The Rose At Stapleford

I decided to give the Rose another try since I heard it had new ownership. I visited twice in one week, but unfortunately the only memorable experience was the second time. A group of friends and I went for dinner on a Tuesday night and were warmly welcomed. The food was decent, with a reasonable selection of basic pub fare. The owner seemed to have many ideas, but based on my second visit, it seems like they may not succeed. I returned with my partner for a drink, hoping to show him its potential. However, we were greeted with reluctance. The bartender complained about closing at 9pm and was reluctant to get ice for my drink, stating she had to go downstairs to get it. We felt like a burden and unwelcome. Shortly after getting our drinks, she closed the bar and made it clear we were not wanted. This was at 9pm. Unfortunately, I no longer feel inclined to return.

Despite this pub having faced some challenges, our experience was fantastic. We had made a reservation online for 6:30pm, only to arrive and discover that the kitchen was closing at 5pm. However, the acting manager, who I suspect had to fill in last minute, kept the chef on for us since we were unable to be contacted due to poor signal on our phones. The food was typical pub fare and the service was exceptional. Thank you for going above and beyond for us.

So looking forward to a Sunday lunch, but alas it was terrible, chicken breast looked like a frozen fillet from Aldi, wet veg probably from frozen, roast potatoes undercooked, and the gravy….well it was brown water. So disappointed. The chap serving was good and handled very well. Sunday roasts are so easy to do and would be embarrassed by letting that go out for service, do these chefs not try their own food? Sadly won’t be returning.

The staff out front worked hard but there was a complete absence of organisation or experience. We ordered a variety of starters and main courses- some of which was not available. The food was below average, glasses and plates left on the table, bizarre staff response to complaint. Never again!

We went for a Friday lunch, with no booking. The restaurant appeared busy, and we were told that the chef was off so there would be a delay. We gave it a miss, and made a booking for a couple of weeks time. Our party of four arrived on time, well before the restaurant got busy, and placed our order. Pies were sold out, so I ordered sausages fair enough. Also two burgers (one with salad not chips, and one fish chips). Seemed simple enough. Almost an hour passed, and no food arrived. We asked politely how long it would be. Nearly ready we were told. A few minutes later we were informed that 3 meals were indeed ready, but they just realised that they had no fish for the fourth meal. So we ordered a replacement burger, and asked that they they bring out the three meals that were ready, as we were all quite hungry. Nothing appeared for a while, and eventually four meals arrived but scampi instead of the additional burger we requested. All burgers were with chips, none had salad as requested. We complained bitterly, and asked to discuss with the manager. who was not available. We were told he was upstairs does not start his shift till 5pm. We said that we did not want to pay the full price for the food due to the long wait two incorrect meals. The waitress (who was not having a great day) brought our bill, literally threw it on the table, and observed loudly that we were indeed eating the food. One table of 4 diners near us got so fed with their long wait and the disappointing food, simply got up left very angry, and without paying anything at all. The duty manager finally appeared, explaining that he was doing the cooking, as the chef was off . We offered to pay for our drinks 50% of the food bill. He kindly offered to not charge for the food at all. Overall, not the best experience. But the problems were agreed and eventually accepted by the staff. It will be a while before we return. It 's a pity, because this is a great venue, in a good location, and the outside areas have been improved hugely during covid. It seems it is being let let down by lack of experienced staff.