-
ℹ️ Heads up...
This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.
Food & Beverage 2018
- Thread starter AstroDan
- Start date
DiogoJ42
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Metropolitan Line
Worse, if anything.
Poopoohead
TS Member
My meal at Santa’s sleep over 2017 was absolutely abysmal, 2016 was great. How the standards dropped so much in 12 months is unbelievable
Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
The quality of hotel breakfasts has also fallen in the last 12 months. The sausages are cheaper and instead of hash browns you get these small fried potato balls. It's still acceptable, but the days where you used to get pots of tea and coffee brought to your table are long gone!
evilcod
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Pirates of the Caribbean - Paris
I actually think its got to the stage where Alton's is far worse than any other the other Merlin parks.
At least:
Thorpe has Mexican, Bush BBQ, Pulled Meat (when open) and Fish&Chips as well as all Alton's offering
Chessy has Smokehouse and Fish&Chips as well as all Alton's offering
Lego has Fish&Chips as well as all Alton's offering
Katy
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Batman Gotham City Escape
Aha so they lied! They made out it was "we've run out" rather than "don't do it".
"What side do you want?"
"Gravy please"
"Not got any, pick something else"
"Er... Coleslaw?"
"Not got that"
"what have you got then?"
"Beans."
Why ask me to pick then?! How can a KFC not have gravy, must be some sort of "down South" thing...
DiogoJ42
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Metropolitan Line
Believe me, it's not a southern thing. Gravey is the only reason anyone goes to Kan't Find the Chicken in the first place!
(Pro tip: for true decedance, try Burger King chillie cheese bites dipped in KFC gravey. If you're feeling really crazy, bite the cheese thingies in half and stick a popcorn chicken inside it first).
(Pro tip: for true decedance, try Burger King chillie cheese bites dipped in KFC gravey. If you're feeling really crazy, bite the cheese thingies in half and stick a popcorn chicken inside it first).
James
TS Founding Member
If a KFC does not have gravy available it's a wasted visit.
I remember the one year when they brought the entire cooked breakfast to your table, with a multi-tier platter of 20 or so sausages, bacon, eggs, hash browns etc... for one table, to have, all to itself! I think it only stayed for a year (or two at a push), presumably because of lots of food going to waste, but crazy ideas like that and the care for good quality food/service for guests is long gone.
I find the sausages that have been used recently in the hotels taste vile. The rest of the food does taste cheaper these days.
_
It's a shame food quality has deteriorated so much the past few seasons. Even when you look that what's regarded as the best restaurant on park, Woodcutters has gone down the cheap route with smaller meats and thin frozen fries.
The only place I can think of where food quality has always been good and tasty is Eastern Express... and it's not a Merlin outlet!
The quality of hotel breakfasts has also fallen in the last 12 months. The sausages are cheaper and instead of hash browns you get these small fried potato balls. It's still acceptable, but the days where you used to get pots of tea and coffee brought to your table are long gone!
I remember the one year when they brought the entire cooked breakfast to your table, with a multi-tier platter of 20 or so sausages, bacon, eggs, hash browns etc... for one table, to have, all to itself! I think it only stayed for a year (or two at a push), presumably because of lots of food going to waste, but crazy ideas like that and the care for good quality food/service for guests is long gone.
I find the sausages that have been used recently in the hotels taste vile. The rest of the food does taste cheaper these days.
_
It's a shame food quality has deteriorated so much the past few seasons. Even when you look that what's regarded as the best restaurant on park, Woodcutters has gone down the cheap route with smaller meats and thin frozen fries.
The only place I can think of where food quality has always been good and tasty is Eastern Express... and it's not a Merlin outlet!
Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
I found the Rollercoaster Restaurant and the pasty place in Mutiny Bay quite tasty when I went in July. I will also agree with you on Eastern Express if the chocolate cookies are anything to go by! I don't get all the hate for Alton Towers food myself. But I will admit that the hotel breakfast was rather mediocre as I couldn't even find the American-style pancakes that you can find in a Premier Inn which is substantially cheaper. My family also weren't fans of the mushrooms and beans. I don't personally like mushrooms, so I can't speak about them, but the beans were OK, I guess.
Poopoohead
TS Member
The RCR I find very hit and miss, at best it’s ready meal quality (vegetarian options anyway). We’ve never paid full price for any of our bills as there’s always been something wrong with at least one meal. Heard several family’s refusing to pay also.
venny
TS Member
To add to the food nostalgia, the food at Courtyard Tavern was always pretty decent. Liked the lattice fries and the peri peri chicken was normally fairly good.
What has taken an even more noticeable fall from grace is the hotel food. Many years ago a meal in the Secret Garden was a special occasion. The food was very well cooked to a standard exceeding most mid-range chain restaurants. You would get the likes of freshly made chips (not frozen) and the wine list was actually good (rather than from a tap). Very early on the restaurant menu was even interwoven with a story about Sir Algenon’s travels.
Fast forward to present and whilst the prices have gone up, the quality has plummeted. I would now class the food as being of the bare minimum quality for the price, i.e. narrowly avoiding mass complaints. The breakfast is the same - barely passable. The less said about Flambo’s, the better.
What has taken an even more noticeable fall from grace is the hotel food. Many years ago a meal in the Secret Garden was a special occasion. The food was very well cooked to a standard exceeding most mid-range chain restaurants. You would get the likes of freshly made chips (not frozen) and the wine list was actually good (rather than from a tap). Very early on the restaurant menu was even interwoven with a story about Sir Algenon’s travels.
Fast forward to present and whilst the prices have gone up, the quality has plummeted. I would now class the food as being of the bare minimum quality for the price, i.e. narrowly avoiding mass complaints. The breakfast is the same - barely passable. The less said about Flambo’s, the better.