BITE user comments - Drywillie
Comments by Drywillie
The California Country Inn, Modbury
If you want to experience what a good traditional pub is like - this place is well worth a stopover. Excellent beer, food and very friendly locals all help to make this bar and restaurant top of the pubs in this part of the country.
I was fortunate enough to arrive here on a Sunday lunchtime and feasted on a three course meal that was one of the most delicious I have sampled for many a year. The prices were not outrageous either - with wine, less than �20 per head.
Wives and daughters need to be kept under lock and key when the smooth head waiter turns up at your table.
Only compaint is the Landlord needs to smile a little more. With the old till ringing like it does, he ought to!
21 Feb 2011 21:05
Visited this pub for the first time today and found the food very good and of excellent value. Like Tandras I too found the host a most charming Welshman who couldn�t do enough to please his customers.
Ten out of ten for the beer which was obviously well kept.
However. my enjoyment of the moment was totally ruined by a duo of very young children who took over the restaurant area with a mass of noisy electronic toys which were clearly audible above their screams. Their mobile toting mother showed little interest in controlling them.
I joined the mass exodus as customers hurriedly drank up and left.
I am frequently in this area on business but have little interest in returning if the management are unable to protect customers from this nursery style environment. Good God I suffer enough of noisy kids at home!
1 Dec 2010 16:05
Had a superb Sunday Roast at the Bell. The food was wholesome hot and tasty and in abundance. �8.95 for the main course. They keep a fine pint of 6X I am fussy about this, it is one of my favourite ales. Recommended
24 Oct 2010 22:46
Perhaps �pompies� should try a McDonalds.
From hamburgers to fish fingers, fries to carrot sticks, milkshakes to organic milk...They claim!
Why destroy the sanctity of a nice English pub with the presence of children?
Have you considered that what you see as a 'lucrative section of the market', is unwelcome by the silent majority. A good traditional pub offers an escape for parents who having left their children with responsible adults, seek a peaceful meal or quiet drink. This is what makes a true English pub the envy of bars the world over.
It looks as though you expected to get a silk purse for the price of a pig�s ear!
5 Oct 2010 20:50
This is the place if you want to experience pure tranquillity and the way an old English pub should be.
�mieonard�, on a previous review expressed concern that children under 14 years of age were excluded from the George. This gentleman obviously has little knowledge of the era when the English pub was the envy of hostelries around the world. The no children ban gives parents and others the opportunity to escape from the world of Playstations and mobile texting and experience true serenity whilst enjoying good company and a quite drink.
The George at Nunney captures again this atmosphere and it�s crowded bar and restaurant hold testimony to the popularity of the Landlord and his traditional approach.
This is a sad time for the pub trade as we witness some of our finest houses closing with regular frequency. One wonders whether departure from the time honoured traditional pub to the continental style �bar� has hastened its demise.
MacDonalds are past masters of hosting sustenance for young parents and their children � why compete with them.
Welcome the Landlord who offers a route back to civility. Complete capitulation to the contemporary alternative is too distressing to consider.
I believe that even Mr �mieonard� might welcome the opportunity to seek the sanctuary of a true traditional pub and enjoy a child free environment every once in a while.
3 Sep 2010 21:23
That's strange! No reviews for over two years, perhaps the owners have changed hands. I know it is still there cos I went to a beer festival there in August 2008.We were unable to stay very long because it rained badly and everyone tried to go to the pub bars. So crowded we gave up.
25 Oct 2009 19:07
The Eagle and Child, Bispham Green
I really rate this place. Quite unexpectedly I found there were no children in the place. Not in the bar nor anywhere else so far as I could see. How wonderful - No howling children in high-chairs. None crawling about on the floor not a dirty runny nose to be seen.I really enjoyed my food and pint. I'll be back.
25 Oct 2009 18:53
Definately a tourist's pub and as you might expect tourist's prices. Very pleasant location and could provide a suitable destination for canal trippers who are able to tie up alongside.
Avoid lunchtimes if young mums in bars with pushchairs annoy you. (The management appear unaware how this grates diners and drinkers alike).
I found the staff here very friendly considering the pressure they were under.
9 Jun 2009 16:58
Its not like a pub and its not like a restaurant. Its expensive and the food is edible. Sadly the staff need to learn to smile and loose the robotic approach.
15 Feb 2009 22:30
Give me traditional Indian cuisine any day. Thai food tastes like soap powder. I am glad it was renamed The Olive Tree for it is about as much a pub as a lump of wood.
15 Feb 2009 22:17
A real blow to pub lovers everywhere. I think S&N have a short sighted policy. Past recessions have always displayed strong support by locals for their favourite pubs. Folks have a way of drowning their sorrows and not at home with supermarket booze. Good luck to David and Maxine Andrews.
15 Feb 2009 21:57
Well, the previous comments can only be described as caustic!
I found The George pleasant and truly functional. Good value Pub Grub and draught beer well kept. What more can one ask for in the centre of a busy market town? I thought 'Anonymous' on 17th April 2006 was totalling out of order and certainly wrong - Only one of the waitresses has been at the double whoppers!
15 Feb 2009 21:47
Well this is an interesting change since I last visited the area. The pub has been totally renovated and although the emphasis is on traditional pub design and activity it does offer a wide range of food.
My partner and I were suitably impressed; The food was pleasant, the decor was clean and comfortable and the designers had made every effort to capture pub atmosphere from a bygone age! A separate public bar constructed with this in mind has bar games on tap including a fully functional darts board alongside a log fire.
