BITE user comments - gizmo2brian
Comments by gizmo2brian
The Sunray at Osmington, Osmington
We were a party of 8 who visited on a Sunday for the carvery. The place was very busy and the guy carving the meat wasn't exactly the quickest worker in the world. This led to a queue which at one point stretched half way across the large restaurant. Once at the carving counter the amount of meat placed on the plate was generous and the carver even asked if there was enough on the plate! A good selection of fresh, hot vegetables were available. The Sunday carvery, at �10.50 was a little overpriced.
The staff were polite and efficient, apart from the serving of the desserts, which arrived in dribs and drabs, to the point where some members of our party had finished their desserts before the rest of them arrived. All in all a pleasant enough eating experience and I would go back again.
19 Sep 2011 19:10
I notice the last review for this pub is in 2009. A lot has changed since then. I've used this pub (now a part of the hungry horse chain) a few times this year and each time the food and service have been excellent. we had a pre christmas meal here, we reserved a table for 7:30 and arrived early, but the table was ready for us, we ordered the meal and drinks and were seated by about 7:20, our meal arrived at precisely 7:30, maybe we were just lucky. But every time since we have never had to wait too long. The food is always well cooked and the service at the food point and at the table is always polite.
Go on a Thursday and get a starter or a dessert for free, other days have other deals. A meal and soft drinks for 4 of us came to �41 - good value for a 2 course meal.
Thoroughly recommended.
3 Apr 2011 15:03
Visited for a second time in just over a week. Food was excellent again, but service was appalling - we waited over an hour for our main course and there was a further delay with deserts which weren't all served at the same time, meaning some of the party had finished before the rest of the deserts were delivered to the table. Whilst I appreciate the food is "cooked from scratch" an hour is far too long to wait for our meal.
23 Oct 2010 19:50
Visited the Spice Ship on a Saturday night, when we arrived the dining room was quite empty, but filled up very quickly. It was easy to see why - the food and service were both excellent. We were impressed by the amount of space between tables, so many places these days try to maximise profits by placing tables close together. Great menu, great food, great service. A "must do" if in the Preston area of Weymouth
14 Oct 2010 18:32
Fantastic setting, but first impressions count, there is a sign saying something about no children allowed in the bar - however one of the bar staff clarified this as babies in pushchairs are not permitted. The menu is too extensive, it took several minutes to find the non fish dishes on the menu. The menu is far too complicated. Going for a non fish dish was for some of our party a bad mistake - they ordered a pasta dish whish was almost a tin of tomatoes poured over some pasta - too much tomato taste and very little else. I had the gurt big pie, which was excellent. The barman / waiter was very friendly and knowledgeable, the service was good, prices were average. If you're a fish lover, or you enjoy sitting outside a pub by the water, then this place is a must, when in the Starcross Area, otherwise, there are probably better places to eat.
28 Sep 2010 14:59
The Welcome Inn, Dawlish Warren
Just got back from a weeks holiday in Dawlish and ate at the Welcome Inn at Dawlish warren 3 times - twice for meals from the menu and once for the Carvery. We have nothing but praise for this place. The food was freshly prepared, the service on the first night was quite slow, despite the fact that the place wasn't too busy, but I have no issues about a bit of a wait if the food is fresh. The Carvery is something else - extremely popular, generous portions of meat with a choice of 2 or 3 meats on the menu. As usual at Carveries you will always get the morons who have to see if they can get into the guiness book of records for the amount they can pile on their plate, then leave half of it - this was true of the Welcome Inn clientele!
A final word on the staff, each time we ate there the same staff were on duty, they were polite and very efficient - tables were cleared quickly.
27 Sep 2010 17:26
Nice pub - good food, eaten here a few times, mostly around lunch time / early afternoon and it's always been quiet. Also had Sunday Lunch here when it's been very busy. Skittles are played here and I would expect that it would be a noisy place and food would be limited on Skittles night. All food is freshly cooked so be prepared for a wait between courses. All in all a nice pub well named as the travellers rest, as it's a handly place to call in when travelling along the A37 to or from Bristol
2 Sep 2010 10:41
Visited on a wet and miserable Wednesday lunch time during the school holidays and there wasn't a child in sight - a real bonus! Our visit got off to a shaky start as there was no one behind the bar for a good 5 minutes, which led to a build up of people waiting to order food and drinks. However from there on the experience just got better. It is a "vintage inn" so if you've eaten in another pub in this chain you will know the menu pretty well. However the food was well cooked, the waiting time between courses was acceptable, the staff were very pleasant and attentive without being intrusive. The place itself was clean and well fitted out. All in all this was a very pleasant eating experience in a nice relaxed atmosphere. When we first arrived the place was fairly empty, but filled up quite quickly, despite this the service remained slick. Would the place be as welcoming and efficient during the evening? Not sure, but we will give it a try sometime.
