please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
*Bustling...
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Lovely, busting Dartmoor pub in a beautiful setting. Great food and beers, with the Teignworthy Reel Ale the best-kept I've had it in ages.
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Great sitting outside the front door on a Friday lunchtime. Unfortunately way too busy when we walked back there on the Saturday lunchtime. Oh well.
Still, a nice place 7/10.
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Normally when we go to Widecombe its the Old Inn so finding this one was a real surprise and treat. Gem is definitely the word. First rate in all respects and will now be a regular haunt on our Devon hols.
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Beautiful little pub in a truly delightful setting, 7/10
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A gem. The Teignworthy Rugglestone Moor (on gravity) was glorious, on top of which they had one of my favourite meals , chicken and chorizo casserole, on the menu. Served with a good salad and garlic bread, it did not disappoint.
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A real traditional pub in the heart of dartmoor.
The interior is tiny and there is not many tables so i'm not sure how comfortable it would be on a wet day.
The beer garden is great positioned over a little stream.
9/10
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Great little pub about � mile from the village. Good choice of ales, friendly and welcoming staff.
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A gem of a pub in deepest Dartmoor. A tad irksome to see empty tables in the bar marked 'Reserved' though, and no seats for drinkers - although I understand that without all of the tables kept for diners, the pub probably wouldn't survive. Beer range could show a little more imagination, all around 4%.
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Charactersome country pub, just down the lane from the church. All stone walls, stone floors, fireplaces and low , beamed ceilings. I was initially "alarmed "by the absence of beer engines. But all the ales are served direct from barrels behind the bar. Didn't have time for food but there was an extensive looking menu with all main meals @�9.95.
Would love to sample it on a crisp autumn or winter day ,after trekking around the moors, when the fires are lit.
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Came for lunch on a typical Dartmoor summers day - cold, windy and drizzly but the pub was busy, if a little chilly. (can't they light fires in August?) Excellent pub and one of my faves but not perfect. 3 beers, Exmoor, Butcombe (Somerset) and Tribute (Cornwall). Living in Somerset as i do where all 3 of those are common as muck I was a tad disappointed that none of the 40 or so Devon breweries where represented, hence a miserly 8/10. Food portions are big - beware!
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Lovely pub and a must if in the area. 4 local ales on and very well conditioned so try all 4, food very good and the portions are massive (not a bad thing). If the sun is out the large garden seating area is lovely, dogs must be kept on leads, this may have something to do with the roaming ducks :)
Top venue!!
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A cosy interior, good beer on-tap and friendly staff made us feel right at home when we stopped by one weekend in May. The portions were generous and tasty. The staff were genuinely friendly and this place was full of friendly locals both evenings we went.
I look forward to going back!
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Just been talking about this pub and hear they do really good cream teas!
I plan to travel 200 miles to try one very soon!
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Without a doubt one of the best pubs in all the land. The Ruggles serves fantastic ale, and food. The fish pie is to die for, so much so people have been known to travel 200 miles to go there just for lunch!
Staff are all very friendly as are the locals. I cannot recommend this pub highly enough.
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Ruggle sums this up. Fantastic!!!! Even in the cold and rain this place feels right. Even the geese seem to like the place. The pub in widdecombe. Gone the days though that this is a virtual unknown pub. Fantastic Dartmoor straight from the barrel
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Quite busy for a Saturday afternoon in October, but the service was good and the food we ordered was pleasent and well cooked.
Good range of beer. I had the Dartmoor and enjoyed it with the views outside.
Dog friendly in the large garden. The Geese were also entertaining as they checked under the tables to find any left over food!
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fantastic
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Despite being a busy lunchtime the service was reasonably quick and the beer was very good. We sat outside and watched an old lady accidentally dump her friend's Yorkie upside down in the little stream. My wife had baked potato with prawns, which she said was very nice. I had the pasty, which wasn't. Overcooked and far too much pastry and too little filling. Not a patch on the one's you get at the Square & Compass, but twice as big, although, as I keep telling my wife, size isn't everything.Nicer location than the Old Inn down the road and much better beer, but in my opinion worse food. 7.5 out of 10 for just a drink,6 out of 10 if you have a pasty
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Very nice pub. Huge beer garden and very small bar indoors make it ideal for a nice summers day but i imagine not so good in the winter. Lots of local cask ales, good honest food, fish pies, steak & stilton pie, fish & chips, all very nice.
good location for haytor, bowermans nose, giants chair etc.
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If only every pub was like this one. We dropped in whilst on holiday to see if The Rugglestone Inn was really worth it's 8.8 rating. We weren't disappointed.
The pub is a picture postcard and must rank as one of the best looking pubs in the country.
Set on Dartmoor, close to the quaint village of Widecombe in the Moor there's aura and charm aplenty. The views from the pub garden are stunning. The friendly staff made us very welcome. I'll definitely come back here and spend a Sunday and sample some of the food off that excellent menu.
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probably the 2nd best pub in the world!
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Beer always tastes best when served straight from the cask as it is here. The food is also to be strongly recomended. A great pub.
