Ye Olde Coach and Horses Inn, Meltonback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
After walking past this place to drink elsewhere for nigh on ten years, under the previous owners, I started going back there about once a week when Deben Inns took over. As the previous comment states it's been tastefully re-furbished with a youngish, friendly team of bar staff. Adnams is the house ale but there's usually one or two guest beers alongside. Food oriented, particularly early evenings, but not so much so that you can't just enjoy a drink. I'm pleased that this pub has recovered from it's previous dire mismanagement.
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With regard to sgt101 comments of 25 June - You are absolutely right! This pub is now known simply The Coach & Horses. It has been completely, and tastefully I might add, refurbished from top to bottom. It now belongs to the well known family owned Deben Inns Ltd. They own several other pubs locally (Wilford Bridge, Plough & Sail, Maybush, Fox Inn & Butt & Oyster). We have visited and eaten in all these pubs and the result is the same in each of them - great food, great beer and excellent serviced. We are so happy that the new Coach & Horses is back in business. We visited a few days after it's opening and it was excellent - a few "glitches" which is to be expected with a new opening, but having returned twice since then all has been smoothed out. The fact that Deben Inns seems to fill their tables while some other pubs struggle and only be attributed to the quality of food, drink and service. No, I'm not associated with them in any way - just a local lover of fine ale and food.
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All those reading these reviews should note that the Coach and Horses closed for some months after repossession (according to the signs on the door) in the Spring of 2011 and currently (June 2011) being refurbished extensively (to judge from the vans, skips and work people coming and going).
So - I think that all previous reviews can be disregarded.
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Well I use this establishment around 5 times a year at lunch times taking professional people who visit our Company. I have never experienced a bad meal yet and in fact our visitors from mainly overseas have been very impressed.
The beer is excellent and yes there is something slightly "Fawly Towerish" about the service but it just adds to the occasion. Chris (the Chef) is without doubt the best in the area and I can vouch for food being fresh in the main. In fact he will cater for parties where he will cook it in front of you.
I simply can't relate to the previous comments but maybe it is different in the evening although some of my colleagues have taken family there and never any complaints.
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My god what an awful place to waste a valuble evening out. No atmosphere, No People, no staff, Just some cantankarous old bat and her sidekick. Over 300 dishes all freshly cooked? Hmm, 1st sign that things are not what they seem. Again with other posters the food we had was truly inedible, both had a curry, it was salty and oiley to high heaven. Whatever you do don't complain as the old trout takes it so personally, and had the cheek to say "no one else complains" to which i replied "no one else comes here by the look of it"
Horrible night, Horrible food, Horrible owners and a great shame as it is in a nice location.
If Ramsey went there he would last 5 minutes with those two pigs of people. They need to hang up their aprons and beer mats and head of into the sunset. Along with the ten ton of salt they have.
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We were from outside the area and decided to book a table at a local pub near where we were staying for dinner.
Strangely enough, the lady on the phone said she could "squeeze us in" for 7 and not 7.30 as we had previously requested. This, we assumed would have been because they were extremely busy.
We started to get a bit twitchy when the taxi driver informed us that only "visitors" eat there and not the locals (not a good sign)
We turned up, and it was empty... the chef pointing at us to come round the side and only the landlady and barrages of blackboards all over the place! We were left wondering where the hoards of people were that prevented us from eating at our desired time!!
The landlady was very curt and had no sense of humour when asked whether the 2 menus she handed us were "specials" menus or in addition to the numerous blackboards! It was utterly confusing over which menu was what so we all opted for a curry theme.
We shared a starter between us which was ok, but the curries were swimming in oil and the naan breads were very greasy. We couldn't finish the meals as there was an awful lot - and quite clearly not freshly cooked for us. In my experience, the sauce looked pre-cooked and then reheated. Disappointing for the cost of the meal.
The ambience of the pub was very stiff, and although the chef did his best in the kitchen - he was let down by a very matronly landlady who did not create a warming and welcoming atmosphere. We all felt like we were back at school and certainly didn't justify the "compulsory" 10% service charge. We were paying enough for the food, and sensed that the extra costs were put on to ensure a high profitability in absence of a high customer throughput to generate their cash.
