Wiremill, Lingfieldback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Such a shame as food was excellent... Starters came out pretty quickly and were fantastic but we sat with the plates for 30 mins. Staff cleared glasses from other tables but plates were everywhere. Eventually I had to go in ask a waiter to clear our table and make sure our mains had been put through.
We then waited 35 mins for mains which again were fantastic.
After another 45 mins we were still sat with our plates.
I spoke to the manager about it because I think it's only fair to give them a chance to put it right but he just said he'd look into it and put the blame on the kitchen.... While talking to him a frustrated chef interrupted to ask for service. Clearly the kitchen wants to be serving great hot food it's just a shame that the front of house team aren't supporting them.
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Ok for a pint, food is bloody awful.
First of all, I've been here a few times. I don't like it when folks get angry and write a lousy review saying somewhere is crap because their rare steak got over cooked the one and only time they went....
Anyway, overlooking a large lake, it's a relaxing place to enjoy a couple of pints, often with waterskiing taking place. It can get very busy, and if you're there after sunset, watch out for the flies and Mosquitos. The owners could probably spend some more time in keeping this area tidy though - there is a lot of guano on the chairs and tables which never seems to be cleaned up. The beer is actually good, some guest ales are of a random quality, but guest ales always are.
The place looks great, and promises so much, but has never really delivered a good meal. I have eaten here three times - I wanted so much to like it, the first time was ok, the second not wonderful, and the third time was even worse.
The menu has been written by the scriptwriter of A Clockwork Orange. Chips are 'Chippies' and Chicken is 'chick chick chicken'. The fish are 'tickled'. Duck is 'Ducky'. It also says the chefs are 'somewhat mad' - this is correct; the menu is created by the head chef 'Jason' - he's referenced on the menu - 4 times, on the blackboards, website and so on.
The menu describes what you would expect from a pub, with an occasional random main course from somewhere overseas. Jason, (in case you missed it) wants to create something special with a 'twist' to all of these, but fails; Classic mains often have a wild and fey interpretation, and the occasional foray into more international food is frankly, bonkers. The food is often way to complex and way way too over spiced.
'Posh' ham egg and chips, for example - is a kind of salty soggy pork burger drowned in a spicy tomato and onion sauce which completely overwhelms everything - apparently there was a poached egg in there somewhere - I couldn't taste it, and the chips were dowsed in chilli powder - why? It's rare that a meal containing just 3 ingredients can be so wrong. On that particular night I'm just glad I never ordered a Foraged Mushroom, Leak & Sorrel Strudel. This is another place which thinks its cool to give you your chips in a little metal bucket - I can't wait for that trend to come to an end. The fish and chips are about as greasy as you can find - anywhere, and they throw some newspaper on the plate as well (Metro).
There are a few other things to avoid - the beef Wellington is always overcooked to the point where it cannot be accessed with cutlery, and the South African fish stew, which is an unholy combination of aquatic matter, and too many spices is to be ignored unless you are some kind of maniac. And that's just what I've tried. It's difficult to put into words quite how bad some of this stuff is.
Kids food is poorly considered - fish and chips is an off cut of an adult portion containing, you guessed it - bones. If you've got kids and you want them to reach adulthood, don't feed them in here. (Seriously.)
Hospitality is reasonable enough, though don't try and question anyone about the quality of the food or the chefs interpretation of a portion of chips. Sorry, its worth mentioning again; Chilli powder on the chips for gods sake. Did I ask for chilli fries? No. I asked for Ham, Egg and Chips.
Good pub food is simple, well put together, with the better pubs being more creative in combining traditional and appropriate world cuisine with great execution. The chefs here can do none of that; They are very much in the category of thinking they have good ideas and can cook, but they don't and they cant. The use of spices in food is a subtle art or at its basic level, at least sensible, and it is not done here.
Is this harsh? Yes, but it's also true. A family meal in a place like this can cost upward of a days salary for a lot of people. That's a very big ask for what this place gives back in return.
