Review Toby Carvery Sutton in Ashfield, Notts

THE HOME OF THE ROAST

Toby Carvery lays on a family-sized feast of tender, slow-cooked meats, eight lots of veg including crispy, ruffled roasties and all the trimmings. 

Toby Carvery Watermill

Coxmoor Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG17 4NE

Call : 01623 516413

Pub Opening Hours

Monday to Saturday - 11am - 11pm  Sunday - 11am - 10.30pm

Carvery Serving Times

Monday to Saturday - 11:30am - 10pm Sunday - 11am - 10pm

Breakfast Serving Times

Monday to Saturday - 8am - 11am Sunday - 8am - 10.30am

Toby Carvery The Watermill is within easy reach of Skegby, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Stanton Hill and Mansfield. From M1 junction 28, follow the A38 Alfreton Road for a short distance towards Sutton-in-Ashfield and turn left at Coxmoor Road. We're just ahead on your left.

My Review

Exterior and Interior

Arriving just before noon on a Monday, the first thing I could not help but notice was the state of the garden.  Litter bins brimming over not just with garbage but disposable nappies.  The smoking area had cigarette butts and empty packets littered on the floor, even though there was a bin and ashtray facilities.   Now I know the weather was not brilliant, and I speak from experience of running many Toby’s, we all hated doing the car park and garden duty, but clearly, no one had even been outside to check the state of it.  I have to ask myself was this from a busy Sunday?  On the other hand, was this mess more than a day old?   Either way first impressions say to me, if this is their standard outside what is it like inside?   Well, that was soon answered.  When looking for a table in the bar, even though there was just our party of six in the bar, tables had dirty crockery, and in one section there was large amounts of food remains all over the floor. 

The bar area itself was clean and well maintained and the bar person who served us did so professionally and to brand.  Pity she didn’t check the rest of her working environment.

Toilets

Oh dear me! Again, no one had been in the ladies, every cubical had had the toilet roll holder emptied and toilet paper was strewed all over the back of the cistern and on the floor in and outside of the toilets.

Food and Service

By the time our party decided to eat, the carvery was by now busy, so we opted to eat in the bar area.  MR R ordered the meals at the bar.  When given the cutlery the bar person informed him that they had run out of knives so she would have to get them from the kitchen while we went to the carvery deck.

At the carvery deck, there was just one person in front of us however, the chef had run out of turkey and beef so we had to stand there for quite some time while he went back and forth to the kitchen, cleaned his deck and then skinned the turkey.  Moving onto the vegetables, I have to say it didn’t have that wow factor, it all looked as though it had been put out in a hurry. When plating my food I could clearly see that the food was not piping hot. 

The gravy and sauce station was a mess, empty pots of gravy and sauces not refilled.  I looked around for a staff member but could not see one.

The knives had been placed on our table, but then we had to go around all the other tables to find a filled salt and pepper pot.

My prediction was right, the food was just warm enough to eat, and sadly lacked flavour   making the meal bland, certainly not a good example of what makes Toby Carvery famous – Home of the roast.

Would I go back again? 

Having been to this Toby before and impressed, I have to say that this visit was very disappointing, so I am not sure if I will return to Sutton in Ashfield Toby. 

A sad but justified 2/5  Red Hot Chillies