This is a disappointing review to write, as the location is excellent, and the surroundings very conducive to what could be a successful and bustling pub. The interior is very authentic and the log fires/old bottles and bar area serve to recreate an olde english pub feel. They have a pool table and a juke box in a separate area.
I get the impression that these people have been running the pub for a long time, and probably had a very successful business at the time. They are probably both knackered and could do with pointing in the right direction and can't see the wood for the trees! I feel that they are trying to do too much and are confusing the general theme of what they are seeking to offer. A simple menu of traditional British homemade food would do this place (and the chef) a massive favour and would hopefully seek to win back some highly sought after and precious local business.
I would not return to this pub, unless I'm passing and noticed that they had found a cure to the rapidly multiplying blackboard epidemic!
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I have never visited or posted on a website of this type before but feel compelled to do so having eaten the Ye Olde Coach and Horses Inn this lunchtime.
Upon arriving, my girlfriend and I were surprised by such a vast menu on offer - this should have set alarm bells ringing as it clearly indicates that the food cannot be cooked fresh. Some of the main courses were also very expensive (up to �30).
I ordered whitebait for starter which was edible, although it was VERY fishy and not at all fresh. My girlfriend ordered a seafood platter; this turned out to be the worst dish I have ever paid for; it was clearly from a jar and consisted of VERY chewy and tastless squid/mussel/prawn etc... The dish was totally swimming in oil and had some wilting salad leaves placed on top in an attempt to make the dish look fresh. I hate seeing food wasted and attempted to help her finish the food but was unable to eat it, I still feel ill now four hours later.
My main course of Mongolian Lamb was at least 50% fat and swimming in oil and the rice was clearly microwaved. My girlfriend ordered the previously mentioned "Blue cheese steak burger" mentioned by another reviewer; it was actually a chunk of mince that wasnt properly cooked all the way through and had strangely coloured patches inside it (breadcrumbs perhaps?). It sat on a piece of bread that was saturated in oil and the whole plate was deep in a thick creamy cheddar sauce, it also has some wilting leaves scattered on top. Definately no sign of blue cheese! We quickly had a few mouthfulls and left after paying, it is my girlfriends birthday and wasnt willing to waste my time haggling over the price of the meal.
They refuse to serve tapwater, a 10% service charge is mandatory (a bit of a farce given that the waitress didnt even know the menu and wasnt particularly helpful). Unsurprisingly they werent very busy, I will only recommend the place to people I dont like.
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Asked how it was and you said 'generally ok'...
Then your surprised when nothing was done about your complaint? Something fishy here.
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This sounds like a kitchen nightmare for Gordon Ramsey to sort out
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While reading this, please take into account, this is a pub which my
friends, work colleagues and I have been to many times and have given
plenty of business.
The pub is owned by husband and wife, the husband is also the chef.
I have just had dinner at this pub this week, I went with a friend, we
were looking forward to a lovely dinner after a long day. We arrived
and the atmosphere was very nice, and we were looking forward to
enjoying our dinner. We enjoyed a very tasty starter and we remarked
on how lovely it was to the owners, and couldn't wait to begin our
main course. When they arrived, my main course was very tasty and I
was pleased with it, but my friend's meal was very...very salty, so
much so that it couldn't be eaten, even by me, and I like my food with
a fair amount of salt in it. My friend had a couple of bites and
couldn't eat the rest of it, it was way too salty, eating this meal
would have caused dehydration and headaches. This dish felt like it
had more than the daily recommended amount of salt for an adult of 6g.
The meal itself couldn't be tasted, the salt content took away the
taste of the food, it was really disgustingly salty.
Experts, including the Food Standards Agency, believe too much salt
can lead to high blood pressure and evidence has suggested links to
stomach cancer as well as osteoporosis and other ailments.
We said the meal was salty when asked how the meal was, but that did
not prompt the chef to say, "is there anything we can do?", "maybe we
could change it for something else for you?". We would have expected
something of that nature, but nothing.
We left the dish and didn't expect to be charged for it, as it was not
edible with that amount of salt in it.