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Dreadful, dreadful food.
Had breakfast here last weekend. Probably worst ever. £7 for one sausage, two poor quality bacon, a spoon of cold beans, and a cold, completely solid yolked egg. Two cold toast.Wife had tiny portion of scrambled on toast that came with no butter. Absolute rubbish. The waitress said they did the fried eggs hard because "it's personal preference" - whatever that means. I asked to see the manager and he walked past about 5 times before I collared him, he had no intention of even speaking to us until I made him. His attitude was a total joke, he literally did not have a clue. Instead of apologising or offering some kind of refund he tried his best to come up with stupid excuses about the quality of the food, trying to tell me people like eggs hard etc. The chalkboard talks about the "Classic full English" as if it's some kind of culinary treat. Pot of tea £2 each - for £4 we had one of those silver pots between us.
So my recommendation is: do not eat there. My recommendation to the owners is: More training for the waitress and the hapless manager, he stands there like a rabbit in the headlights if you try to complain, teach him to offer some kind of apology and refund or compensation to the (many?) disgruntled customers and, I'm sorry, but find a new chef - if he can't cook a breakfast he can't cook anything.
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Really surprised about the adverse comments regarding service, just visited thw Wire Mill and the service was excellent, (it is November so not many people there) but they were friendly, efficient and quick. The beer was OK not brilliant, maybe it had been sitting in the pipes too long.
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Lovely pub - but staff were unhelpful and food was average! Waited nearly and hour for 3 sandwiches, pub was moderatley busy but staff seemed more interested to stand around chatting! Disapointing as the location is so pleasant.
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Judging by some of the other reviews here, not much has changed in a year or so in terms of the dining experience offered here.
Visited this place twice now - once in March for an evening meal with my wife and parents, the other for lunch over the Easter weekend.
Evening meal was pleasant although every single dish either had a component missing, or in the case of the steaks, undercooked (not a problem for me personally but a fault nonetheless). No cause for complaint but not the best meal ever (and certainly not up to what the menu seemed to promise).
Lunch was an unmitigated disaster. Sandwiches were tiny, pub couldn't cope with being full to capacity and menu choices were trimmed due to many ingredients being unavailable. It doesn't take a genius to work out that, in such a lovely location on a bank holiday, you may get busy - even a trip to the local Tescos to resupply would have helped.
Beer and wine choices were reasonable - some interesting bottled guest lagers (although I would hardly call Peroni 'exotic') but nothing amazing of note on the drinks front.
Shame really, because the pub looks great, the staff were great, and the menu reads very well, but what appear to be massive issues in the kitchen leave me unable to recommend this place at all. Best avoided.
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The revamp has worked - to an extent - but I can't ever leave without feeling slightly disappointed. The massive sandwiches are fun, but I've always avoided other food. Wines and beers are there - and you can drink them.
Killer here is the fantastic lake (which can give flies in your eyes in the summer months!) but it really is a lovely, calming place to be: if you can get a table!
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The owners of this pub....who seemed to have had such high aims...have completely lost the plot...the staff employed are not from the same strata of society that the marketing seems to be aimed at..as a result the same strata supplies the customers....I had not recovered from having a barman debung his sinuses whilst pouring my beer when I saw him adjust his male vegetables in front of other customers...unbelievable. I hope he wasn't due to take food out!
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Just been for lunch on a Bank Holiday Monday, sadly not a great experience. I booked in advance and specifically asked for a chair with a cushion for my father but when we arrived we were told there was no record of this request & were given very hard wooden chairs.
The table was in a very dark corner and we were given menus without being told that nearly half the options weren't available.
We were warned that there would be a long (45min) wait for food which we didn't mind as were expecting some really good meals. However, the fish was overcooked, the chips soggy & the lamb burger very dry with wilted salad. There was one decent meal out of three - a butternut squash tartlet, but that was overpowered by a too-strong salsa. I don't mind waiting for good food but this was not worth it and the service wasn't great either.
