Woodman, Fernhamback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I'f you're going to The Woodman on the weekend for food always make sure you book first. This Saturday we didn't and, despite being given drinks, a table and menus, were ignored for 40mins. When I asked if we could order, we were told that customers who booked came first and we'd have to wait. Fair enough, but it doesn't cost anything to apologise for the delay & maybe offer a few olives, a bit of bread and ask if we'd like more drinks. In short, the food and beer are good here but the service is going downhill.
|
Supposedly a pub since 1652, the Woodman is a friendly village pub near Shrivenham with regular GBG entries. It is currently run as both a pub and restaurant, and while it has a good selection of ales, the food seems to take priority. It appears to have been recently renovated, which makes the decor look a bit contrived. Three gravity dispensed beers in barrels behind the bar, pleasant staff and quiet clientele made this an enjoyable visit, topped off by an excellent pint of Abbott, which, although not always my first choice, was one of the best pints I've had for a while. Well worth looking for for lunch if you're driving in the Farringdon area, and would make a good inclusion in a motorised or cycle crawl in the White Horse area.
|
Upon arrival (7:15pm) and on first looks the pub looked nice, cosy with a good selection of beers. We had booked a family meal for six. Unfortunately we were not greated by a member of staff and it took all of fifteen minutes and several enquires to find our table.
The menu's came very quickly but we were then left for 40 minutes to ponder over the main menu, specials list and wine menu. By this time we were all very thirsty and extremely hungry. I politely asked a waitress if someone could take our order and she snapped back stating we would have to wait. I took upon myself to go to the bar and order drinks for everyone. On my return the waitress arrived and took our orders.
The starters took another 20-25 minutes to come out. The standard was good but the Camembert could have had it's own bread instead of having to share the main table bread. It then took 20 minutes for the waitress to take our plates from the table and another 25-30 minutes plus several enquires for us to recieve our main meal. At this point I made note of the time and it was 9:20pm. It took the staff two hours to deliver our main meal. The food was enjoyed by five of the six people eating but it did not excuse the fact that service was terrible.
To summarise, you will need a lot of time on your hands if you visit The Woodman, the service was slow, the waitress & bar manager was rude and the food was over priced but was enjoyed when it arrived at our table.
|
Excellent food and range of cask ales at this country pub. More of a restaurant really, but still a great place for a few ales as they don't mind drinkers as well! They haven't alienated the locals which is good, and the staff are efficient, friendly and lookers to boot!
|
Good choice of beers (Taylor's Landlord, Brakspeare's Best and Wadworth's Horizon), and I can vouch for the first of these - v good.
Pleasant and friendly atmosphere. Lots of different places to sit inside and out.
Will certainly go back again - looks like a good place to break a walk.
|
The attitude at this pub has always been "like it or lump it". Overpriced food. If the beer is not in good condition don't dare complain to the licensee. You will get a very dismissive reponse.
|
Did a "dry" run one evening last winter as a try-out for a Christmas meal,food was good,ale was good. However on the the day of the said Christmas meal,disappointment set in. We'd been to White Horse brewery for excellent ale,but the same ale here was rotten. The alternatives weren't much better. Barmans attitude was "WHY DON'T YOU DRINK LAGER THEN....." Food still ok in fairness,but vinegar is for chips.
An associate of mine visited for a leaving do recently,same ale problem.
|
17th century inn (which is a bit of a maze) but serves excellent meals, mains being about �12-�15 but well worth it for well cooked food and interesting flavours - pork stuffed with peach, venison and fig. Puddings are around �5 for a large slice of white chocolate cheesecake.
Choice of ales including local White Horse (excellent) are served direct from the barrel by Slovakian lasses
|
|
