A pub has defended its reputation after a reviewer on Tripadvisor complained their vegetables had been "boiled to mush" and their experience was so poor they would never return. The diner made the claim despite admitting their table had "empty plates" that were clear of food following their meal.
The Green Man has a rating of 4.5 out of 5 on Tripadvisor, based on the number of glowing write-ups it has received. However, one reviewer said they wouldn't be back after allegedly being served 'mushy' vegetables and beef they couldn't cut up. They said the pub was too cold and even warned that previous good reviews were 'not to be believed', LancsLive reports.
The one star review reads: "Disappointing as reviews said would be good. Restaurant was cold. Wasn’t walked to table they just told it where it was. Had to ask for menus. Ordered food before drinks were taken.
"Vegetables were boiled to mush, beef couldn’t be cut. Empty plates left for ages, in fact we waited so long for dessert menu and table to be cleared that we decided to leave. Much better elsewhere I’m afraid, we won’t be back."
But The Green Man issued a lengthy response, with a spokesperson saying they were left 'hugely confused' by the review's tone and accusations. They said: "I’ve looked into your feedback extensively. Spoken to each team member and gone through all reports on the till.
"Firstly from what I have found we had our busiest Sunday to date (which in January after a very busy festive season cannot be predicted) due to how busy we were it left us a little short staffed. I apologise you weren’t shown directly to your table but had you observed just how much the team were tirelessly running around surely that can be forgiven.
"I believe one of your table did complain about the wait time for food and this was compensated by issuing you some discount to your bill ( no mention of that in your review) and when checked back you said everything was fine, (had you raised your unhappiness then it would have given us an opportunity to rectify) you then said your empty plates were left for a long time while waiting for the dessert menu.
"Well it surely cannot have been that bad if your plates were empty? As for desserts we don’t have a menu, as these are all home made and can change daily, no one at your table asked a team member so sadly they were unaware that you wanted a dessert.
"Moving now to the title of your review. Please can you not call our other reviewers fibbers. That’s a very unfair and false statement. Our reviews are very believable and are truthful.
"We pride ourselves on being a small family run business who has managed to keep going after some very tough years ( pandemic etc) sometimes like all humans things aren’t always perfect but we always strive to go out of our way to apologise and rectify when given the opportunity."
The Green Man, in the village of Inglewhite near Preston, Lancashire, is rated the 12th best restaurant out of 329 in the city. It has also been praised as both the most dog friendly and the cosiest pub locally.
One positive review reads: "We went to the Green Man as a large group and vegan requests, they did not disappoint and in fact went beyond our expectations. The food was amazing, clean plates all round and all the staff were very friendly and helpful. Amazing place. Can’t wait to visit again. Thank you."
Another reviewer said: "Superb, independent pub. We had a roast dinner and an Irish stew. Probably one of the best bar lunches I've had in a long time. Staff were friendly and couldn't do enough. Highly recommended eclectic relaxing country pub."
