We turned up on spec,but they soon had us seated . The surroundings were lovely, and smart. We had…read moregreat service from a lovely lady who was knowledgeable and had good humour. Food was super- tasty and great quality Would definitely reccomend, especially for the specials nights. BB.

My favorite pub in the world…read more Excellent beers/ales, fantastic food and the location is awesome. Service is always nice.

This place was awesome! We stayed directly across the street at The Dozing Duck (Airbnb) so of…read morecourse made a reservation for dinner here. (No reservation needed on the pub side-we ate in the restaurant) The food is locally sourced, fresh and authentic rustic farm to table. Even my side salad was delicious. I highly recommend!!

Our go to whenever we are in Oxford visiting family. They have a nice outdoor area, not a lot of…read moretables with umbrellas but no worries if it is nice out. If you eat in the bar area you go to the bartender order your drink of choice and meal. Hint...if you only feel like a half portion of fish and chips you can order a half order and for me it's a perfect portion of food. They do have a bar menu too if you don't want fish and chips. But really who goes to a pub in England and not order fish and chips. This is the place to do so. They do have a restaurant but I believe you need a reservation for that. Worth every bit for a nice meal out and I believe that the menu is a bit different.

Four of us had a wonderful dinner here last night. The food was delicious and the service was…read more10/10! We will definitely be returning soon.

What can I say about the King's Arms? I'm at home here. When we moved to the UK, honestly our most…read moredesired feature was walking distance to a pub. We got stumbling distance to one of the best pubs in the country. This place is well-regarded by everyone in the region. I've met people here who give up walking distance to their local to drive here and have a good time. That says something. My first night here I made friends, and each time I've been here since I find myself in good company either with neighbors we've met before, or people who know we're new to the area and want to welcome us. I can't begin to tell you how often a quick pint before dinner turns into a long session at King's Arms. I wouldn't have it any other way. These guys truly embrace the concept of being the center of village activity. No TVs, no WiFi, these things distract from the community. You come here to interact with your friends and neighbors, enjoy a good beer, and enjoy living in the company of others. They regularly have events to bring the village out. The most impressive of which was the dinner they hosted on the night of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. They served the exact 10-course menu served in first class that evening, and requested everyone bust out their tuxedos and dresses to mark the occasion in grand fashion. It was a remarkable evening. One disappointment, since I have to list one to feel as though I am being fair, is the wine list. We love the temperanillo, but really none of the others. But we're not here to drink wine, we're here to be social! It makes me a little sad that we don't have this type of drinking culture in the US. If you're not an alcoholic, you're not likely be on a first-name basis with the bartenders at a local watering hole. That's why I love walking in here; everyone knows everyone else, they're always happy to see you, they know what you drink, they pour a tasty pint, and are genuinely good people. I dig it.

This pub has been under new ownership since 2015 and had a much needed makeover last year. The new…read moreowners have truly reinvented the traditional English country pub, it has been sympathetically renovated to the highest standards and ties in wonderfully with the existing features and country surroundings. The new extended restaurant is a stunning light space, Chef Gareth Ward continues to produce innovative menus and consistently delicious food - trust me, you will be spoilt for choice! The bar serves excellent cask ales and craft beers and an impressive drinks menu - 3 pages of speciality gins, Monkey 47 a particular fave of mine - this alone is worth the 5 stars!!

Great food, very well priced for such a high calibre. Nicely located with quaint furnishings and…read morefine cask ales. A reccommend

Fish and chips was fabulous!!! We sat on the deck and relaxed in the pretty back garden. Highly…read morerecommend

Went on a Sat night, beautiful building and decor, lovely service, and the best steak I've had…read morerecently. Four of us went and everyone said how good it was, I can't remember the last time we all agreed (my brother is the difficult one, not me). We actually booked for a Sunday lunch while we were there, and if anything the Sunday roast was even better than the Saturday dinner. I really can't recommend it enough, a great find.

Really nice food, had lasagne which was very tasty. Good choice of ales and beers aswell and do a…read moregood pint of guiness. Staff and service are good and fast, really nice garden to sit in on a summers day and I believe they sometimes have outside entertainment too.

So once again, yelp did not let me down. First night in England, I wanted to go to a pub for some…read morebeers and dinner. So glad that I found this place. Lots of beers to choose from and the beef pie was delicious. The dining area was full, so I grabbed a spot in the bar. Probably better this way. All the staff behind the bar were very friendly and helpful. Lots of seating outside as well. Loved seeing all the dogs having a good time too. I would have to say that my first British Pub Experience was a success!

