We tried this place for a leaving do, as a group of 8. The beer was good, we tried their new brews and were impressed. They do a taster pint 3 thirds, one of each brew. This seemed a good way to find out what you like, but I went straight for the Weighbridge Best Bitter and stayed on that since it was very pleasant, strong and hoppy.
We then moved on to eat. The dining area is nicely laid out with all new kit and the staff were attentive. The menu is pretty much identical to the Three Crowns in Brinkworth. No surprise, since it's the same owners. If you are impressed by lots of different meats from a variety of exotic animals, you'll like it. If you're a vegetarian, perhaps less so. There are a couple of veggie dishes, but they're buried at the end of the menu. The prices are pretty steep. I had Wild Boar, which weighed in at £21 and about 4 ounces. It came swimming in a lot of creamy stilton sauce which was quite pleasant, but the meat was like chewing a shoe. Everybody else's meal seemed to have the same sauce. I suspect there's a big vat of it bubbling in the kitchen.
The main courses took 20-25 minutes to arrive. Not a problem with a group all chatting, but could be improved. This wasn't mentioned at the start, but we managed.
I mentioned the tough meat to the waiter, who went off to the kitchen. He returned some 10 minutes later saying the chef had said in his opinion the meat was not tough, and in any case it had to be well cooked being of the pork family. That was it. No apology, just a bare statement. You either like it or lump it.
On the plus side, all my colleagues enjoyed their food, and we had some very pleasant Spanish red wine to go with it. A little later we managed to get the brewer to show us round his little brewery at the end of the bar. Apparently the real head brewer is the guy who used to run Archers, so that explains the quality.
Plus points: A nice, well decorated venue with pleasant staff, good beer and mostly good food.
Minuses: Not all that interested in rectifying complaints. The building design leads to a lot of ambient noise which makes it difficult to hear conversation once it's full of people. read more