HOW different your reviewer's experience at The Butchers Arms was to mine!
Having booked two weeks ahead for a birthday celebration for five, we arrived full of anticipation.
My starter of warm black pudding salad with soft boiled eggs and wholegrain mustard dressing arrived without the eggs or the dressing. It was sent back and returned, this time with a cold boiled egg on top and the salad drowned in overpowering balsamic vinegar.
Our main courses of fish, steak, and duck were fine though not very exciting or very hot.
The chocolate puddings were dry sponge and lacked fudge qualities and the creme brulees came in individual ramekin dishes but in reality were creme custards, soft set and sprinkled with brown sugar. Cold and with no crisp caramelised brulee crust.
We sent these three back .
The waitress returned with three that were no different.
Total paid, for five with a bottle of wine, two beers and two orange soft drinks, £172.00. Service not included.
The Butchers Arms is the only restaurant, bistro, pub or cafe where I have sent dishes back or declined to pay for a course in 40 years of dining out. I have had worst meals in less pleasant surroundings, but never were expectations, raised by glowing reviews (of which yours is just the last one) so unrealised.
Michael A Smith
Holmfirth
BARRY GIBSON (Out and About, August 28) may have had a good experience at the Butchers Arms, Hepworth, but the two meals we have had there have been poor.
We went shortly after it opened and two of the four mains for our group were extremely late in arriving and were not worth eating. None of the wines we wanted were available. Unfortunately, the staff seemed oblivous to our complaints.
Hoping that such mistakes were in the past, we went again a few weeks ago. Again, the quality of the cooking varied alarmingly and when I complained, there was no response from the staff.
There are some good restaurants around - Weavers Shed (Golcar), Harrows/Mezze (Holmfirth) and Hey Green Hotel (Marsden) - but not many.
Stephen Dorril
Netherthong
