Browns Reading in Reading

Waiters were rude and discriminatory towards my friend. They ignored us when it came to our order and grabbed the menu off us when we were choosing what to eat. Very aggressive. Manager just sat at the bar and didn’t help at all. Definitely wouldn’t come here!!

Small portion size of the meatballs

We waited quite a while before anyone took even our drinks order. Its not so bad if you have to wait for your meal order to be taken if you can just sit and have a drink and a chat for a while without having to keep trying to grab a server’s attention. We ordered 2 cod cheeks for starters and was not told at that point that these had sold out. About 10 minutes later our waitress told us that we would have to change our order. 1 of the orders we changed to a prawn cocktail. When this arrived the butter for the bread was so hard that it could not be spread, and so was useless. When we queried this, we were told that serving butter direct from the fridge was company policy. At the end of the meal, we were then told that there was no CRÈME BRÛLÉE available. So did not have a dessert. The constant explanation we had from our waitress was “but it is busy”. I know it was busy – it was Mother’s Day. However, Mother’s Day happens every year and you should plan for this fact. I can sort of understand that you run out of things on busy days, but this was only a couple of hours after you had opened. I find it hard to believe that on such a busy day you did not have enough of certain items to last that long. You are not one of the cheapest chains for restaurants and I have to say I expected a lot better. Would defiantly not recommend anyone to go there on a busy day.

I have been to browns in Reading 2x now 1x on a Monday evening and also 1x for mother's day yesterday. Both times the food has been lovely. But the service has really let it down. Yesterday for mother's day we were seated and it took 40 minutes before anyone come over to take our order or even acknowledge us (even though they already knew what we were having as we booked the table for an afternoon tea) I had to go up and find a member of staff twice before anyone actually came over to take our order. Eventually after 40 minutes a waiter came over. Our afternoon tea came within 15 minutes of finally ordering but the drinks didn't appear until I had to go up and ask. The drinks eventually came 30 minutes after our afternoon tea came (we only had 1 tea and 2 coffees) Even when they turned up they didn't bring milk so had to wait another 10 minutes for milk after again having to ask. We then finished our afternoon tea and it took a further 35 minutes for anyone to come over and acknowledge we had finished. Overall the service was terrible both visits (the first time we went it was a Monday night and was completely empty but it still took ages for people to take our order, we really wanted to give it another go as it was for my mum for mother's day) After 2 awful experiences with service we will not be returning. Had it not been mother's day we probably would have walked out. I wouldn't recommend literally based on service.

Never again, after spending the last few years in and out of Cancer Care My partner and I decided to meet up with our daughter over dinner in Reading to explain where we are! We thought Browns would be a good place to dine and talk! After we ordered our starters which were fine we were looking forward to our steaks! Unfortunately that’s where the enjoyment stopped, a crowd of twenty odd men were being served upstairs and decided to sing at the tops of their voices, we obviously complained to the waiter who thought is was funny! We then had the Manager come over to say sorry but there wasn’t much he could do! It would have been better for us to have gone to McDonald’s as I’m sure the managers in their would have had the back bone to stop them from singing in a relatively high class restaurant! We decided that it was just best for us to leave our dinners and get out! So £149.00 for three steaks that were left and two starters! And not even an apology from the waiter that took our orders and our money! Disgraceful experience.

Lovely atmosphere, the waiter was perfect, just right, & didn't keep calling us 'Guys' all the time like others seem to. Food was delicious & hot & quickly brought out. The steak was medium rare as requested & the egg on my Schnitzel was runny as it should be. I very much enjoyed my evening & will return.

Went for a surprise afternoon tea with my friends! Staff were lovely and the food was really good. Afternoon Tea for 2 is quite filling.

service was very slow but there were only 2 people. We came for afternoon tea and the quality was very mid, especially the sandwiches.

Had a wonderful experience for brunch, I 100% recommend it

Really great service, food was delicious and served in a short time

Great service. Delicious food at bottomless brunch. Thank you Emma & Roxy.

Great service from Jose and the team! Thank you for making our kids free afternoon lots of fun!!

Excellent bottomless brunch looked after by Jose!