It is my opinion that staff should always ask if everything is ok, no one asked us, even when we paid. We complained but weren't offered any discount.
Shame as it must've been really good once to win pub of the year but the owners have definitely got complacent now, there are many much nicer pubs in the area that offer better value for money.
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Good pub in a great location prefect on summers days as the rear deck overlooks a lake where they sometimes do water skiing.
Good selection of beer, have eaten there in the past and the meal was ok the service sometimes lets the pub down. The owners clearly have done a lot of marketing work to establish the pub as a place to visit.
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I booked the private room in August for a dinner party and found the customer service, drinks and food excellent. We were not forgotten despite the difficulties inherent in not being able to see what stage we were at in terms of finishing courses. We also stayed in one of the hotel rooms and throughout our stay we found the staff extremely attentive and friendly. I would rather wait for food which is tasty and freshly cooked rather than put up with speedy microwaved boil in bag type fodder so commonly found in pubs.
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My fianc� and I booked ahead as it was Saturday.
I was allowed to try the Sussex Best Bitter as opposed to finding out the hard way if I liked it, something I have never had before.
The starter of freshly baked bread with vinegar and oil was nice, slightly too much vinegar in the dipping oil but that�s just me being pedantic.
I had the slow roasted pork (�16.50) which was a disappointment as it was tough and the cracking was too soft. It was supposed to have chilli but this had been forgotten. My finace had the bangers and mash(�10) but that was disappointing as well with bland mash and bangers which were plain.
Followed with the lemon tart with double cr�me for me and a brownie for the better half. The lemon tart I liked but the double cr�me wasn�t double more like 0.75. She had asked for custard with the brownie but this got lost between the pad and kitchen. The brownie was dry on one side an acceptable on the other.
Lastly I had a Irish coffee which was very nice but the hot chocolate ordered by my better half was more milk with a sprinkling of chocolate, she didn�t approve.
Other small things that grated on me were the cheap wine glasses weren�t removed when we chose not to have wine, they were water stained and unpleasant to look at. I was also sat near the kitchen door with its greasy glass.
Unfortunately this isn�t the first time I have been disappointed, last time my Cajun chicken burger was dry and the Cajun bit just seemed to be on the burger as opposed to a marinade of any kind.
The only saving grace seemed to be the staff who were friendly and attentive.
Unfortunately the Wiremill is a disappointment and the scenery doesn�t make up at all.
6 out of 10.
EmnMe - 30 Aug 2009 14:55 |
I was initially disappointed that there was only one fish special (Mackerel), alongside the usual menu � being �Fish Tuesday�. I went for the Red Mullet popillote which in a word was poor. For �15 I would expect a larger amount, in fact a whole red mullet, rather than one small fillet which literally was 3 mouthfuls, and tasted like a micro-waved popillote (not baked) with onion and peppers, which as a result were raw and tasteless. The risotto was like rice pudding. My Partner who chose the braised lump of beef which was dry and burnt, with a bit of gravy poured over, found that he had raw cuts of parsnips on his plate which were crunchy, and stringy - inedible!
Over priced, great view of a lake, shame.
seven - 19 Aug 2009 11:51 |
There are lots of good things about this pub like the choice of beers and the location but the service can spoil it. I gave up waiting on a busy Saturday lunchtime when the two staff seemed to serve the waiting customers only when there was nothing more interesting to do and then with no attention to who had been waiting the longest
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The Wiremill is a converted 16th Century Mill set on a 26 acre lake, it is a beautiful location.
Its current owners have clearly made a tremendous effort to revamp this pub, the interior has greatly improved and the building offers a good mixture of classic and contemporary d�cor. They have recently opened up a Boutique Hotel on-site and I understand there are plans for a micro brewery also.
On my last visit I was pleased to find Harvey�s Sussex Best Bitter (my personal favourite), Timothy Taylor Landlord and Black Sheep Bitter, along with two Ales from the Westerham Brewery, all excellent if kept well. Unfortunately this was not the case, the beer was presented to me with absolutely no head and to taste was lifeless and a little on the warm side. My first disappointment!