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After reading the review by TeeJay i have decided to comment on this beautiful pub myself. i am from Plymouth and have spent many nights in the Rugglestone Inn, i remember this pub when there wasn't any need to deal in food because people went to a pub to drink but times change and teh Ruggle has changed with it, it has kept it's great old look with scrubbed tables and chairs and flagstone floors, yes there is only a small bar area and yes people can eat in their too and yes their is 2 seperate dining area's but that's not say that you can't just drink in their, i have never felt obliged to eat aswell as drink, the new couple that are running the pub now are doing a fantastic job and long may they stay, alot of pubs are dying out, some broadsheets are saying that some 57 pubs a week are closing nationwide and in Plymouth last month some 10 pubs closed, this pub on Saturday night 2nd August was packed, people eating and drinking, no music no nothing apart from a great atmosphere with all manner of people talking to one another, this pub is one of the pubs in Devon that needs to be seeked out! now if you want to feel like you can't drink then you need to go to the Olde Inn up in the main village, the two pubs cannot be compared. The Ale in teh Ruggle is fantastic and the food is to be tried, GO THERE NOW!!!! 10/10
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I've visited the Rugglestone on several occasions and never felt obliged to have something to eat (although I have and the food is excellent!) and there's always been a couple of locals sitting in the main bar with nothing, but a pint. The beers are excellent, gravity served with an emphasis on local breweries. I can't recommend The Rugglestone highly enough!
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Only 6 comments about this pub in 4 years..! Does that mean anything...?!?!
Actually, most of those comments are right, the "Rugglestone Inn" is a splendid looking oldey-worldy pub, lovely setting, beautiful surrounds, etc... AND the food is fantastic...! What more could you want, I hear you say. Well, what folk have omitted to tell you is, great as this pub looks, and it does..! Its really just a restaurant. There's no "pub" bit left anymore. Its actually quite a large place inside, but the two main bar areas are decked out like dining areas, you have to sit at a table... there's nowhere else to sit, and nowhere even for you to stand with a drink! This is most odd! If you're just going here for a drinky, you can't!! You have to sit at a table, and then of course you feel obliged to order food, because everyone else around you has! I did notice a bench outside by the entrance, but that was occupied, (and probably monopolised by tobacco enthusiasts most of the time...) There was nowhere else to sit &chill, or even stand &chill with a drink, apart from in the front garden, which is nice on a sunny day, but not ideal if you just want to relax. This is most strange, do you think..?!
I'm having a bit of a moan here, I know, because its such a lovely pub, but I've never come across a pub ethos like this before...! "Eat, by all means, but don't drink!" should be the motto over the door here! I would love to hear back from the staff on this, to get their view on things. Maybe the Rugglestone should be renamed 'Gourmet Restaurant' or something, so that passing punters don't get confused and think its a pub...!!! (i'm confused too now...) !!! TJ
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I had the great honour of visiting this fine establishment on many occasions in the 1970's when the proprietor was an amazing lady called Audrey. The barreled drinks were all gravity fed and were kept in a side room (pantry)and the customers sat in what may only be described as the sitting room. It was a locals beer and cider house not often visited by the thousands of tourists who came to visit Widecombe in search of Tom Pearce and his grey mare!. They generally went to 'The Olde Inn' in the village. The name says it all. There were some wonderful characters to be met, especially a local called Peter Hicks who had some wonderful stories to tell. That was a long time ago and it would seem, by the comments, that the current owners have strived to keep that wonderful ambience going.
Songara (a grateful Yorkshireman).
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Excellent pub in stunning location...Fresh fish dishes..the food is excellent. Gets very crowded in the summer is probably best to ring ahead and book a table if you want to eat inside,
The drinks are another level.. The standard on tap fizzy rubbish.. However the real ale selection is always good with a couple of local guest ales on tap.. if you like your cider real..and i mean real..make sure you get a pint of rough scrumpy.. There are very few places now that when you order a pint of scrumpy the barman vanishes out the back and re-appears with it.. Its local and by God its good..not for the fizzy cider brigade though !! Should be a top tourist pub ...instead its a top pub...Eating here on a windy wet Dartmoor winter day is magical
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Read all about this pub in the utterly amazing book Unmitigated England.The author looks back on how it all was in the 1970s. How I wish I'd been there with him.
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Well worth trying. Excellent beers and great company. This is what an English pub should be like.
Nigel - 21 Jun 2004 12:48 |
I love this pub. I have had the pleasure of visiting this pub years ago when u just walked in the door, paid the little old woman unders the stairs for your drinks (from barrel) and sat in her (rather overcrowded) living room.
The new owners have done well. Whilst making it more pub like, they have kept everything just how it should be. The room on the left with the main bar serving well kept cask ales (i remember buttercombe and Dartmoor IPA), with a lovely fire. Food is excellent..no steak and chips and beans here. Were talking ploughmans, soups, cottage pies, nice wholesome foods and not a deep fat fryer in sight!
Lovely beer garden, and gorgeous location. When i go back home (Newton) i always try to find time to go up here for a couple of pints and some grub.
D Mosley - 11 Feb 2004 10:34 |
One of the finest rural pubs around: largely unspoilt, lovely garden and fine Westcountry ales.
Jimbo The Badger - 8 Jan 2004 20:10 |
