please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Very busy Saturday lunchtime.
I asked the bar girl how long food was taking to be served? "30 minutes" she said.
Are you sure it is not going to be an hour or more? I queried. "No, chef has not informed us of any delays" she replied.
After ordering our meals I checked out the real ales.
Seeing my review four years ago, the choice then was poor, now it is worse.
Only two pumps were available, with Brakspear Bitter still making an appearance alongside the dreaded Doombar. (The manager must take great pride with his selection of ale every week.)
30 minutes later still no food and my pint was nearly finished.
Ordered another pint and that had disappeared by the time an hour had passed - still no food.
It arrived ten minutes later.
My venison in suet pudding was more like gristle in a dried up pie.
And just to crown a really bad day we sat at a table next to the door leading the garden (we had no choice, it was the only vacant table).
If one ignorant person failed to shut the door behind them then twenty or more did likewise.
I told one bloke, if he didn't shut the door I'll...............well that's another story.
I will generously award my visit 2 out of 10, mainly because it has a big car park.
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Visited yesterday evening, and I was not overly impressed. The pub was cold and had no atmosphere to speak of. There were two real ales. The Youngs ran out as it was being poured, and was obviously cloudy. I had to point this out to the young member of staff who clearly did not know much about real ale. Her manger intervened and to his credit immediately offered me a pint of Brakspear instead. Unfortuately, this had a nasty metallic after-taste and I was unable to finish my pint. A rather depressing visit, and I won't be returning in the near future.
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I went with the missus to this pub for an evening meal (our first visit). It was not good at all. Our concerns were: 1) it took two full circuits of the pub to locate any staff to let us know the 'procedure' (i.e. if any tables were free; if we ordered at the bar, etc); 2) our main courses took absolutely ages to arrive: so long, in fact, that cancelling and walking out increasingly appealed (our neighbouring table - a large family - were made to wait even longer and had embarrassingly completely run out of conversation); 3) the main courses (I had a pie, with peas and chips; my missus had chicken, peas and chips) were very insubstantial - about half the size of a normal pub meal (and not in a trendy way, either). It seems from other reviews as if long waits for food are common. What a shambles. A shame because the decor and menu (in theory) are very nice. We will not return.
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Very disappointing and will not be returning. Went for a Sunday Lunch to celebrate my fathers anniversary with a party of 11 relatives. Booked weeks in advance and still waited over an hour for our main course. Food was poor although the waitress did what she could. Why does this place book itself up to the hilt and then can't provide a reasonable service or food!!!
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I didn't think it was to bad. Nothing to write home about but not as bad as some places in WGC. Now I wouldn't go and mention the Cork would I? Well, I am blind and my GF too. We ended up sitting with a girl who was sat waiting for her boyfriend. She took my GF up to the bar and brought her back to me. It was a nice thing to do. People there seemed very friendly. Might even go back.
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This is a place that looks quite nice from the outside, and from their website but in reality is very different inside. The food is worse than awful,half raw or completely burnt, overpriced and takes up to an hour to arrive. The flies were all over our table and the toilets were dirty.
The waiting staff ignore you until you actually have to seek them out and are surly and unsmiling.
This is not the place to go for a pleasant experience.
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It's a place where people who think the are too posh for Wetherspoons go to eat. None of us were impressed with the food (nor the dirty tables, preponderance of flies and indifferent staff) but the ale (Wanderer from Yorkshire) was okay. Wouldn't be a good idea just going for a pint as you could literally end up waiting 15/20 minutes to get served while people order food from the one person behind the jump. There isn't really a drinker's part to the place either. Some people seem to like it - but some people like McDonalds as well.
anonymous - 27 Aug 2011 20:30 |
Cant beleive the reviews for this pub. Ive been three times and 2 of the 3 times the landlord was rude. Staff were hit and miss whether they were polite and the menu has deteriorated.
Wont ever bother to go back.