Very good traditional English breakfast

Visited for lunch, food menu has a good variety of options, lovely drinks menu, unusual pudding options which is refreshing to see. All of the food was cooked well and came out in a timely manner. Only quibble was that it was difficult to get a servers attention, although it was quiet. Overall, good food and worth a visit.

We had the most lovely valentines meal! We had a lovely server called Will who is honestly one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and had amazing customer service skills. The food was so tasty, everything that we had we thoroughly enjoyed. Will definitely be coming back!!

Food I mean oh why there's no option for zero star. Had fish and chips. Fish was vile and not edible. But by the time I figured out that fact I had quarter of it which made me sent to their bathroom in light speed and felt ill next day too. Service oh boy. Our waiter - birthday party night - was ,,borderline whatever,, but worst of all his breath alone would send you to the toilet 🤢. Atmosphere was great because the people I was with in that party. 3 star for quite nice decor. But bathroom cleaningness is shady. I really hope they had bad day or something but will never go back

The service was excellent. The staff were very helpful and friendly. Very nice atmosphere and the food was excellent.

Don’t think we’ve ever felt so unwelcome in an establishment. Decided to take our three small children for breakfast this morning (Sunday) at around 10 so it was virtually empty. It was as though simply having them with us was enough to make the staff decide it was going to be awful and they didn’t want us there. Incredibly, some children can and do sit nicely without disturbing others, as ours are expected to do. So our first encounter was struggling through the door with a double pushchair, watched by a waitress who offered no help at all. No smile, just a look up and down and a rather contrite “can I help you?”. Explained we would like breakfast and the first response was not “of course, please follow me” but “err, but you do you have any allergies?”. No, we do not. “Um, right, do you want to sit somewhere like over there maybe, a bit out of the way?” Another member of staff came over and the first said to her, in hushed tones “um they want to have breakfast but don’t seem fussed where they sit as long as there’s a high chair so, I dunno” We were seated with as much distain as they could muster, as though our mere presence in this empty restaurant was an inconvenience. They brought menus. Now, considering we had faffed with a pushchair, requested a high chair and had three children under 5 with us, I didn’t expect a confused look when I asked if they had children’s menus. Miraculously, they do, they just didn’t offer us any. They did eventually bring some crayons for the children which was appreciated and the food was alright. However, we were made to feel unwelcome and uncomfortable from the off and wish now we’d gone next door. When asking for the bill I was looked at by waitress 1 with disgust and at no point were we asked if everything was ok (presumably they knew what the answer would have been). We disturbed nobody, didn’t leave a mess and our children used their manners as they have been brought up to do. To feel so judged and unwelcome was thoroughly unpleasant and I would categorically never return to this establishment under any circumstances in future.

What a legend! Amazing service from Will

Excellent service from Will. Friendly and welcoming. Brunch was good and so was the food. Highly recommend

I been in Brown's a few times. But last week 7 February came in here for a surprise birthday afternoon tea. Omg it was bad the sandwiches were disgusting. Missing things off. The chef was more interested in going out for a smoke. Very poor. The young waiting guy was brilliant. He tried to sort out the issues. How come Browns in Windsor went out of their way and put on a fantastic afternoon tea. A few of my friends have said the same thing about the Reading one. In an email, they sent me no apologies but asked me to ring them back. A joke

Good place, quiet on a Friday afternoon, nice food, excellent service

Lovely food and drinks and great customer service from Will!

Good food, good atmosphere, great service. Thank you Will for the brilliant service

WILLIAM WOOO THANK YOU YOU THE BEST!

Fantastic food great service can't wait to go again

Great food and great service. Would definitely recommend!

Such a beautiful place! Lovely atmosphere and delicious food. We were served by Paul (wonderful beard!) who was polite and attentive from the moment we walked through the door. We will be returning for sure!

Excellent staff service and great food!

Lovely atmosphere, great service from Paul and Abi. Fantastic food. Brilliant music had a wonderful time. Thank you 😊

We had bottomless brunch and we had a worderful time. Thank you Emma for your service.

Favourite restaurant in Reading. Always great service and great food

Excellent service and atmosphere, was notably impressed with Abigail and the rest of the bar team, 10/10 would definitely recommend and will come again.

