As we had never visited this pub, there was high anticipation as it had come highly recommended by another friend who had regularly visited in the past. On arrival, it was apparent this was a popular destination for Sunday lunch as it was very busy...and already quite full, thank goodness we had booked weeks ahead. There was one lady working the bar, and a young chap also behind the bar, who I assumed was taking the bookings. However, it took five minutes or so before we were acknowledged and seated, bearing in mind there was no one else waiting at the bar at this point.
We were shown to our table, a nice circular table in a lovely position by the window. We studied the menu, drinks ordered (although surprisingly, there was no wine list, but I'm sure if we had of asked, one would have been brought over), and after asking what soup of the day was, chicken, mushroom and thyme, the four of us opted for soup to start, 3 of us ordered roast beef, and the other ordered roast lamb. One of our friends doesn't like a lot of gravy, so asked if hers could come with gravy on the side. Drinks came after a bit of a wait, but without the jug of water requested. Starters arrived, well 3 did! We had to wait for the 4th one. It was clear to see our red soup was not chicken, mushroom and thyme as we had been led to believe. On querying this, we were told it was in fact tomato, although very nice and
tasty, it was a little disappointing that it wasn't what we'd all been looking forward to. Turns out that pie of the day was chicken mushroom and thyme!. Stater bowls cleared away, and we asked for a jug of water again, which was promptly bought to our table.
There was quite a lull between finishing the starter and our mains arriving, not a problem though, as it's quite nice to have a bit of a break between courses. Two dinners arrived, then a 3rd. We suspect that dinner no 4 had accidentally been covered with gravy, hence the delay after our friend requested the gravy being served on the side. Roast beef was slightly overcooked, I prefer it to be slightly pink, but this was not.
Mains eaten, one dessert ordered, along
with coffees too.
Dessert of choice was the fruit crumble, apple and cherry with custard.
Overall, a little disappointing experience after such high recommendation. Service could have been more on point, it was a bit lacking in areas, the efficiency wasn't there, and there were unnecessary long delays, which wouldn't have been so bad if the meals had all arrived together, even if we'd all had to wait. Politeness and manners is that you don't start eating until everyone is served, and having to wait meant that the rest of us had dinners starting to get cold.
Having said all of this, the food tasted good, and was value for money.
Just a shame it wasn't as good as an experience as hoped.More