Much emphasis is made of the Gastro-pub style food and the locally sourced produce; I understand Chef and Co-owner Jason puts together a menu which changes on a fortnightly basis. I have eaten here on several occasions and have been disappointed more often than not, finding the food often bland and somewhat overpriced (�16.95 for a Pork Belly resembling vulcanised rubber, which I wrestled with for some time before being defeated).
I must say the staff are always attentive and polite, and the pub offers a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere, and it�s nice to see owners putting so much effort into the place. It�s just a shame it seems to fall short. �More than just a pub� the signs boast, perhaps they should pay more attention to detail and master being just a pub that can offer well kept beer and some classic well produced food before they set there sights any higher.
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Great location, fantastic on the decking overlooking the lake on a sunny Saturday. Rambling old building with 3 floors. 2 ales on - TT Landlord & Westerham BB - TT in fine fettle.
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The Wiremill in Newchapel is a lovely pub with lots of character and beautiful views as it is situated right on it's own lake. I went there with some friends for a late lunch and beacuse they do a full menu all day, we were able to relax and take our time.
I had the Fish and Chips which I believe it is becoming quite well-known for and a couple of my friends shared a few mixed tapas plates.
There are also some quirky extras which we really thought added to the atmosphere. They have a small room caled a "snug" with a big TV and comfy chairs, brilliant to chill out in. Also all over the bar and on shelves behind, are jars full of different snacks, muffins, cookies, doughnuts and other little yummies!!!!
All in all a really sweet place with a great and varied menu - staff are lovely too!
Evie1 - 20 Jan 2009 15:24 |
I surprised so few people have reviewed the Wiremill. Maybe, like me they've driven along the A22 so many times, been distracted by the Mormon temple, then seen the sign, and made a mental note to stop next the time, and next time, and next time and never quite got there.
It is however well worth making the effort and turning off down the lane past the stockbroker belt houses to find the old mill there perfectly situated by the lake. Inside it's a quirky sort of building on at least three levels and, despite some gastro pretensions it has managed somehow to avoid the excesses of pub design consultancies.
There's a nice range of beers, including examples from Dark Star and Westerham as well as Harvery's Best and TT Landlord this morning, and even on a Sunday lunch you are not shoved in a corner to enjoy them to make way for the eaters. Despite the gastro-ness they've kept it reasonable pubby in style.
Well worth a visit, good in winter and it must be brilliant on a hot summer's evening.
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I've been here lots of times in the past 30 years but must say this pub is well worth a visit now that it has changed hands. In the last month I have taken visitors from Australia and USA and they have all fallen for its charm. Plus the staff here are so friendly that one of my visitors insisted on returning before he left England. Good food and beer, nice surroundings and a warm welcome everytime.
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I was at a water ski compeition the other day and found this gem just across the way from the club.
It was great as they did a great breakfast to get me going for the day and we returned after the competition for an evening meal and drinks by the lake whilst listening to some live music. Cheers guys
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I first discovered this pub about 15 years ago, when I used it quite often. Because of relocating to London, I hadn't been back until yesterday (6 July 2008). I found it under new management. And the place is all the better for it. There is a new menu with as much of the food as possible being locally sourced. Harvey's Sussex Bitter has replaced London Pride and there are some interesting guest beers. (They also keep an English sparkling wine - nice to see local wines getting a chance.)
Part of the charm of the Wiremill is that it is at the end of a long country lane, just off the A22 (about a mile or two before you reach East Grinstead as you come from London). It is situated by a large lake where they hold water-skiing competitions from time to time.
It has free wi-fi and opens at 9.00am for the full English. It also boasts several types of coffee.
If it's so great why don't I give it 10? Because, even though the barmaid wiped down the table for us when we arrived, there was still some crushed crisps on the floor beneath our table.
But that won't put me off going there again.
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