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On a recent visit we could not believe the cost of an everyday, small bag ( 40g ) of crisps....�1.75. This cost us �7.00 on 4 small bags of crisps for me, my partner and 2 young children. When we questioned the price they were very evasive and only when pushed did they answer our enquiry.....can you believe it....we just wanted to know the price of a bag of crisps !!! ......... the manager was very dismissive, it may only be a bag of crisps to him but we felt his attitude was basically covering up the fact he knew the crisps were extortionate. The Crooked Chimney is just an everyday pub, and a pub like this should not be charging �1.75 for a small bag of crisps !!!
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Had a recent family lunch time meal. The majority of the meals were well received but sadly the roast beef I was served up was tough as old boots and the roast potatoes and veg were under cooked. The staff were very apologetic but sadly for me it left a damper on the visit.
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I go to this pub every weekend, and yes although it does get very busy, the staff are always friendly and helpful... this is probably why it gets busy!! They recently got a new head chef at around christmas time so i've been told and the food has improved a great deal. I have been there with various sized parties from just me and my wife to all my 4 girls and their young families (sometimes their is 20+ of us) We always have a good time and that is why we keep going back.
Siman - 19 Mar 2011 11:58 |
Pleasant enough pub, nice food, and a reasonable selection of real ales. However, it can get very busy at lunchtimes.
Last time I was there one of our meals took over an hour to turn up !! We had to cancel the order in the end. I didn't find the staff rude, exactly, but they certainly weren't bothered that we'd had to wait so long and they didn't offer us a drink or anything for the inconvenience. Fair enough, mistakes happen, and food orders can go astray, but it's how you then deal with it that matters - and this is what really lets this pub down. It's a shame they don't seem to want to make any effort to keep their customers.
P.S. - The review from "Derek Tar" looks suspiciously like it was written by a Crooked Chimney employee!?
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Always very freindly and welcoming, a great selection of ales and lagers that are well looked after and always taste absolutely fantastic. The food is all cooked to order so when its busy there can be delays in service but the food is always worth waiting for. If you want fast cheap food go to mcdonalds, if you want to spend an evening or afternoon with freinds or family, relax with a gorgeous pint of your favourite pint, and don't mind waiting for food which is specialy cooked for you come to this place... it's Great!!!
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its not a bad pub.. but the staff could be more attentive
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Restaurant pub run by Vintage Inns. With five or so different eating areas it was not difficult finding a table Saturday lunch time.
Food: Plenty of choice, as you normally get from chain pubs. Prices from roughly �6 to out of my league. Food tasted ok but not exceptional. The side salad came dressed.......YUCK. I wish they would warn you. Is there anyone who likes dressed salad or do people pretend they do?
The sauces and vinegar etc only appear long after the food has arrived at the table, thus taking 5 minutes to cool down. The chips looked suspiciously like the ones served up in Wetherspoons - edible, but not greatly enjoyable.
Beer: Brakspear Bitter, G.K. IPA and Bombardier...... nothing special but the old pump-clips behind the bar looked like better beers have been seen.
Might give it another try sometime in the future, unless somewhere better turns up.
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Been here a number of times over the last year or two and it is a perefectly pleasant place to visit. Nicely laid out with comfortable furnishings, a decent if unspeactular set of real ales, a bit of old world charm etc.etc. But over the last couple of months or so me and my colleagues have visited twice for food (once at lunchtime and once in the evening) and both times the unpleasant, surly, aggressive attitudes of the manager and bar & kitchen staff has been appalling. This isn't the bext pub in the area even though it is generally OK, but I (my colleagues) will not be visiting it again. Ever.
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Improved a heck of a lot since my last review - worth trying again!
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This was a very pleasant pub which over the years has morphed into a below average restaurant with slow service and below par food. If you want a decent pub meal go to the nearby Sun Inn. If you want the best pub in the area go to the 'Long Arm and Short Arm' just past the Sun.
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Is this a chain? Been there several times - food very good, great ambience, and probably the fave in the area. Packed on fridays, so go mid-week!
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Dire.
Try the Sun Inn down the road.
Turn right as you leave the CC Carpark - Turn left at the Church a few hundred feet down the road. The Sun Inn is just at the bottom of the hill on the right hand side, Now THERE is a decent Pub.
