Curious Brewery

This was our first visit here and it will be our last.
The food itself was excellent, we both had bitterballen for starters and garlic confit pizza which were very nice.
The service however is a different story. We arrived at 7pm having booked online, and the man who came over said he couldn't find our booking (he was looking on a paper list that had been printed out before we had booked) he then found the booking on a laptop - no harm done we thought, and we were seated.
We were sat at our table for 15 minutes with no menus when we were approached and asked if we wanted to order - we had to answer that we don't know what we want as we haven't been given menus yet.
We ordered our food and drinks after a quick browse and enjoyed our starters. Then our pizzas were brought out and before we could even ask (not that we should have to) for more cutlery the waiter was gone. I had to get up and ask for more cutlery, and our sides which had both been forgotten and only arrived when we had eaten half our pizza.
After our plates were taken, we sat for another 20 minutes before a waitress asked if we wanted anything else. Why not ask if we wanted the dessert menu when our plates were taken? At this point we just wanted to go and we paid and left. I honestly feel sorry for the chefs who are making fantastic food only for the service to be so inferior in comparison. A real shame.

Last nights experience was completely different to our first visit in October 2021. We were a party of 9 that had pre-booked. When we arrived our table wasn’t fully made up but that was quickly rectified. We ordered a round of drinks but had to wait a fair amount of time for these to be brought over. We then had a long wait for the menus to be given out and an even longer wait for our order to be taken. When the food arrived it was well presented and delicious. Unfortunately the waiting staff seemed more interested in turning on music and dancing than taking our drinks order or replacing our cutlery after each course. We even had to ask for the dessert menu. The music gradually got louder and louder during the evening which we found completely unnecessary. Based on our experience last night I don’t think we will be going back again which is a shame as it is the perfect location for our group to meet at.

The one beer that I actually wanted to try and they were out of it!
The staff appear far too often to the point where they are like annoying children. I know it wasn't busy but they kept asking if we were ready to order 3 times in the space of about 7 minutes, not sure what the rush was. Did the kitchen staff want to go home?
I'm not a regular so had to read the menu top to bottom to see what I wanted to eat, as you would in any other restaurant. The meal arrived quickly as I'd expect with the eagerness of the staff.
When we received the meal, within a minute of the sauces being brought over, another member of staff appeared to ask if everything was alright with it. I had only just received it and hadn't even had a chance to taste it at that point. I'm sure they must be running a tag team in the kitchen as to how to annoy customers.
The meal was OK, nicely cooked and filling. I'm not sure the reused Wilkins jam pots are a good idea for serving sauces in though as the label had left a sticky residue on it and so I had to hold it with a napkin. A pretty gross feeling to be honest.
With all the constant bothering by staff I couldn't relax and felt really rushed. On top of that I couldn't figure out the old collection of record sleeves on display. Almost all of them would be for fans that are now in their 60s and 70s. What type of person are you trying to attract with that? Doesn't seem to even fit with it being a brewery but then I'm not an interior designer or run a brewery so what do I know.
Needless to say we were only there for about 45 minutes and left to find somewhere nicer that we would be left alone by staff to enjoy ourselves and our drinks.
Is this place worth a visit? Probably yes, if you're in the area.
Would I return? Not any time soon.

Well worth a visit. Our tour host Amy was great - very knowledgeable and accommodating during our brewery tour and tasting. Everything we ate and drank was delicious.

Reading through some of the previous reviews makes me feel sorry for the team here who are clearly trying their best. Some reviews saying service was slow, others saying it was too quick! There’s a national labour shortage at the moment, and nowhere more so than in the service industry. My visit to Curious Brewery was faultless and I’ll definitely be back.

Fairly basic. Building facade design and its interiors are both very neatly done. That said when you actually go in it is a bit of a different story. Big steps to 1st floor entrance with no disabled access. Get inside and it looks great but no worthwhile view of the brewery and the beers themselves are pretty basic and nothing you'd write home about. Shame really.

Starters : Confit duck spring rolls with soy sauce so tasty. Tempura mussels perfectly done and crispy enough.
Main : Chicken Caesar Burger, really good taste and cooked well.
The atmosphere was great and service very helpful and knowledgeable about this special place. A big bravo to the kitchen team as well.
I’m visiting different places and I’ll definitely come back to this one.

Thank you for the amazing experience ✌️🙏

Fantastic food and cocktails. Staff were a little slow and menu could be larger, but what is served is excellent quality.

We tried to book a brewery tour, but alas both of the tour guides had managed to get holiday at the same time. When I called and spoke to Joe about this, he was very apologetic and organised for us to have a private tasting over dinner.
This was a genius idea as trying the IPA, Larger and Cider really gave us a good idea of what we liked. Samples of the Porter and the Belgium style all available and forthcoming when asked for.
We settled on the Belgium Style beer (currently their tank beer) and not available to take away. :o(
The food was great, Scotch Egg and Duck Spring Rolls to start were good, not too big to put you off your mains.
Steak and fries for my wife and the Curious burger for me. Nothing was too much trouble and Joe looked after us brilliantly.
We offered to move tables as we were enjoying ourselves and didn't want to leave, but knew the table was booked after us. Joe flawlessly found us another table with no fuss and moved us so that we could continue to enjoy our evening.
The desserts rounded off a great evening with style.
To all the 1, 2 or 3 star reviews, I'm so sorry you did not experience this unique venue the way that we did, at it's best.
There is only one problem with the Curious Brewery, it's too far away from where we live for us to visit as often as we'd like. ;o)

Thanks Joe and your team for a great and memorable evening.