us our first warning)! We were greeted by a friendly waitress and showed to a table and we then chose our food. We chose 'Crispy potato skins with crispy bacon, melted cheese and sour cream dip'. Well, when it came they were huge 'potato wedges', NOT 'potato skins' and they were dry and hard and undercooked. There was nothing crispy about the potatoes or bacon! We ate what we could and then realised we didn't even get our dip! Not off to a good start. I asked the waitress why we had been given 'wedges' when the menu clearly states 'potato skins' and she just said 'that's how they do them'!! How about dishing up what it actually says on the menu! We then ordered duck with soy and ginger sauce. We had a choice between salad and veg - we all chose veg with hand cut chips. The duck came and all dishes had about a third of a plate of salad on it! I said we didnt' order salad, we ordered veg and she said 'that comes seperate, the salad is a garnish'!!!!! Now who wants cold salad with hot duck when you have specifically chosen hot veg?!!! NO - NO-ONE!!! She took it away and took off the salad! There was no sauce to speak of, maybe a half pence size dot on the plate! After about 5-10 mins the waitress came out with sauce boats! Well we had eaten half the duck by then!!! Also, the hand cut chips were dry and luke warm, not hot and crispy and golden like you would hope for! The veg - well this left a lot to be desired! This consisted of Cauliflower, carrots and sprouts! Not an ideal choice with Duck! I would have liked to see maybe something like green beans, baby sweetcorn or mangetout or something more fitting. The sprouts were frozen and hard as bullets. The cauliflower like mush, the carrots were ok! We did have a pud as we were still quite hungry from not eating much, the puds were ok but it was definitely tinned Ambrosia custard! The waitress was clearly embarrased and apologised to us when paying but not offering us some money off. I would not return even if they offered a free meal, it was awful. I could have done 100% better than their 'supposed chef'!! It's a shame as with a bit of common sense and customer service, it could be really good! Someone was complaining as we were waiting to be seated - we should have walked away then! We will not be returning and will definitely not recommend this pub!

14 Dec 2009 15:25