The Stanhope Arms, Brasted

I do believe that you may have breached the BII code of professional conduct as you are a BII member I will be speaking to them today. By the way what is Mary Rose sauce? Is it sunk like the Stanhope Arms?

CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
BII expects that:
1. Its members will at all times conduct themselves and their business in a
socially responsible and lawful manner.
2. The establishments for which its members are responsible will be operated
according to the best practice and standards of the industry, and in
particular, that the health and safety of customers and employees will be
protected.
3. Its members will not act in such a manner as to bring themselves, their
profession or BII into disrepute.
4. Its members will take a responsible interest in keeping up to date with new
developments and enhance their own professional knowledge.
5. Its members will take an active interest in assisting the professional
development and technical education of those persons in their business for
whom they are responsible.
6. Its members undertake to pursue business and employment practices that
do not knowingly tolerate any form of unlawful discrimination with regard to
age, sex, race, disability or any other unlawful discrimination as defined by
statute.
7. Its members must seek to maintain the highest standard of personal
conduct and ethics, ensuring that they uphold the principles of fairness and
equal opportunity, and undertake not to knowingly collude with any person,
persons or organisations engaged in unlawful discriminatory practice or
other unethical or unlawful behaviour.
Any breach of this Code of Professional Conduct will be dealt with by
the Council, as it deems fit and proper, in accordance with Byelaw 16.

24 Jul 2013 07:57

The Stanhope Arms, Brasted

Well, where to begin?
What a fabulous "own goal" by the Stanhope (no hope) Arms!
This personal, vindictive attack gives a priceless insight into the personalities of these individuals and the hostile welcome you may receive, let alone the slating you will get afterwards. This is not your standard professional business reply of " We are very sorry you felt you had a bad experience and we urge you to come back and have a chat with us and give us the chance to put things right, your custom is highly valued", this is more of a "F**k off! You are too fat for our pub because we can't think of anything more constructive to say. How dare you have your own opinion?"
I have complained to Greene King regarding this personal attack and they are investigating the matter
Let’s go over a few points;
• You are not welcome unless you are the perfect ten? Overweight people not welcome and not catered for, forget it if you have a beer belly, no room for those in this pub.
• You must use the French term for tartare sauce not the British way, you must say tartar like that awful stuff some people have on their teeth. Google, Wikipedia, Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsey, Nigel Slater, Heinz and Colman’s all use "tartare".
• Maybe all those books cluttering the restaurant, creating a fire hazard, don't include a dictionary amongst them, there are at least 13 spelling mistakes in the reply passage. How many 'b's in ciabatta? How many ’t’s? It’s a minefield eh? White bread is much more straightforward to spell.
• At no time did I say there was not much choice I just said there was nothing we fancied, is that a crime too? Stanhope Arms missed the point that we were making, that we stayed to be polite just to go through this abuse.
• Why is it true that the lady should be served first? Are both sexes not equal in the Stanhope arms? Obviously not. If someone was ordering a Guinness it makes sense to order that first so it can stand.
• I guess if the Stanhope doesn’t even notice how many doors they have what chance do they have of spotting spiders? I do believe there are two, possibly three entrances to your dining room, one via the hall by the kitchen, one via the bar and one from the garden. If you want to get technical I do believe there is another door in there too, not sure what it is, maybe a cupboard? Maybe brush up on the counting as well as the spelling?
• I can see why your new chef walked out after one night.
• A good chef can cook a ribeye medium rare or even rare. Jamie Oliver pulls out the larger pieces of marbling fat, breaks them up and pushes them into the steak. A fast high heat does the job. Your “chef” (and I use that word in the loosest term possible) cooked the steak how “you saw fit” and it was still tough as old boots. You don’t have to be a “culinary genius” to know that.
• Apparently I am lacking in the humour department. Maybe my Dad dying in hospital may have taken that hilarious edge off me. Not happy with my inner self? I’m pretty happy I’ve just battled cancer for the third time and won.
• If the landlady asks you if you want white or brown bread never say “white” because this is a trick, obviously this is a direct reflection of your social standing and class and absolutely nothing to do with the fact you may need a lower level of gluten because of health problems.
• If you’d have looked out the window you would have noticed the Bentley Turbo doesn’t fit through a drive through. Even if you are vegetarian you may get accused of eating “big macs”. You never know who anyone is or whom they know and should always be a little wary of this.
• I had stated that I was at the Stanhope Arms with my “friend” who they have decided to call my “hubby”. This is quite bizarre as my friend (whom is in fact 5ft 10” and not 6ft 4”) is very gay and suffers from arthritis so your “joke” of him being into martial arts/ kickboxing is pretty sick. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. Maybe the heterosexual world of the Stanhope Arms can’t cope with the concept of gay people and they too are not welcome? My husband will be coming to see you and write a comment in your book. He is 6ft 4” incidentally and works for HMRC hence my next point.
• The Stanhope Arms is not yet VAT registered so please bear this in mind if you are having a business lunch or dinner and wish to reclaim.
• It would seem that someone’s build dictates their level of sensitivity. Larger people can obviously take as much abuse as you can give without feeling the tiniest bit hurt or intimidated. Whilst the Stanhope Arms is so preoccupied with height I am 5ft 1” tall and the teetotal possibly otherwise intoxicated (or tea total as you say) landlady ( or landlay as you like to call her) is 5ft 2”.
• The tomato sauce may not be the cheapest but it’s not far off I suspect. If you want to strip the varnish from your windowsills just ask for some, it’s not Heinz that’s for sure.
• The Stanhope Arms are obviously proud to be compared to Fawlty Towers where the staff are rude and incompetent and the whole thing stuck back in the seventies. Congratulations you are certainly on a par with them.
• You knew there was a problem with the fire which is why you came out of the kitchen to look at it then did nothing; maybe you are used to smelling that way? You had the dessert board re-written after our fleeting glance at it.
• We never cleared our plates as some of the food was inedible.
• An earlier review stated there was a dog poo problem outside in the garden of the Stanhope Arms, I would like to add there is a bulls**t problem indoors.
• A failed landlady? I’ve never failed at anything thank you. Maybe it takes one to know one? Flight to Malta maybe?