We were just getting lulled into this 1970s mood when our thoughts were shattered. The front door was pushed open and in came no less than three young couples each propelling a pushchair in front of them. Two of the occupants of these carriages were demonstrating the decibel power of lungs associated with early life. Needless to say our image was shattered.
Richard Burton once summed up (in two words) why the English pub was the envy of those who tried to copy it abroad.- �No Kids� he said.
How right he was.
15 Feb 2009 21:28
The Fox and Hounds Inn, Tytherington
Very clean and comfortable interior that deserves a much more imaginative menu than that on offer. This place needs a touch of marketing to justify it's past reputation and to put it back on the map.
18 Jan 2009 16:20
Both beer and food are above average. However, to satisfy the resolute diner a separate food section needs to be established to help keep over jovial bar customers from interfering with those enjoying a nice quiet meal!
Dave does a good job wearing both caps: Bartending and waiting on tables. His friendly approach should help to encourage and expand the food side of the business.
18 Jan 2009 16:08
More of a crying pub I would say. Too many small children in the bar totally destroys any atmosphere. Certainly has potential, the menu looks inviting and the beer is well kept. Didn't like the idea of samples from the beer engines being displayed in sherry glasses alongside each pump.
18 Jan 2009 15:51
Look back over the many reviews that customers have posted against this establishment during the past few years and it becomes clear that the attempts to attract a more discerning diner has failed.
It is now obvious that detracting from traditional 'Pub Food' will never produce a long term future that the haute cuisine experimenters anticipated.
The Plough has so much going for it. Old world charm, close to a busy trunk route, excellent kitchen facilities and in most cases, regular cheerful, helpful staff. So why does it fail so often to produce permanence in the form of a regular mine host?
Maybe the proliferation in recent years of so many TV food preparation programmes has convinced would-be caters that experiment is the key to a customer's taste buds.
Certainly, reading between the lines of the many reviews, a two tier approach to diners needs could well satisfy both the discerning diner and the beer loving snacker.
Until The Plough can offer true value for money to both � Expect the removal van at regular periodic intervals
7 Nov 2008 22:57
The Three Swans is located in the truly older and traditional part of Frome. It stands at the top of Cheap Street, one of the County's olde worlde shopping lanes, where a continuous spring stream runs down to the market place. The pub continues this image of seventeenth century grandeur and the lounge bar and restaurant doesn�t disappoint either.
The new licensee has reorganised attraction features so as to politely discourage an unruly clientele. A policy that appears to be working as a packed lounge bar authenticates. Fine draught ales are once again well kept and the landlord�s ability to produce excellent value food from a robust and imaginative menu are to be congratulated. This is good news for Frome for the pub was once classified as Frome�s Inn Pub and the then licensee won a national Innkeeper of the Year Award.
11 Oct 2008 21:59
The Rising Sun is situated off the southbound side of the A38 Exeter � Plymouth road, two junctions after going under the A383 road bridge. It is well worth the excursion for those travellers who seek sustenance with quality and value as their main prerequisite. It is admirably manned by friendly and helpful staff who match the pub�s delightful d�cor in welcoming their many guests.
The establishment offers some delightful extras, which makes it stand out like a beacon in the pleasant Devon countryside.
Bed and breakfast with en-suite accommodation, a large car park, lawned gardens and play areas for the younger customer are only a part of the facilities found at this Inn.
My small party browsed a most satisfactory lunchtime menu and the dishes selected were served with the minimum of delay. The portions were most generous, too much I fear for the average mid-day diner. The bar beer engines proudly displayed a range of fine draught beers of which �Tribute� produced a desire to dally for a refill or two
30 Sep 2008 23:27
Very pleased to hear that this famous old pub on the Bath side of Frome will open its doors again in the very near future. Wish the new managers the very best of luck and hope to see you when the dust settles
30 Sep 2008 22:36
The Boathouse was built in the eighties and replaced one of my favourite eating places as a young gourmet.
A tatty old caravan that sold the most delicious sausage sandwiches and of course the traditional large mug of strong tea (Albeit a slightly chipped one). Dare I say come back all is forgiven!
The woodwork of the 20+ year construction is now looking very much the worse for wear. A fine sunny day overlooking the river might just compensate for this now sad eyesore. Unfortunately, the interior and the general cleanliness leaves much to be desired. The food just reached an acceptable standard and would have scored a higher mark had it not been for the stickiness of the tables. Parking was very easy but perhaps this is an indication of an indictment by the masses that this is not the cr�me de la cr�me
of Bath pub grub. On the other hand the staff were very pleasant and happy
21 Aug 2008 22:31
Currently Closed and presumably awaiting new ownership. This pub is in a fine location about 3 miles south of the town of Frome. In its hey-day the Sun was a very popular house and had a good reputation for both its beer and food.
Will up date if/when it reopens.
20 Aug 2008 17:57
This is truly a wonderful example of an olde worlde English pub. I am told that this old property is frequently used by Drama and movie makers because of its authentic backdrop. The food offered is good value although it is essential that bookings are made prior to arrival. Walk down to the beer garden on a fine summers day and I wager you wont find a more English scene anywhere in the land. The view of the church, the village cricket green and the surroundings are superb.
20 Aug 2008 17:49
As of mid August 2008 this pub is boarded over and closed.
Will update when or if it opens again.
20 Aug 2008 17:33
Perhaps we should make it clear to any potential customers that Badgers Hill is in fact the bar of Frome Town Football Club. Nice and friendly but definately not a public house
19 Aug 2008 21:46
The Globe Inn, Newton St. Loe
Beer in the evening - Great! Food in the evening - also Great! But noisy children running loose - Definitely NO!! Let me know when you have an over 18 evening and I will return.
12 Mar 2011 10:11