That’s interesting re the Clwydian in Presatyn. Being a local we tried a lunchtime meal. The food was not properly cooked and was ‘tepid’ and ‘undercooked’. Certainly not value for money and poor compared to other pubs in the locality.

Some friend waited about 50 minutes for their meal one evening. I also hear that in the evenings the place gets packed with drinkers and it is hard to get through to the bar to order.

On the plus side at lunchtimes we have found the staff to be very friendly and pleasant.

What do other think?

The new pub has been opened in Prestatyn and is named The Clywydian.
In short, their main female manager is a very angry lady who barks at both customers as well as her staff. I heard her telling a customer off for asking if there was somewhere he could hang his coat and she barked back saying “she wasn’t a f*cking coat hanger!” Perhaps she was suffering a spot of PMT? I should also point out that I heard her shouting at some poor staff member (I’m guessing staff by the way she was barking orders) as I recall pointing out to my partner that I was glad I didn’t work for her.

My food experience? I am a vegetarian and was served broccoli that stank of fish! It’s beyond me how that could happen. I did want to complain but I wanted to avoid any confrontation with that manager woman who obviously has a problem with the very basics of customer service.

Since then, I have heard through the grapevine that this same manager makes the working lives of her poor kitchen staff a living hell and the staff turnover has been extreme - this may go some way to explaining the fishy broccoli!

In a town as small and close-knit as Prestatyn, I think the reputation of this new pub is already in tatters.

Do they need a new landlord soon, perhaps i’ll send in my C.V

Such a shame

Barracuda are to open a new pub shortly in Prestatyn, North Wales, later July 2007 or even later having seen the slow progress.

The location is spot on and we wish them well BUT . . .

Hopefully we shall have a really decent Manager and supporting staff who are polite and well trained and no excessive waits from the kitchen. An hour wait is totally unacceptable - something is seriously wrong !

We are just back from Cape Cod and Boston USA and the courtesy and politeness and attention and standard of presentation we experienced was second to none.

So Barracuda management take note please.

Regards.

I speak from an objective viewpoint and support Mr Love wholeheartedly in his actions. From all reports, and indeed, from Mrs Wilbraham’s statement to Look East, Mr Love was courteous when making his request. His reasons behind this request, when viewed as an isolated incident, may well seem ridiculous; asking an old lady to remove her hat because she poses a threat? I agree, it DOES seem ridiculous - until you view the situation in context. We do indeed, as Mr Love indicated, live in a changing society, where anti-social behaviour is now commonplace, and where young people use baseball caps and hoods to disguise their faces in order to commit anti-social acts. However, we also live in a society that espouses equality for all regardless of age, sex or religious persuasion. In light of this, how can Mr Love be demonised for asking Mrs Wilbraham no more than he would of anyone else? To those who have made known their complaints about this situation, I would point out that rules like the ‘no hats’ rule were introduced by the licensed trade in order to protect YOU from anti-social behaviour.

Whilst Mrs Wilbraham obviously posed no threat, had Mr Love permitted her to continue wearing her hat in his establishment, he may then have been confronted with some pimply lout, intent on causing trouble whilst protecting his identity from CCTV cameras, who would claim indemnity from the ‘no hats’ rule by using Mrs Wilbraham as an example. Then, once he had glassed YOU, the complainer, in the face, left you screaming in pain and made good his escape, neither Mr Love, nor Ely’s esteemed police force would be able to identify him from CCTV footage. Would you damn Mr Love’s and Barracuda Group’s rules then?
My point is this; certain rules are implemented for the safety of the general public, and these rules should apply to all regardless of age, sex or creed. We live in a society that claims to be based on equality, democracy and civility. If a rule does not apply to certain groups of people because they are not deemed to be a threat in the generally percieved sense of the word, then they shouldn’t be applied to anyone at all. And where does that leave us? Questioning the very laws intended to safeguard us and our way of life.

In short, wake up, Ely! I grew up in your town and, having lived away from the time-bubble that is Ely for eleven years, I can see exactly what Mr Love means when he says the world is changing.

My husbands food arrived after nearly an hour wait and it looked nice but was a bit on the cold side.The waiter said that mine would be along shortly, about 10 minutes later mine did arrive but instead of the tomato and Mozzarella burger that my husband ordered a beef burger arrived.

This is not unusual, we are both vegetarians and sometimes this happens. The waiter told me that I could have a refund or order again. As my husband was already half way through his meal and the wait was substantial I thought I’d just get a refund and get some lunch on the way home.

I went to ask the manager who flatly refused to refund me for the meal that I couldn’t eat. He said that my husband had ordered a burger and that’s what I had got. He hadn’t even given us a receipt to check our order, so clearly even if there was a misunderstanding he was in some way responsible.

A small thing ended up in a very heated debate between my husband, me and the manager until we were both shaking with anger at his attitude. He was rude, arrogant and extremely unpleasant. Very bad managment, no people skills and no sense of the customer being right. He told us that we’d know not to go back there again! It was if we were criminals and we were perfectly pleasant customers.

Eventually we did get a refund for my meal but our afternoon was ruined, my husband couldn’t finish his dinner or drinks. We will certainly not go back there again or take any of our friends and family.

I am still cross about it and when I complained to the Barracuda group they did not respond.