please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I have not been here in 2 years since the Irish woman was running it. The food then was alright at first and then went down hill. Having driven past most weeks, i noticed a sign saying Under New Management. I though i would give it another chance. Don't bother driving there, the car park was dirty and a hazard with junk strewn all around. I should have realised that first impressions really do count. It was wall to wall with blue and purple rinses inside. The interior was exactly the same as 2 years ago and still nicotine stained. There was even the same sofa in the alcove. They have closed the dining area off so you can only eat in the bar area. They have moved the hotplate in next to the bar. The food was dried up and over cooked. No wonder the only clientele were O.A.Ps. They have no taste buds left. The cauliflower cheese was a mush which obviously helps people with false teeth. The beef was the cheap cut that the previous people started to sell. The man serving the meat also served the roast potatoes. I was given only 4 small roast potatoes. What sort of carvery is this?(�7.95) I wanted a pint of London Pride, they ran out as it was being poured. The barrel was changed and i was then served a pint with 10% cleaning fluid. Another customer didn't even get that and walked out after realising how poor the meals were. The man serving the food snatch the plate and said he would not see them in there again. They left their meals and drinks without paying. Our desserts were definitely not home made and were over priced for what can only be described as child portions for �3.75! The service is terrible along with the food. Maybe one day i will return with my parents again to see if it improves. Though i doubt it.
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Recently we have just been awarded MASTER CELLARMAN by Fuller's. This will hopefully show that we are also looking after our beers as well as our food customers, Quiz night held on the last sunday of the month. �1 per playing guest, total cash prize... Look forward to seeing you all soon, CHRIS BURDETT.
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Never have I felt more welcome in a local village pub than I have at the Woodcock. The landlords do all they can to ensure your visit is pleasant, enjoyable and more than satisfying. The food prepared by the chef is EXCELLENT and the service is top notch. It's a great touch that the chef comes out of the kitchen to personally ask how the meal is, and pays great attention to detail on all his meals.
In just twelve months, the new landlords have turned this pub right around- from a mediocre, grotty environment to a friendly, relaxing place to go, and i highly recommend it. After experiencing other local pubs, the Woodcock far surpasses them all and , while I am no longer in the area, I now make it a point to go back regularly.
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Having moveed away from the area many years ago I was very pleasently surprised when I visited my parents who still live locally and suggested we book the woodcock for sunday lunch. On arrival I was extremely impressed to see that the restuarant was almost full, with local families and couples of all ages. The food was excellent and we were made to feel very welcome from the moment we walked through the door by the bar staff and the front of house team. It has been mentioned in previous reviews, but for the chef to come out and take time to actually ask for feed back (stuffing!!!!) and make sure everything was acceptable to us is a small touch but one that is extremely important in these days where as customers we are last to be asked our opinions. As for the bar area being overun with local youths......not the case when we were there. I look forward to my next visit. We need to keep local pubs alive and the only way we can do that is to support them and the people behind them. My parents have both been back on many times since and are still extremely pleased with it, trust me they are hard people to please! I live in an area where the 'local' died out many years ago and is run by uniform wearing people with name badges.......this is not the way forward.
Keep it real, keep it local.
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New to the area and this has now become a regular place for lunches etc. Food is fabulous and if you like fish dishes...then you really have to go.
Landlord and Landlady are really pleasant and welcoming people...asking for feedback about the food. The Landlord/Chef makes a point of coming and asking how you enjoyed the food...which is nice.
Interesting dishes...menu changes frequently..beautifully prepared and presented....cant really recommend it enough.
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Heard the place was under new management so decided to give it another go (have been a harsh critic in the past).
We visited on a saturday evening and were pleasantly surprised to see the restaurant area practically full so decided to try the food. I had the spiced Monkfish, and my partner had the Beef Wellington - fantastic and at less than �20 for both, really good value for money. And a nice touch for the Chef to visit our table to ask if we had enjoyed our meal. Top marks.
The public bar area was fairly crowded - predominantly with youngsters but then most pubs are these days and I would consider that an endorsement rather than a fault. The main bar and restaurant areas are separate from this anyway so if you don't want to mix with the 'rabble', you don't have to.
Although we had a pleasant 'house' white with the meal I also had a decent pint of HSB while we were waiting to be shown to our table, which went down rather nicely. Tables were cleaned regularly and the staff were friendly.
What an improvement, good luck to them!
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I would like to respond to the two most recent reviews.
I can only assume that the people who wrote these have a personal issue with the landlord and/or landlady as what they have stated is absolute clap trap!!
I have worked in the Woodcock since the new ownders took it over and they most certanly DO NOT sell rip off labels and ONLY SELL THE REAL THING!
The new owners are not agressive people using their status to remove regular people from the pub. If people have been asked to leave it is for very vallid reasons and all staff behind the bar are over 21 and are polite and responsible.
I highly recommend that these reviews are overlooked and you read the others from earlier dates - the food is fabulous, the drinks are real and the bitter is excellent. Try for yourself.
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This pub is dreadful.It will never be the centre of life in Beacon Hill only a place to go to when all else fails.
The beer is not very well kept and they do not sell real versions of certain famous drinks only weird rip-off labels. But still charge you the same !!
You can judge a place by the regulars and in this case the regulars are not of the highest quality but then again that fits in with the feeling here overall.
Avoid.Avoid.Avoid
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Shame the new owners have turned out to be agressive poeple who have used their status to remove the regualar village poeple from the pub. After drinking at the pub for 10 years it has now turned into a young persons pub with agressive behavour from the staff towards the old members of the clientele, who are now going to leave... The bewery has questions to ask?
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Great pub, new ownership in the spring.
Super pints of HSB and London Pride kept perfectly, we were told guest ales are on the way.
A fenced off seating area outside keeps the kids in check so no running off.
Large spacious interior, plenty of seating and they have a great menu all fresh cooked [one of the owners is a chef] no microwave chain pub rubbish.
Nice location in Hindhead near the devils Punch Bowl if you fancy a walk to work up a thirst.
Highly recommend this one and I'll be visiting it again soon no doubt.
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Friendly landlords, consistently great Sunday lunch (so good we have now been there 3 times in as many months!), good selection of beer and wine...
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A quick call in at lunch time, London Pride in good condition as always!
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Very friendly Landlords, very good food, top class Ale!
Would recomend.
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