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This is the most comfortable and nicely 'done' chain pub i have been in, there are numerous real coal fires throughout the place, the decor is tasteful and the waiting on staff pleasant enough. The barmen are rude! You have to order your food and drinks at the bar but there is rarely more than one member of staff on the bar and the queues, particularly at lunch when it is busy with office people, all ordering their sandwich and drink seperately and paying seperately while we stand patiently listening to their tedious banter and slowly starving to death. this could be better planned. The food is almost certainly frozen and bought from Bookers or Brakes, as with most chains, otherwise, how would they be uniform? but the sandwiches are good and the prices excellant for what you get. Coffee - vile but the toilets I agree are very nice!
ikati - 16 Nov 2008 22:07 |
Went here for lunch on Friday of half-term week so busy-ish though not crowded. Served by rude barman who told us food wait was 15 mins, 40 mins later after a chase up it arrived. So-so but looked and tasted like brought in stuff. Upon paying the bill we tackled the aforesaid rude barman re the wait and he said 'well it depends what you have madam'. Cheeky sod he didn't say that when we asked earlier. Only 2 real ales on and the Broadside was OK. Wouldn't recommend this place to be honest.
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Took the girlfriend there for her birthday, arrived around 6pm, so was pretty quite, had a good choice of little nooks to sit in around the pub and get an intimate table. Ambience lighting and music were all fine. Service initally is from the bar for the food. Had a good Lamb chops with sweet pototoe each, four pints between us and a coffee for 33 pounds, which seemed reasonable enough. The beer was terrific (adnams best bitter) and food hot and tasty. service was excellent and the staff friendly enough. Also they have a covered smoking part in the garden which proved useful due to the rain. Just a nice queit pub ( enev though packed towards 8pm) with lots of atmosphere and reasonably priced for a birthday meal....
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NOT IMPRESSED! 0/10, if I wanted to chain experience I would go to McD's and probably would get better food. The staff are unprofessional. Ale's, I don't think so, well two of them, but you can get anywhere across the country. Bathrooms fantastic, so i've change my rating to 2/10!
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This isn't really a pub as almost all patrons were having meals. We came with family for lunch and was told by them that it is the best in the area. Whilst there was nothing wrong with the food, it didn't make me want to go back. So I pity people who live around here if this is the best. Apart from the steak, which was quite good, everything else seemed to be pre-prepared and the coffee was the worst I have ever had - ever. Staff, however were very friendly and efficient and there are nice tables outside. But as you would expect with a family pub, there were a lot of children. Unfortunately, most were running around because there is nothing to keep them occupied. No play area or even colouring paper so if you decide to come with family be prepared and bring soemthing for them to play with while waiting for food.
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Food seems quite reasonable but hard to say whether it's brought in or actually cooked from scratch there. A bit characterless but consistent, food is pretty good, only two real ales on show.
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Formerly a pub of great character, now a chain food pub with all the charm knocked out of it as per Red Lion.
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It is now apparantly non-smoking, and they do Leffe. Is a nice pub, do delicious sunday lunch. Be careful if you're allergic to wheat though - their "mashed potato" is not safe, I'm told! The condition was explained to many members of staff beforehand, but they still served food that contained wheat products.
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Been visiting this place over the last four years so thought i should say a few words... the staff are onfailingly charming and helpful and the food is adequate for the pricing. Unfortunately it is part of an identikit chain that seem to have taken over in this part of the world and as such it's a little contrived in terms of ambience and character but none the less is adequate stopping off point.
anonymous - 7 Sep 2006 19:26 |
My first visit to the crooked chimney was disappointing as an hour wait for the food so we didnt eat!! :( food smelt and looked lovely tho trying again today!! cant make reservations unfortunately just turn up policy so a little hit and miss.. watch this space for update!
anonymous - 17 Apr 2006 14:13 |
Wasn't very impressed by the food when I've eaten here in the past - a bit pricey for what you get. Nice old building though, loads of tables, the staff are friendly enough, it's clean and the Stella is normally OK.
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A little bit in tbe middle of nowhere, but worth the journey for the food.
brian - 17 Apr 2005 18:37 |
