The Angler Oakham Hotel and Pub

Lovely friendly staff, with a great menu including plenty of gluten free options! We came for a light lunch, and would definitely return

We chose the angler as we had previously visited and had a lovely time there last Christmas and were given the same lovely, secluded dining area. As someone with an allergy it is already a scary experience eating somewhere new. To have so little options on the menu is unusual these days as most places will offer to cater to intolerances and allergies if their menu fails to provide adequate alternatives. I asked upon arrival about allergy information and was told that the menu would state what was gluten free with no further information. To my surprise there was only one option for a main which was honey glazed ham and chips. I searched for other options looking to see what could potentially be altered to suit my dietary requirements and asked if the steak could be made gluten free and if the peppercorn sauce contained gluten. The waitress said she’d ask and came back and said it was gluten free so I proceeded to order it as a rare. The steak came out the first time well seasoned and presented with fair sized sides which were garnished. Upon cutting into the steak I’d realised it was not rare but blue and was uncuttable. I asked if it was okay to have it put back on the grill for a little bit longer and if we could have some steak knives and the waitresses took it away and said it was no problem. It came back as a rare with an ungarnished salad, no peppercorn sauce on the side which was a £2.50 extra charge which I ultimately ended up paying for regardless of the fact it wasn’t received and was unseasoned. To pay nearly £30 for an unfinished unseasoned meal is extortionate and as a someone who has worked as a waitress myself I didn’t want to continue complaining and put more stress on her as it appeared that she was new or just a bit nervous and was quick to find out information when she was unsure. After finishing my meal feeling slightly awkward for complaining I went home and was extremely ill and still am today along with 2 other members of our party. We ordered some different cocktails after seeing there was no longer a wine list which all tasted completely different each time we ordered them. A Margarita should not taste purely of lime cordial and neat tequila and the mojitos had a strange flavour during the second round we ordered. Once it was time to pay we were told if we wanted to pay separately we would have to head to the bar which is okay but we were not supplied with a copy of the bill to check over and tally up what we owed. We were met by a young woman at the bar who seemed disgruntled and had nothing to say besides asking what we ordered and telling how much we had to pay. It’s a shame to leave a negative review, we had expected a similar experience to last year’s but after paying close to £50 for a meal which was not good and ultimately gave me an allergic reaction is extremely unreasonable. If the quality of the food and drinks has changed so drastically then the price should be altered accordingly.