When we'd finished, the landlady came to clear the table, we said the
dish was just not edible and she took the dish away from the table
and asked her husband about it, who is the chef. She returned to the
table and said "My husband doesn't add salt to any of the dishes, and
we don't think it's too salty". This really raised an eyebrow because
which chef does not add salt to their cooking unless specifically
asked not to do so�? In any case, some of the ingredient had very high
levels of salt in it. The landlady tried the dish back at our table
and said "look it's not salty". This was just pain ridiculous..we
reiterated it was too salty, as she walked away she went on to saying
in a negative tone of voice.. "I'm not sure what my husband will do,
I expect he'll charge you for it as there's nothing wrong with it!" We
found this was just plain rude. At this stage, we were just plain
angry at the rudeness and lack of customer service, but kept our
nerves about us. The delays between going away to discuss the food was
20mins, and when lady tasted the food she didn't ask, didn't use a
fork, just pick up a piece with her hands..and said it's not salty.
On leaving and paying, we disputed paying half price for the one main
course with the chef based on the fact it was only tasted with a
couple of bites, and then realizing it was just not edible. We didn't
expect any dispute from the owner and chef, but he said things like
"because you've eaten half of it, I'll charge you for half of it", and
in reality only two bites were eaten just to try it and the rest of
the dish was left completely as it was served. I said to the chef
"what about the customer is always right", the response was "why
should the customer be right?". I thought, well they keep your
business alive? for one. We paid up, as we would have been going
around in circles with the dispute, and we left expressing that we
were not leaving happy with the decision. We went about disputing this
in a dignified and calm way, we expected a full refund for a meal
that was not edible, if we'd got that, we would have gone back with
positive customer feedback, but instead we will never return to this
pub under this management, when this dish was not up to scratch, and
when it was disputed we got rudeness and sly remarks instead. We left
extremely unhappy about the outcome and the lack of customer service.
Under this management, I definitely would not recommended this pub to
anyone based on lack of customer satisfaction when you have a
complaint about something.
Incidentally, when we asked if you could take the dish home after, we
were told it had already been thrown out with the rubbish.
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Last week, I went to a local pub for dinner. The pub is called Ye Olde Coach and Horses in Melton (Melton Rd, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1QB). I had been there several times before with friends and family and had always enjoyed the food. Unfortunately, last night was a totally different experience, not only because of the bad experience in terms of food but more so because of the appalling way in which my friend and I were treated.
I ordered Pork with Olives from the Italian menu. When it arrived (2 slices of pork with noodles & olives), I tried my friend�s naan bread first as it looked scrumptious. At that time, the chef�s wife asked if everything was alright with the meal, to which we said it was.
As soon as I started my dish, however, I noticed that it was extremely salty. I had about 3 mouthfuls and unfortunately could not eat any more as I found it far too salty. The chef then walked past and asked if all was well with the meal and I said it was salty but ok, generally speaking, as my friend�s main course was extremely nice.
When the chef�s wife came to remove our dishes, I said that I could not eat mine because it was too salty and she said �there is no salt in it�. I found that unbelievable, and said so.
She took the plates away, did not apologise for the dish not being to my taste (which I thought would have been courteous) and disappeared for a very long time. When she came back, she brought my dish back to the table and said �I don�t make a habit out of eating out of people�s plates but I�ve tried this dish and there�s absolutely nothing wrong with it. It�s not too salty, look (she then picked one noodle and ate it in front of us), it�s not salty at all�.
I then proceeded to say that I didn�t make a habit of leaving food and that I wasn�t a fussy eater (friends and family can substantiate this) but I really couldn�t eat that dish due to over saltiness.
The chef�s wife then disappeared back to the kitchen saying �well I don�t know what my husband is going to do about it but he�ll probably charge you for it because there�s nothing wrong with it�.
I was stunned to hear that comment as I thought it was rude, showed lack of understanding and certainly lack of customer service.
Neither he nor the chef came back to us. After about 20 minutes, we went to the bar to pay the bill. The chef�s wife came out and said that, as a gesture of goodwill, the chef was only going to charge me half the price of my main course. I then pointed out that I had not eaten any of it apart from about three mouthfuls but she was adamant that there was nothing wrong with the dish and half price was the best I was going to get. After discussing the matter further and not reaching a mutually agreeable solution, she said we could speak to the chef. She went to get the chef, who was having his dinner in a separate restaurant area and told him �we�re still having problems with these people�.
