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Food & Beverage: The Aramark Era begins

Jb85 said:
It’s not just Merlin though

Saw on instagram earlier - a ballon festival somewhere this weekend £45 ticket
Was meant to have monster trucks and other entertainment

Seems to ended up with just two balloons and no monster trucks and a few thrill amusement rides

Genuinely think we as a society allow being ripped off
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I agree, but that does not make it acceptable. But yeah, totally agree.
 
DistortAMG said:
I agree, but that does not make it acceptable. But yeah, totally agree.
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I think it does make it acceptable though as society allows this

It’s wrong and if your paying a premium you would get a premium but those days are long gone

They know they can sell there crap based on a few D list celebrities going to the park for free and being paid to promote the place as the next coming of Disney
 
Jb85 said:
It’s not just Merlin though

Saw on instagram earlier - a ballon festival somewhere this weekend £45 ticket
Was meant to have monster trucks and other entertainment

Seems to ended up with just two balloons and no monster trucks and a few thrill amusement rides

Genuinely think we as a society allow being ripped off
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Sounds like false advertising and the right to have a partial or full refund.
 
Out of curiosity, do we know what this food actually is?

I'll admit I was struggling to tell at first glance. I wondered if it was some sort of meat with gravy, but I couldn't tell whether the brush of lighter-coloured stuff around the edge was a very stingy portion of mashed potato (although I admittedly don't know how large the plate is; they often use big ones in restaurants that make the food look smaller) or some sort of sauce...

Maybe it's just me being stupid, but I'm not sure it's a good sign if I can't immediately tell what the food is...
 
Matt N said:
Out of curiosity, do we know what this food actually is?

I'll admit I was struggling to tell at first glance. I wondered if it was some sort of meat with gravy, but I couldn't tell whether the brush of lighter-coloured stuff around the edge was a very stingy portion of mashed potato (although I admittedly don't know how large the plate is; they often use big ones in restaurants that make the food look smaller) or some sort of sauce...

Maybe it's just me being stupid, but I'm not sure it's a good sign if I can't immediately tell what the food is...
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It's a chicken, gravy and mash ready meal.

Don't be fooled, the green beans come with the ready meal. All they did was garnish it with grass plucked from outside the hotel.
 
Jb85 said:
I think it does make it acceptable though as society allows this

It’s wrong and if your paying a premium you would get a premium but those days are long gone

They know they can sell there crap based on a few D list celebrities going to the park for free and being paid to promote the place as the next coming of Disney
Click to expand...

So it is acceptable for multibillion-pound companies to rip off hardworking, struggling families because of our culture of putting up and shutting up? That does not wash with me.

As an extreme example, but exactly the same principle, the society of the USA puts up with and allows guns across the entirety of their country; that does not make any mass or school shooting acceptable. I know the example here is an extreme one, but the logic across both is identical. Just because we put up with being ripped off does not, at all, make it acceptable for companies to do it. Of course they will, though; they will take advantage of the fact we put up with it, like they are doing now.
 
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What I don’t understand is this - on the weekend the food we had in RCR was absolute garbage. Yet in the Oak in Chains the next day it was top notch. But both are from the same company so why the huge difference.

The only thing I can think is that the Oak in Chains has a proper kitchen whereas I understand RCR kitchen isn’t fit for purpose and is just for reheating food. Can’t comment on the hotels however but I believe both ATH and Splash have decent kitchens.
 
It sounds to me that Aramark at Towers is excellent material for an episode of "Ramsays Kitchen Nightmares" - I am not suggesting the kitchens are dirty, but the food some of them turn out would certainly elicit a few expletives.
 
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GaryH said:
What I don’t understand is this - on the weekend the food we had in RCR was absolute garbage. Yet in the Oak in Chains the next day it was top notch. But both are from the same company so why the huge difference.

The only thing I can think is that the Oak in Chains has a proper kitchen whereas I understand RCR kitchen isn’t fit for purpose and is just for reheating food. Can’t comment on the hotels however but I believe both ATH and Splash have decent kitchens.
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I actually don't think the food is that bad (a couple places aren't the best though) I think the really big problem is consistency.

I have heard the exact opposite from what your experience is, with RCR having amazing food, and Oak in chains not being good.

I think the problem is that either they rotate staff, or chefs or what ever, and you end up with top notch food one day, but bad food other days, which isn't right.

the lack of consistency is really problematic, if they may good food consistently it would probably be much better, as you always knew you were getting good food, however if it is a gamble wether it will be top notch or bad it drives people away.
 
Wondering if anyone has eaten in Flambos recently? We are at AT for a night soon and will be staying onsite, we will need dinner for one day and as that day would have been long we are thinking we can't be arsed to drive out somewhere. Our options are limited due to our son (fussy eater) and figured Flambos may be best as there is bound to be something there he would eat. We'd get the annual pass discount but have heard mixed reports over quality compared to price. We have eaten there before but not for a very long time, probably pushing 6 or 7 years. Cheers.
 
TPick said:
Wondering if anyone has eaten in Flambos recently? We are at AT for a night soon and will be staying onsite, we will need dinner for one day and as that day would have been long we are thinking we can't be arsed to drive out somewhere. Our options are limited due to our son (fussy eater) and figured Flambos may be best as there is bound to be something there he would eat. We'd get the annual pass discount but have heard mixed reports over quality compared to price. We have eaten there before but not for a very long time, probably pushing 6 or 7 years. Cheers.
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I've not eaten there in around 12 years so can't comment on quality, but in terms of the price/value don't forget although £29 (before discount) feels expensive it is a three course meal really. Crooked Spoon want £9.75 for the starter and £17 for a main. So even if you just have some nachos, salad, peri chicken, gammon and potatoes at Flambo's it isn't more expensive than anywhere else on the resort and likely serving much of the same stuff.
A lot of people seem to see the price and then complain it is expensive and overpriced, when actually if you have at least two courses elsewhere on resort its a similar price. There is an expectation that a buffet should be a cheap price when in reality why should it?


Menu for prices
Flambo's https://menus.tenkites.com/aramarkuk/splashlandingshotel02
Crooked Spoon https://menus.tenkites.com/aramarkuk/enchantedvillage02
 
Not sure about Flambos but quite a few people commenting on Facebook they have had a decent meal in Secret Garden recently. Again not eaten in either for years so I can’t comment personally but might be worth a look at the menu?
 
jon81uk said:
I've not eaten there in around 12 years so can't comment on quality, but in terms of the price/value don't forget although £29 (before discount) feels expensive it is a three course meal really. Crooked Spoon want £9.75 for the starter and £17 for a main. So even if you just have some nachos, salad, peri chicken, gammon and potatoes at Flambo's it isn't more expensive than anywhere else on the resort and likely serving much of the same stuff.
A lot of people seem to see the price and then complain it is expensive and overpriced, when actually if you have at least two courses elsewhere on resort its a similar price. There is an expectation that a buffet should be a cheap price when in reality why should it?
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Thanks for this. We should get 20% off as well being annual pass holders. It will either be alright, or bad enough that it will be another 6-7 years before we eath there again :D

GaryH said:
Not sure about Flambos but quite a few people commenting on Facebook they have had a decent meal in Secret Garden recently. Again not eaten in either for years so I can’t comment personally but might be worth a look at the menu?
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Thanks for this, hadn't even considered Secret Garden. It has been so long since we looked to eat at the hotels that you don't realize the options For some reason I thought Secret Garden was breakfast only.
 
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