Review of Horse and Groom pub: The first time post-lockdown

But my experience of dining out for the first time in six months was far from anything I imagined.

In fact, I wished my friend and I had booked somewhere else.

The Horse and Groom in Hare Hatch has always been one of my go-to places to eat out- I couldn't recommend the food enough, especially the chicken and ham pies.

You have to order the pie if you're planning a visit

We visited the pub on the first weekend (May 21) of lockdown restrictions easing to celebrate her birthday. We were in high spirits and looking forward to getting a bevvy down us after not seeing each other for so long.

READ THIS: 11 gorgeous photos of intimate weddings in Berkshire during lockdown

Like many people who have been stuck in lockdown, I was both nervous and excited to venture out to sit inside a restaurant for the first time.

On May 17, pubs, restaurants and cafes were able to serve customers indoors again for the first time in over six months.

Six people or two households can now meet inside for a meal and you don't have to get tested before you visit. 

From April 12, you were only allowed to socialise outdoors and many of us endured freezing temperatures in order to have a pint.

Strict Covid guidelines are still in place to reduce the spread of infection and restaurants must ensure social distancing, servers must wear face coverings and you can only order from your table.

Our actual visit

When we visited the Horse and Groom we checked in through the NHS track and trace app and then were shown to our table, with our masks on.

Tables were spread apart and it was very reassuring to see how social distancing measures were abided by.

Each staff member was also wearing a face covering too, making us feel safe inside.

Me on the left and Tash (right) happy to be inside a restaurant again

I couldn't fault their Covid-19 measures but the actual dining out bit was stressful.

Some words of warning: before you visit restaurants, make sure you ring up to check how long you have the table for.

Because we weren't even sat at the table for two hours before we were told to get up. If we knew we had a time limit we would have ordered and eaten quicker.

ALSO READ: Best Reading restaurants for a romantic meal inside according to Tripadvisor

After we finished our mains, the server had asked if we wanted any dessert. I thought it was pretty normal to wait for your meal to settle before ordering something sweet straight away.

We asked the server if we could have a couple more minutes before ordering dessert, to which the manager John then came over and said we needed to get up from the table straight away because a previous booking had been waiting for 'over 20 minutes'...

It was very abrupt. It was like we were naughty children being told off and it was embarrassing having to get up, gather our bags and half a bottle of wine and jump off the table.

We then had to do the walk of shame out of the restaurant and sit in the empty pub garden, with the rain pouring down. It was not what we were expecting to happen that evening at all.

To be fair to John, he offered us a free glass of wine for making us get up from the table, but this didn't come until I had to ask awkwardly for it two times.

The picture next to the table we sat at totally summed up the evening

We basically felt totally ignored all evening.

Luckily for us, we were offered a table inside the warmth again and we got our wines as promised. A large one too.

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, it could have been a total mix-up with bookings.

It was the first weekend after lockdown restrictions eased, everywhere in Reading was booked up so I can imagine it was a busy night for the Horse and Groom too.

Emailing the pub about my experience, the manager explained that they should have informed us of the time limit before booking.

He said: "We should have informed you of this when we took you to your table, if we did not, then that is a flaw in our process which I will rectify straight away."

John also said they pride themselves on service and the care they take. I can vouch for this as I've mentioned previously - I've always had a good experience at the Horse and Groom in the past.

I'm not going to let this put me off of the place, it will always have a little place in my heart and hopefully this hasn't put you off visiting either.

It's Covid safe, the staff are very friendly, the food is GREAT, but unfortunately on this occasion, the service was not quite like it was before lockdown.