I did not think that was a polite and customer-friendly way of introducing customers with a serious issue about a meal. Nor was it showing any concern.
We apologised for disturbing the chef�s dinner and I re-iterated my issues. However, it was clear that we weren�t going to agree. The chef was adamant that there was absolutely nothing wrong with his dish, that he�d cooked it many times before and never had any complaints.
When I re-iterated the fact that I had only had about two or three mouthfuls, he retorted �but you ate half of it�. I vigorously said that I had not and again, he said �but you had a whole slice of pork, there were two slices and only one came back�. This is so totally untrue as I only had two small pieces of the pork. I now wish I had taken a photograph of my main course before it went back to the kitchen but, frankly, taking photos of my food whilst eating out is not something that first comes to mind.
After it was very clear that I was going to be charged half price, I paid my bill. I also asked for the food to be given back to me as I was determined to get it analysed for salt contents. The chef replied that it was too late, the food had been binned and the bins put out.
We left after this, feeling extremely disappointed at first of all, the fact that my meal was not edible, then the fact that we had been treated very badly and even made to feel guilty for highlighting that the food was too salty for my liking (not even slightly too salty, just plainly not-edible salty) and then the fact that the experience had spoilt the whole dinner.
To be honest, if the chef had offered not to charge me at all for my main course, which I thought would have been the sensible option, I would happily have returned there for dinner, making the conscious decision to ask for no salt to be used.
As it turns out, not only will I never eat there again, and neither will my friend, but we will not be recommending Ye Olde Coach and Horses to anyone.
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My fiancee and myself stopped in this pub for a bit of lunch one Sunday afternoon around 1 o'clock. We should have been put off from the moment we walked in, as the pub was empty. (we were the only people in the pub). This was not due to the weather as it was very sunny and around 22 degrees. None the less we decided to order from the vast menu(s). There must be around 150 options in the place for different meals. Way to much to choose from or to be prepared fresh. My fiancee ordered a 'Steak burger, with salad and fries' and I ordered a mixed roast of Lamb and pork. We asked for the 'Steak burger to be well cooked as my finacee is pregnant. After being told that everything is cooked fresh and we may have to wait for the food we settled down in the pub garden and waited for the food. Around 10 mins later our food turned up. (Obviously not fresh cooked). The plates was for some reason covered in Paprika around the outside in a manner to try and present the food. My finacee's burger was undercooked, the bread was a part bake and was wet from the grease out of the meat, and her fries was undercooked. The saled was chopped onion and lettuce and completely filled the plate. No tomotoes, cucumber or anything else. The roast came out with a large portion of lamb and pork, the pork was not even cut into slices and again the plate was covered with paprika. The gravy was so runny it almost ran straight of the plate when the waiter served it. My roast potatoes was out of a packet and hard in the centre, and the veg was so over cooked and out of season you would struggle to remove enough water out of it to make some soup.
At no point was we asked if the food was ok, so when we complained to the barmaid (Owners wife) she said she was very surprised and that they never get complaints about the food. So she called the Chef to the front of the bar to discuss it. The Chef (also the husband and owner) had quickly removed the food from the table (so as no-one else would see it) and told us this was the best quality food you could get and that nothing was cooked badly. At this point they insisted we pay for the food (in full, even though we had not eaten more than a couple of bites), and was quite rude in thier manner. They didn't like the fact that we had complained. If this is the best quality food you can buy then perhaps they should find a good chef to cook it. If you are thinking of going to this pub I suggest you don't. You would be better of at McDonalds.
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My word! Popped in here on the way back from town one evening and was impressed by the look of the place. Inside it was bright and clean and the menus were loaded so we bought a pint and settled down only to observe the following exchange�..An older retired gentleman asked for some water so he and his wife could take some tablets and the older lady behind the bar refused to give them tap water (illegal) and promptly charged them for some bottled water making the fella feel unnecessarily uneasy with the exchange. So instead of trying the food we left sharpish�.! A shocking example of UK customer service, the beer was ok.
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Fantastic food with over 300 Wines.A real gem for the foodies and wine lovers.
Christina - 7 Aug 2006 14:21 |
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