Excellent service from the staff especially from Abigai thank you so much 🙏

Great, friendly service and really nice food. Would definitely recommend.

The food and service was immaculate. Particularly our waitress was very helpful, I think her name was Ella.

Good vegan and veggie also good value options for breakfast/brunch. However, no soup option and few vegan/veggie mains. I had the veggie gnocchi. Lovely dish but so tiny it was starter size for £17.50! Complained and left hungry. Won’t be going back for dinner.

Tried their afternoon tea in early Dec 2023 for my anniversary and was very disappointed! The food seems to be put out for awhile as the sandwiches by the side are getting dry and hard. Waitress and waiters will ignore your eye contact (take note is very quiet time not peak period). Everything took a long time, waiting for them to take order/ request some hot water top up/ even payment!! Waitresses just crowd around the bar area wiping the glasses which I wondered how many times they have repeatedly wiping it? Unhappy we refused to pay service charge and started to talk softly among themselves in foreign language. Ruined my anniversary day, never go back again

We had a good meal with good service.

Had a meal with friends very good food and excellent service .

Thanks Jose you the best! Lovely food and waiter

Very good food and service. Accommodated gluten free / ceoliac very well - was a treat to have a gluten free chicken burger.

Jose best host looked after our table very well and so friendly makes the experience so much better

From beginning to end service was amazing. Received a warm welcome by Paul who sat us at our table and explained how they could cater to our peanut allergy without fuss. He gave us a tablet that we were able to filter out our requirements and it showed us a tailored menu. Our drinks were made and brought over by Abi - who was great at recommending a wine to go with our meal. Paul checked on us after we received every course , and was always on hand if we needed anything . Will definitely be back again and hopefully Paul and abi will be there too! Thank you guys

Attentive staff, nice atmosphere even in a quite empty restaurant, nice food, reasonable prices.

Our Christmas works dinner was nice, can't complain really. Food and service was very good hence 4 stars

Browns brasserie and bar was recommended to me and what a recommendation! Everything was absolutely perfect, from the service to the food. We were seated quickly, given time to settle in before asking for our drinks order (I hate being asked before I've even had the opportunity to muse the drinks menu!) though we were asked if we wanted water. Our waiter, Daniel, was very good and accommodating, even offering items not on the menu. I ordered the side salad of rocket and tomato and he offered a proper mixed salad instead, which was a really nice touch. Starters: The salt and pepper squid was really good, served with an absolute divine sauce. The mushrooms were tenderly cooked so they were still full of flavour. Main: The prawn and crab linguine was very tasty with just about the right amount of crab to add a delightful but not overpowering taste. The pesto lightly complimented the pasta, prawns and crab. The chips were golden, fluffy and generously dusted with parmesan cheese. The mixed side salad was just that, including radish and cucumber plus different types of greeny, not just said rocket. No dessert as we both felt nicely full. The coffee served was very good, strong without being bitter. Throughout our meal, we were checked on regularly by Daniel but not in an interfering or intrusive way. Browns is not a cheap night out with the bill, including a service charge of 10% was just over £115 (2 starters, two mains, two sides, 4 glasses of wine and one coffee), however, in my view, definitely worth it! Browns is the epitome of how to do service and food exceptionally well! Bravo Browns!

Food was fantastic. Service was not to its usual standard.

I was willing to have a dinner there after a couple of drinks but at 8.40pm the kitchen was closing...so...we left

Delicious food! We had a lovely Christmas brunch

Afternoon tea was lovely and José was a great host

A good place for brunch in Reading. Lovely room, a gentle place to ease into the day if you need it.

Great atmosphere, good staff and selection of drinks

Was a lovely meal out with the work girls. Festive turkey was amazing and the festive burger I'm told was lovely too! Not too mention a nice array of cocktails and drinks!

Food was delicious and the place looks very nice. The server, Elima, was super friendly and professional. It was nice to find out a bit of the Arab culture, thank you!

Came for an Xmas dinner last night. More than a little disappointed with the lack of Xmas crackers. Gents toilets were clean and fresh mind.

Food was mediocre. Service was very good but it was also very loud in the restaurant.

Excellent food and very friendly staff. Great atmosphere especially with the Xmas decorations. Thank you.

