Basil?!?

It's kind of appropriate that Groundhog day is currently showing on TV - yet again ;0) - this afternoon, as we've been over to Beaumaris for our usual weekly beer, soup and chips lunch over reading the daily papers for an hour or so, at The Bull Inn. I wrote last August how the change of ownership from being a family business to The Inn Collection Group had adversely affected the general standard of food, service and, to be frank even the beer itself. In fact, I ripped the beejeezus out of it, as I was righteously angry that such an ancient establishment [15th Century], of which we'd been patrons for forty-four years, could have descended so egregiously into the morass of the uncaring - on every level - corporate swamp.

No staff training, local management or decent cellar practice [it is after all, first and foremost, a bloody inn! The clue's in the name...] in evidence today: what was formerly a mildly-eccentrically-run family pub, went full Fawlty Towers today, without any sign of the Basil Fawlty responsible for it. As I say, I have no beef with the overstressed, probably underpaid staff that bear the daily brunt of it all. However, pictured, is Jane's bowl of mushroom soup, served with two pieces of sliced white bread, initially without cutlery, condiments or butter, and which turned out to be stone cold, despite the bowl itself being warm: obviously whoever was responsible [anyone?] for the food behind the scenes hadn't even the facility to operate a microwave [or Pobty Ping as we call them in these parts] effectively.

We were sharing the little snug that we habituate with a couple of similar age to ourselves, holidaying here as they had done for thirty years and more, who were similarly poorly served. They won't be back next year. This is what is killing business: bad business-people who know little about hospitality and care even less about their customers. And the victims in all of this? Not just the customers who are being ripped off [and by the way, in line with so many these days, this company - actually a string of companies - expects the customer's payment before delivery of the goods], but the poor sodding staff being thrown headlong into effectively running the place between them with little to no training or experience. Today was a busy day in Beaumaris, as we head into the summer season. But The Bull? Practically empty when we left. Not good...