Pub bosses have slammed a diner who left "substantial tip" before leaving a scathing review on Tripadvisor.
The reviewer described their experience as a "poor show" after visiting the Duke of York hostelry.
It is listed as one of the top restaurants in the Stoke-on-Trent area providing traditional pub food including steaks, pies, and fish and chips.
The pub has notched-up 4.5 stars from 345 reviews and 235 of those are five-star reviews with just 24 leaving a one or two stars in their ratings.
Stoke0nTrentLive reports the reviewer was among a party of 10 people.
But the review branded their chicken goujons starter "awful" and their Bailey's cheesecake dessert "worse than the starters".
They did, however, concede their unspecified main course was "okay" and "edible".
It also complained "no fuss" was made over their wife's "secret' birthday party". However, in its response the eatery said "the whole restaurant sang on her entrance".
The review said the the whole party cleaned their plates, other than a pate starter which was deemed too big a portion.
And despite being given three opportunities to raise issues about their food, the critical diner declined to do so.
The critic, however, appeared to be in a minority among views of the pub's food.
One reviewer posted: "Absolutely fantastic atmosphere with a great traditional menu and friendly staff. The food is superb and you can taste the quality ingredients used. Highly recommended."
Another wrote: "Phenomenal steaks dressed in mouthwatering sauces! A must visit if you're after proper, home-cooked, pub food! All meals are huge and definitely worth every penny!"
A spokesman from the Duke of York responded to the review.
He said: "Hello, thank you for your wholly inaccurate review!
"I’ll keep it brief, you briefly mentioned your wife’s birthday on booking but not anything special, more concerned with getting in as you had left it late really for booking a big table, a member of staff did wish your wife happy birthday and I here the whole restaurant sang on her entrance.
"You could of (sic) brought a cake for us to do candles and sing again, (a fuss) but you didn’t.
"All starters were eaten, except the pate which was described as “too much of it” you had a check back for starters and stated all was fine.
"You had a check back on mains and again no complaints, all desert plates returned to the kitchen empty.
"On paying the bill you were asked if everything had been ok and again you said yes, you then continued to leave a substantial tip??
"(Thank you) You had 3 opportunities to raise any issues you may have had but chose not to and then tip us for our ‘poor show’ and give us a poor review.
"I wouldn’t usually respond to such fiction but my team worked so hard on Sunday that this seems unfair."
