The Hog's Head, Wolverhampton

Are you guys ready to order there, what can I get you?" chimes a cheerful Irish voice. What he is met with in response, is anything but cheerful,

. Let's call it shocked silence.

In short, the answer to the eager barman's question is no - a bit of our party is still yet to arrive and some of us have been so busy gossiping since arriving in the Hog's Head pub that multiple copies of the menu are still strewn untouched across the table.

But instead of politely explaining this, the young enthusiast is instead now being stared at by about eight gormless faces all in the same state of disbelief at the fact that the pub offers table service.

Finally a voice pipes up from the back somewhere that we're not really ready and he cheerfully heads off again.

"Does he know who you are?" bellows one accusatory friend.

"Have you told him you're reviewing this place?" demands another.

I haven't. Table service, it would appear, is all part of the service at this popular pub on the corner of Broad Street and Stafford Street in the city centre.

Or it is, at least, when they're not too busy.

So whether it was the blank looks or the sudden influx of post-work drinkers, the friendly face never did return to take our order and we had to do it the old fashioned way and order at the bar. Something, when in a group of nine diners all of whom are paying separately, actually proved quite difficult.

Through our own fault more than anyone else's, the ordering process was utterly disjointed and resulted in various meals arriving at different times. Not least because a lot of us 'paired up' to take advantage of the two meals for £5.95 deal that runs daily on selected dishes.

"That's less than £3 per person - that's cheaper than McDonald's" someone quips. And they're right. Needless to say, our expectations for said food were not especially high.

Round one of the order sheet brought a vegetable lasagne, two Yorkshire pudding and beef wraps and a giant beef burger and chips.

The Yorkshire pudding wrap was quite literally that - beef wrapped in a Yorkshire pudding in the style of a fajitas. Served with gravy and roast potatoes, I can only assume it tasted good as one of our posse devoured two all by herself. But at those prices, why not?

Another round of food saw a jacket potato with tuna and a mozzarella, tomato and pesto baguette served up.

The verdicts? Thumbs down to the jacket on account it was "a bad choice" (i.e. she really wanted chips but is supposed to be on a pre-holiday bikini diet) and a thumbs up for the baguette, although there was a distinct lack of pesto on that crammed-full loaf. The last and final round of food was supposed to be a vegetable lasagne, a Caribbean chicken salad (ordered as part of the two for £5.95 deal) and a blue cheese, mushroom and chicken baguette served with spiral fries.

The lasagne arrived all warm and tasty, with two slices of garlic bread on the side and the colourful chicken salad, drizzled in a mango dressing.

But as they arrived, so too did the news that the baguette wasn't coming - a fact that given these three meals were actually ordered on the same receipt, should really have been addressed earlier.

Again our waiter/barman was kind, friendly and extremely apologetic but all that charm can't make up for the fact one of our party was left to dine alone on nachos, surrounded by our empty plates.

ADDRESS

The Hog's Head pub, 186 Stafford Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1NA