23 Jul 2013 22:08

The Stanhope Arms, Brasted

Been meaning to visit this pub for a long time, finally got around to it but was sadly disappointed. The pub changed hands 8 months ago and I must say has been decorated in such a way that makes it feel very homely. We walked in and said we had a table booked and my friend ordered his drink then asked me what I wanted only to be told the lady should be asked and served first and that this really annoys the landlady who was serving us!! After the ticking off we were shown to the restaurant which was stunning but totally empty, we were told we could have any table because there were no bookings(on a sat night? ) the first table we sat at was by the food board and we struggled to find anything on there we fancied, we contemplated leaving then but to be polite we stayed. We had full attention of the landlady who was very chatty and popped in and out of various doors much to our amusement. I asked for bread and butter with my crayfish cocktail and was being railroaded into ciabatta and oil by the landlady, I said no I just want bread and butter which did come but was sadly bread and cheap margarine, and we were told we were getting the ciabatta as well whether we liked it or not !!! Very strange..my friend had steak (which was very poor) and he said he wanted it medium rare and was told he would get it how the chef saw fit to cook it ( the chef being her husband). We were pretty shocked by this. My scampi came up smothered in tartare sauce which I don't like I was pretty gutted. I asked for tomato sauce and put some on my chips the sauce was the cheapest sauce I'd ever tasted and was so vinegary it stung my mouth! Our drinks ran dry twice and I had to call out for the barmaid, the landlady now vanished. We moved tables because the chairs were so uncomfortable and sat by the fire with a smouldering log in it, no flame, just filling the room with smoke, we stunk when we came out. The empty plates sat on the table for ages and then finally the barmaid came out and hurled a minute chalkboard at us with about two desserts on it , neither appealing and one written on each side which was bizarre! We waited for someone to come so we could ask for the bill but no one came. The restaurant still empty (8.30pm) but a few people now in the bar. I went to the ladies and it was beautifully decorated but I am terrified of spiders and ther were two in EACH cubicle of the toilets with cobwebs on the ceiling. I ventured out to the bar again and was ignored but saw the landlady across the room having a drink herself, finally someone noticed me and the barmaid called the landlady back who then dealt with another customer before us ?then she waved in front of me a piece of paper with a scrawled figure on it, I asked for a breakdown as the figure seemed high, I didn't get one neither did I get asked if I had enjoyed my food but I was so upset by then I did say that it was the most vile tomato sauce I'd ever tasted and that it ruined my dinner. Not sure if the landlady had had a bit to drink but she argued with me that it didn't ruin my dinner ??? Then had the ordacity to ask me to write in the visitor guestbook adding "dont put about the tomato sauce though" !!! The nerve ! I can't have my dinner how I want it neither can I write the truth! I found her extremely invasive
and controlling! We just walked out but it was an expensive meal and I begrudged every penny.I was very disappointed. I wouldn't go back there if you paid me!

25 Jun 2013 08:40