The boss of a restaurant that has held a Michelin star for more than five years has hit back at a diner who called the food 'flavourless'. Peel's, at the Hampton Manor Hotel in the West Midlands, also holds four AA rosettes.
But that wasn't enough for one guest, who took to Tripadvisor, where the restaurant holds a 4.5/5 rating and has a 'traveller's choice' badge. Posting on the review site, the unhappy diner said there was 'no way' that Peel's deserved its accolades.
The person, who wrote under the username Wanderer794463, said they had visited the Solihull restaurant with three others, all of whom were disappointed by the experience. The person said Peel's "fell way below standard", reports BirminghamLive.
The critic wrote: "There were some highlights - the amuse bouche was lovely as was the carrot mousse. The beetroot dish [was] frankly supermarket level [and] the fatty grey slice of flavourless beef, well below average cod with sliced grapes and the frankly almost rubbery tasteless monkfish were so far below Michelin standard it was so disappointing."
The guest went on to say the apple tart pudding was "not that flavoursome" and blasted the "poor" coffee. They added that the wine pairings were "not at all to our taste".
The review ended: "The noise level in the dining room was so loud as to give a headache. The atmosphere just wasn’t there. It should be said the staff were charming. We would not return to Peels."
While the number of glowing reviews far outweighs the negatives, Peel's managing director James Hill often writes lengthy responses to those who leave critical feedback. And on this occasion Mr Hill did not hold back.
He apologised to "Wanderer" as they did not like the food and said he regretted they had a headache in a busy restaurant. But the eatery boss explained Longhorn brisket was "fatty by definition" and sourced from a low-intensity specialist farmer focusing on rare breeds in Hereford.
Mr Hill wrote: "Slowly cooked over 48 hours and served with an intense mushroom broth it is very hard to understand how you see this as flavourless. By nature the fat lends flavour and for me personally is a delicious part of the dish.
"It is completely melt in your mouth due to the time it has been cooked. I’m not saying within any given batch there is no variation and had you informed us at the time there was something unsatisfactory about the course we would have happily changed it for you."
Mr Hill went on to say it would have been "great" if the mystery critic had reached out to Peel's directly.
He added: "As you are not a regular user of TripAdvisor it would have been great to hear this feedback directly rather than in a public forum. We’re a family business and welcome feedback and would have gone out of our way to recover your experience had you reached out to us. The door is always open."
