Brewers Fayre Wiltshire Review
Reviewed by Rachel Cassey-Holland
Yesterday my family, some friends and I attended the opening of the new and improved play area at the Brewers Fayre in Cepen Park, Chippenham, Wiltshire.
I have visited this Brewers Fayre on a previous occasion and my children had played in the play area that time, so I had a hazy recollection of how it used to be. I must admit that the play area is now very much improved in every sense from the smell and cleanliness in the room down to the seating area for adults, the fresh new flooring (the carpet has a Beano comic theme), the decor and the actual play equipment itself. It was very easy to park outside and easy to get into.
When we arrived we were vaguely greeted by a member of staff, but the events of the morning were not explained to us. Tea and coffee for the adults was supposed to be available, but this was not offered to us and we had to go looking for it. Drinks for the children were offered when it was obvious we were looking but there was only squash available, which one of my children won’t drink so a hot child had to wait for a jug of water to be brought in. To get the tea or coffee we were offered to take an empty mug from a tray to fill it out in the restaurant (over by the bar), but unfortunately I noticed that many of the mugs seemed still dirty inside (stained still with previous tea or coffee).
My children really enjoyed the play area, however, and had a very nice time playing. There are two slides – one is a tunnel type slide and the other a helter skelter type. There is a wall puzzle made out of soft play pieces, which was actually not as easy as it first looked so nice and stimulating for the children and there was also a separate area with massive bean bags, which was really good for younger or disabled children. There were also several new Little Tikes Cozy Coupe cars for the children to drive around in.
Dennis the Menace came in to say “Hello” to the children. Unfortunately my children don’t know who he is so were a little scared and reluctant to go near him but he added to the overall theme of the play area. There was also face painting for the occasion, but my children did not want to have any done and it seemed to be taking quite a long time per child.
Once the play time had finished we were invited into the restaurant to have lunch, which we had pre-ordered. The children’s’ lunches were served first (it was actually already waiting on our table), which is always a good idea. The older three children all had the Big Bad Dog hotdogs with chips and corn on the cob and the toddler had the Cod-Apult cod nuggets with chips and peas. They followed this with three portions of jelly and ice cream and one portion of the Tricky Minnie Doughnuts and the Beano theme continued with the hotdogs (for example) being wrapped in Beano comic type paper. The adults ate a Brewers Fayre Burger with chips and coleslaw, Fish & Chips with garden peas and chips and Smothered Chicken. We followed this with two Chocolate Fudge Cakes and a Berry Berry Cheesecake although unfortunately two of the wrong desserts were brought first.
The food was unadventurous but decent and not greasy, although the adult’s food could have done with being a little warmer when served. I also felt that basics such as ketchup and mayonnaise (because of the nature of the food) should have been more readily available, but we had to ask for it and when it finally arrived there was only one small bowl of ketchup between four children.
Again I had to go and fill up drinks glasses and I found that there were no glasses available at the drinks station. I wondered around feeling lost until I eventually found someone to help me. I then needed two glasses of plain tap water and had to find someone else to ask. The girl who was helping me disappeared for quite some while and I couldn’t really understand what had taken so long to get me two glasses of tap water with ice in. Unfortunately the end result was that my food was cold when I could finally sit down to eat.
The restaurant itself seemed clean enough – perhaps not sparkling, but was ok. The ladies toilets were also fairly clean but could definitely benefit from a refurbish. My husband said the same about the men’s toilets.
Once we had finished our meal the children went to pay in the outside play area, which was in very good order.
All in all we passed a pleasant morning and lunch at the Brewers Fayre but service and the staff probably let the overall experience down somewhat. The type of food on offer is standard fayre and nothing that I would get very excited about but, at the same time, it is somewhere you would go with a family if you don’t feel like cooking on a Sunday or after a long trip and you can let the children run and play in safety. Having checked the prices of the food we ordered on the Brewers Fayre website I would say they are only “ok” and a trip out like that for a family of 5 would have been expensive enough considering the lack of service, even if the drinks are refillable. I would, however, go back under one of the aforementioned circumstances.
The play area is much improved and my children were very happy to try it out. I would hope that they keep it that way, which will require constant careful attention. I do feel that there is a very young staff there, which I totally understand, but they need to be better trained about service and how to deal with customers, even if they are friendly.
Rating: 3.5/5
For more information, to view menus or to book a table visit:
www.brewersfayre.co.uk/pub-restaurant/Wiltshire/Cepen-Park-Chippenham.html
Brewers Fayre, West Cepen Way, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 6UZ | 01249 463 354