We arrived at 830pm Drinks order was taken ot took 30mins to get our drinks We where not offered water during the whole evening No spoons where set at the table for dessert We where therefor 2 hours and not 1 member of staffed checked on us to see how everything was This was a team xmas meal and I'm very disappointed

Decent place. Good food, nice ambiance.

Amazing night. Came here after my graduation and Jose was so so nice and really attentive. The food was so tasty with a full gluten free menu. And to top it all off I was treated to a dessert and Prosecco. Made my evening feel really special. I’d definitely come back

lovely food and great service from Jose!

It took a while verging on too long for food and drinks ordered to appear at the table. Especially drinks.

The service was great all night and our waitress was lovely and attentive. The good was delicious and we had a party of 16 with a variety of meals and all were delicious😋 The only thing I would change is the table on one side was quite tight for people to get in and out of, but that is a minor niggle and everyone really enjoyed their night. so thank you all :)

Perfect atmosphere, perfect food

Long waits between course - food cold & overdone.... very disappointing as the last time everything was on point.... don't recommend & will not be coming back...

Food and service were good. However, despite the restaurant being quite empty (we dined at 17.30) one of the managers, Andrew, after offering us a nice table next to the window, he came back, with a bit of attitude, saying that we sat at the wrong table as that was for 4. He directed us to a very small table, very close to another couple. While eating many other couples arrived and were offered the table for 4 (no previously booked). We felt a bit disappointed, perhaps our attire, didn't match our spending and appreciation for French food and wine... Andrew please, do not judge a book by its cover...

Had afternoon tea here and our waitress Ella was great as she made sure we had everything we needed. Would definitely come back !

Friendly , brilliant food will be returning.

The service personnel were absolutely professional and extremely courteous during our evening meal. We were honoured to be guests at your lovely, well situated restaurant.

Absolutely shocking service. Terrible tasting food gave me the runs for 2 days. Kids had fish and chips terrible had bones in the fish kids started crying honestly wouldn’t bother save you’re money go to a real takeaway place.

Pros: Beautiful restaurant with a good atmosphere, conveniently located on the riverside, great cocktails. Cons: Poor service - unwelcoming and not one smile from anyone serving. Food is well cooked but tasteless... it's like they have actually extracted the flavour out of everything. [I have visited twice before leaving this review to ensure the first visit wasn't just a blip - the prawn cocktail starter was literally a few tiny prawns (no sauce) on some chopped lettuce. The crab linguine was just dry pasta with a spoonful of crab meat topped with watercress, again totally bland.]

Staff were very helpful and made an effort for a birthday. Food was OK, some good food, some average food, and one cold meal that had to be changed

Emma and Joe are fabulous members of the Browns team , Emma was so sweet and friendly and personable and she made us feel so welcome and Joe is so cheerful and lovely and was really welcoming. The food was delicious and so were the drinks , 100% recommend!!!

Great drinks and atmosphere one of the best coffees I’ve had in reading Abi in particular was really kind and talkative defiantly gonna be going back there

Staff were great, really helpful and flexible. It was rather quiet, but perfect for us because we were meeting for business.

Amazing service from Jose and fabulous cocktails ☺️ Thank you

Jose was an absolute legend today, cant fault him, excellent service and such a gentleman. Great host x

Our server Joe was very attentive and welcoming. Enjoyed a lovely meal for two! Recommend here highly. :)

Cosy and chic atmosphere, liked it very much! Nice food, missing a bit of flavours (roast cod & broccoli). The Brown’s Trio dessert is gorgeous, specially the warm chocolate brownie served with a scoop of salted caramel ice cream!

Amazing place, perfect service and in particular Jose, thank you for your atention and kindness. We recommend it for sure.

Had a lovely afternoon tea. Staff is lovely. Thank you Jose & Emma! We will be back!!

Had a great brunch here today with family. The service was exceptional, every single person we interacted with couldn’t do enough for us. Food was good quality and portion for the price, and we’ll definitely be back when we’re next in Reading.

Lovely place, great staff, would definitely recommend!