Called in at the request of the owner to update my review as the property changed hands some time…read moreago. We called in at the request of the owner to update my review as the property changed hands some time ago. I'm pleased to be able to see that everything appeared in good order, including the once tired car park. The bar area is tiny, only one table and a couple of chairs, so this is now very much a foodie pub rather than a local's drinking establishment. The restaurant area isn't huge, probably around 45 covers, and on the evening we called was very busy so reservations are recommended. There is a lunch time and evening menu, but there is a huge overlap between them. We called in the evening where there was a standard menu and a small specials menu with one starter, two mains and one pudding on it. One of the standard fishcake starters had been changed to a different mix of fish, and one of the standard mains changed during the evening from chicken to guinea fowl, so there does seem to be some additional variation on the menu. I had the crab and prawn fishcake starter, which was tasty and served with a small dressed salad. I followed this with chicken wrapped in bacon Grilled chicken supreme wrapped in smoked bacon and stuffed with pork, leek and herbs served with a sweet creamy Madeira sauce: this came with a choice of potatoes (I went with Gratin) and a mixture of vegetables (green beans, carrots and broccoli). My partner had a fillet steak but asked to change the Rossini-style presentation with pate for a green peppercorn sauce which they happily agreed to. The steak came with green beans wrapped in bacon, sautéed mushrooms and hand cut chips. In general all the food was really pretty good. The steak was a little over-salted and the green beans were burnt at the ends (doesn't show up too clearly in the available light picture) which is disappointing. We finished off with Bailey's Belgian chocolate crème brûlée and a sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel sauce and honeycomb ice cream. Both were very good, although the crème brûlée didn't taste that much of Baileys. Overall it was much better than my previous visit. The food was good, but could be better. Similarly the service was slightly lacking: nobody ever asked us if the food was OK whilst we were eating it, and sometimes getting someone to provide something took a couple of attempts on occasions. Overall worth a look if you want some home cooked good pub grub.

Now this is an English pub! We took my parents here their first night visiting us in England and my…read morefather said it was the best meal he had the entire trip (2 weeks and we even went into London and over to Galway during that time). The pub decor could be described as cozy and quaint. It has low ceilings and the historic accents and a thatched roof. There is a nice little fireplace inside but it isn't live. We found the food to be excellent and the service was equally as great. We live close by so we will definitely be coming back again!

WOW, What a pleasant and wonderful surprise of a find. We happened to be going this way after car…read moreshopping and found this pub. It looked like Yelpers had enjoyed it so we hoped that it was going to be worth the stop. It was. A lot of the pubs I've found lately have all become commercialized and become a bit "cookie cutter." They have the same items on the menu, carry the same beers and generally almost start looking the same. Well, the Malt Shovel does not. Not only is their menu unique, it seemed to have specials of the day. I choose a meat pie that with beer in it and my husband chose a different meat and potatoes dish. We started with some fried tempura shrimp that was a surprise because it was just as light and tasty as could be. We ate that pretty quickly. The entrees are pretty hefty and I believe we could have shared, but in the end my husband liked his dish better so it worked out. Ironically we came here quite by accident but it was our anniversary that night and with trying to find a car hadn't had time to properly plan dinner but it worked out because the meal made it feel pretty special. I would have liked to have tried a dessert but having no space had to forgo. In the end it turned out it was less than 10 miles away from home so we probably will be back often for good homecooked like meals!

My wife and I come here, while going to/from bucks. The staff ate friendly. The service is 5*…read morerestaurant quality. The food... The food is good old fashioned in house cooked, pub grub. I would (and have) reccomend the maly shovel to anyone who would be passing. The chips alone are worth travelling to it for

Fantastic food and friendly service in a very traditional pub, which means the building has its…read morequirks, namely drafts. So be careful of which table you choose to sit at, as there's a breeze wafting thru the eaves, which might be okay in summer, but since I was there in winter, meant I was using a shawl to stay warm. Architecture aside, the food really is the star here, and this place is one of my brother's fave places in the area, and he especially recommends their Fish Pie. Btw, there is no table service to take your order. You have to pre-pay at the counter, and the food is bought out to you later. When I came here with my brother and mum, we ordered the following menu items and it was more than enough food for all three of us: 1) Fish Pie - this is what this restaurant is justifiably famous for and it's a massive dish. They only make a certain number of the pie's per day, and when it's over, it's over. So if going for dinner (and I can't emphasize this enough) call them to make sure they still have a fish pie available!! We lucked out, they'd one left, which they saved for us (hoorah) cause it was DELICIOUS!! Lashings of beautifully crisped potatoes and underneath a lovely combination of scallops, fish, shrimps and vegetables. Loved this dish!! 2) Cod & Chips - a hearty piece of fried fish that was placed atop of the chips. I don't like this kinda placement as the chips right underneath the fish get a bit soggy so hurriedly moved the fish piece to the side of the plate after taking a quick photo. The fish was nicely cooked but it was also standard variety for the item. 3) My brother is a massive fan of Sticky Toffee Pudding and so we ordered this item to share, and it was a surprise when the pudding came out surrounded by custard! I've only ever had with syrup or caramelized sauce before but surprisingly the custard worked and it was delicious. Fabulous place to eat and when I next visit my brother, you better believe I'm going to request a return visit back to this place! Yelp 25/ 2019

One of the absolutely best pubs (and restaurants) in Britain. As a pub fanatic, I've visited…read morehundreds of watering holes through the years, and the food has never, and I mean never, been this good. I've eaten at Michelin star restaurants that haven't had steak as tender and succulent as what we had here. The ambiance was romantic, quirky, and quiet, perfect for a night out. We started with a potato and leek soup and the Welsh rarebit. The soup was good, not exceptional, but good, and the rarebit was tasty. We continued with the special, which was a hanging skewer with melted garlic butter, corn on the cob, and chips. I can honestly say that I have never had such a delicious, perfectly cooked and seasoned beef skewer outside of Greece or Spain. It was an absolute experience simply eating it. One of those rare dishes that makes you pause and close your eyes at the sheer pleasure of the perfect taste. I never wanted it to end. My husband had the same experience with his assorted beef platter. The medallions were so tender you understand what the phrase "melt in your mouth" means. I only wish we had room for dessert, as the dessert menu looked utterly luscious. But we will be back, and soon. I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough.