26/7/23
As you may know, we take turns in choosing a venue, so this month it was Pete’s turn to chose a venue and he thought he had come up with somewhere new. Sadly for him both Steve and I had been there before. The look of disappointment on his little face!
The Farmers Table is part of the Tortworth Estate Farm shop where they offer lots of local items at ridiculously inflated prices. It’s a nice venue, just far enough out of Bristol to feel like you’re going out for the day but not so far that its hard to get to, and the countryside is beautiful, with views across Charfield to Wotton under Edge.
We parked in the first car park which is a sort of overflow area as the car park close to the Farm shop and Cafe was busy.
As we approached the building we went left, straight out onto the patio area which was bathed in sunshine. There were several wooden bench seats available though some of them were already taken by customers.
Pete set off into the Cafe to collect some menu’s. When he returned he reported that the man at the counter had been quite rude?
We all chose the Tortworth Breakfast (£9.75) which is the biggest available but by our usual standards, this was a medium, or perhaps, a small breakfast and even Steve (who usually choses the small) was happy with the portion.
However, when the food arrived it was a bit disappointing.
There was a choice of Eggs (Fried, Scrambled or Poached) and we chose two breakfast with Poached eggs and one with a fried Egg but all three were overcooked and hard with the poached eggs resembling hard boiled Eggs.
The Sausage was nicely cooked , a lovely colour and it tasted very good.
The Hash Brown was large and looked delicious but as I’m still on my Low Carb diet, I had to offer it to my chums.
The Toast was piled on top of the Breakfast with the Butter Pats balanced on top of that. They were gently melting from the heat of the food and the sunshine. We had no side plates so it was very difficult to spread the butter on the toast.
The mushrooms were fresh and nicely cooked, there was a portion of Heinz Baked Beans and a slice of Bacon.
But this breakfast offering was defined by what it lacked rather than what it contained.
We ordered a portion of Black Pudding but they forgot to add it to my breakfast so Pete went in and reminded them. A rather surly guy eventually delivered it after we had finished eating!
I said it was too late so he took it away without a word and later returned and silently put 60p on the table, I assume as a refund. But as the Black Pudding was £1.40 a portion I’m not sure how they calculated 60 pence was suitable compensation?
The Tea was good if a little dangerous. It was served in a metal Tea pot which was red hot and I Managed to burn my finger whilst I was pouring. But it tasted good.
We had to ask for sweeteners and we were told to collect them ourselves from inside the door of the Cafe, the staff didn’t see it as their job to bring it to our table.
This was a very disappointing experience and Pete was obviously upset that the Farmers Table let us down on so many levels.
But the one thing we have to praise is the view. There cant be many Cafes that offer such a fantastic vista.
It almost made up for the poor service and the miserly portions.
But not quite.
I dont think we will be going back to the Farmers Table any time soon.
In search of a great Breakfast 