I was very pleased with with Browns Reading as always. The mains came right after we finished with our starters, which was great timing for us and they were very tasty and nicely cooked. The ambiance was nice and chill. The lady who served us, I assume she is a manager, was stunning. Very friendly and always smiling even when she wasn’t around us or other customers, I think she said that her name is Roxanne, so we assumed that this is how she usually is, which made the experience even better knowing that we will see happy faces around us when we will come back.

When I made the reservation, I specifically mentioned that it was for a surprise birthday dinner and requested a table away from the door. However, I was quite disappointed that the restaurant didn't fulfill this request, especially considering it wasn't very busy. It made me question the point of asking for special requests. To add to the initial disappointment, upon receiving our menus, we were informed that one starter and two main course dishes were unavailable. Even more surprising was the absence of peppercorn sauce, which is usually a staple. This left me somewhat puzzled as the peppercorn sauce is typically a favorite. On a positive note, the birthday treat/dessert provided was a delightful touch, and I thoroughly enjoyed the waitresses singing a happy birthday to my husband. I had also taken the initiative to call the restaurant in advance and explicitly mentioned the need to split the bill among our group. However, on the day of our visit, we were informed that the portable payment machines were not working, and as a result, each of us had to individually make our way to the bar to settle the bill. This proved to be inconvenient and awkward for everyone, ultimately resulting in one person covering the entire bill. It would have been greatly appreciated if we had been informed about this situation in advance; it would have allowed us to make an informed decision and possibly choose a different restaurant better suited to our requirements.

Food was amazing, cod cheeks were so good and the tartare sauce that come with them was perfection. Steak was cooked exactly to my liking and scallops were very tender

came here for dinner with a friend, i had the Shepard's pie and my friend had the prawn linguine - both were amazing! received great service from Roxy and the bartender, Abi, recommended wines that paired with our meals wonderfully. will definitely be returning as it’s my new favourite place to eat in Reading

Amazing evening. Service was on point and the food was delicious. Can’t wait to try the new menu very soon.

We had a work team brunch at Brown's and it was a great experience. It was made immeasurably better by the excellent service we received from Jose; attentive, helpful, and a genuine pleasure to be around. Thank you for all your hard work! We'll be back, I'm sure.

We had a great afternoon. José made our brunch fun and was engaging throughout the time we had brunch.

If you're hoping to get a table here during the festive season, make sure you double or triple check that your booking is actually confirmed. I booked a table on the website on the 12th September for a festive meal on Dec 15th. Im aware that December is a busy period, but the calendar on the website said they had availability for the date and time I wanted, it was advertised in the website for festive bookings, I booked the table, and I received a confirmation email with all of the details, including a reference number for my booking. Today, more than 4 weeks later, I've received an email from them telling me that there's no availability for that date and time. The confirmation emails and refernence numbers apparently DON'T mean you have a table confirmed. So, after they've waited a month to give me this information, I'm now most likely going to struggle to find a table elsewhere. Don't have your online booking system available to use, if you're not going to take the bookings!

We came in a party of 12, nice place and we had an amazing attentive waiter. It was busy, but not filled to the brim. First of all, our starters did not come all together, some orders were forgotten, one dish took forever. Then it took absolute ages for our plates to be taken away. The steak was cooked wrong unfortunately, but then a replacement cooked to perfection. However, at one point the waiter brought a steak portion saying it’s medium rare, one of us asked ‘is it a medium’, he looked at it and said ‘yeah it’s a medium’, which makes me think the steaks are a bit of lottery. All in all, a good night out, food was excellent (eventually), but service poor consider the price.

Went as a large group. Service was excellent. The layout and setting was very good. There was a good selection of drinks. The fig and cheese starter was amazing, good combination of flavours. Unfortunately the sirloin steak as a main I found to be lacking in taste. I would go back again, but try a different main as the rest of the groups mains were good.

Good evening, Very appealing venue with great food and made you feel welcome. Thank you to the staff, particularly Jose for being so great. < 3

We celebrated a christening party here. The food was great and the staff very professional and friendly, our table was served by Paul who did a fantastic job. Definitely recommend it.

Cheeky one to finish the ight off 🤣

The terrace is lovely to sit and enjoy your meal on a nice evening. Service was excellent and food was perfect

Great evening out with all are family,children and grandchildren. The staff had good knowledge about all the dishes available. Lovely evening, thank you.