Mid Suffolk
The Four Horseshoes

The Four Horseshoes

Wickham Road, IP23 8HD, Mid Suffolk, United Kingdom

Pubs • Full • Steak • Dining


"We have visited this restaurant before and had an absolutely wonderful meal with excellent food and friendly service. The last visit was sadly a different experience.Why is there a problem?We returned for a Birthday dinner with the family. 5 persons in total including my two daughters aged 23 and 21. When ordering alcoholic drinks at the table to accompany the starters for our meal, the waitress asked for ID from my youngest daughter. Since she was not driving or paying she had not brought anything with her, not expecting to need anything. Now I accept that maybe not bringing ID was an oversight, but we were eating. The waitress pointed out a sign that was behind the bar that said If you look under 25 then we will ask for ID. Now I accept that in normal times when young people may be walking up to the bar and ID is required quite right. I did discuss this with the waitress, as my daughter was distressed. However we were eating and I did ask if it was OK, but the there was no change to the reply.I accept that people that are under 18 yrs can look older so appreciate the rules At the bar!The law is quite specific, It is not illegal:For someone over 18 to buy a child over 16 beer, wine or cider if they are eating a table meal together in licensed premises.For a child aged five to 16 to drink alcohol at home or on other private premises. Therefore on this occasion the age limit would be 16 in our company. To be under 16 and therefore illegal my daughter would have to be 15 yrs old. With no stretch of the imagination could she have been 15yrs old.I fully respect the law but this was very poor interpretation of a company rule, and misguided by referring to 18 yrs old. As a result my daughter did not want to eat initially. It completely ruined the atmosphere of a celebration. The meal cost almost £150 and I feel we had a very poor night out. I would ask the management to instruct their staff to use some common sense, and ensure that they know the age is 16 yrs for someone eating in the company of adults."