27 Aug 2010 08:36
I can't think of too many positive things to say about this place. Possibly the only good thing to say is that it has a salad bar, which is highly recommended, as it will help to fill your plate when you experience the lack of vegetables that come with the main courses. We went to the beef and barge on a lovely Saturday evening in July, a night when a place like this should have been almost full. It wasn't. The waiting staff were so underworked that 3 of them brought our meals to the table. The food was average, the only vegetables served were peas! There was a choice of chips or potatoes, and to be fair the chips were good, probably the best part of the meal. When asked if we enjoyed the meal, I commented on the fact that a better choice of vegetables would have been nice, to which I got a "oh we usually serve peas and carrots" and there was almost a "but I don't know why we didn't tonight" comment on the back of that! When we arrived there was a "steps" cd playing, loudly, which when we mentioned it to the manager (?) was turned down. However it was still competing with the commentary of the football match which was on the TV. The manager or is he the owner? was totally unprofessional in his dress, his presence (or lack of it) he sat for a period of time watching the football, and then in the middle of the restaurant with his laptop. If it wasn't for the fact that he was behind the bar directing staff when we arrived, i would have thought he was another punter. At no time did he bother to come and ask if everything was alright, or if we enjoyed the food. We drove past several "country" pubs to get to this place, I will stop at one of them the next time - very disappointed and not recommended.
4 Jul 2010 11:19
I can't think of too many positive things to say about this place. Possibly the only good thing to say is that it has a salad bar, which is highly recommended, as it will help to fill your plate when you experience the lack of vegetables that come with the main courses. We went to the beef and barge on a lovely Saturday evening in July, a night when a place like this should have been almost full. It wasn't. The waiting staff were so underworked that 3 of them brought our meals to the table. The food was average, the only vegetables served were peas! There was a choice of chips or potatoes, and to be fair the chips were good, probably the best part of the meal. When asked if we enjoyed the meal, I commented on the fact that a better choice of vegetables would have been nice, to which I got a "oh we usually serve peas and carrots" and there was almost a "but I don't know why we didn't tonight" comment on the back of that! When we arrived there was a "steps" cd playing, loudly, which when we mentioned it to the manager (?) was turned down. However it was still competing with the commentary of the football match which was on the TV. The manager or is he the owner? was totally unprofessional in his dress, his presence (or lack of it) he sat for a period of time watching the football, and then in the middle of the restaurant with his laptop. If it wasn't for the fact that he was behind the bar directing staff when we arrived, i would have thought he was another punter. At no time did he bother to come and ask if everything was alright, or if we enjoyed the food. We drove past several "country" pubs to get to this place, I will stop at one of them the next time - very disappointed and not recommended.
4 Jul 2010 11:19
Last visited this pub years ago when i worked in this part of London, but back recently for a day trip and can really recommend it for food. The bar is crowded, but the upstairs eating area is pleasant and despite being told there was a 20 minute wait for food we were served within 10 minutes, The food was excellent and reasonably priced for the heart of London.
I thoroughly recommend a visit to this pub.
11 Sep 2009 10:38
Having just moved into the Frome area, i was looking for somewhere to take my mother, sister and brother in law for lunch on Boxing Day. We chose the Masons Arms. It was a good choice, the food was excellent, the service was good. Because the food is freshly prepared, i wouldn't recommend going to this pub if you're looking for a quick meal, we waited a while between courses, but being boxing day there were a couple of large parties in, which probably caused the service to be a little slower than normal. Bad points? having to walk past the "smokers shack" which has been located right outside the door into the pub, One down side, we sat right outside the door into the "washing up area", which was also the door into the kitchen, I was appalled by the state of the light fitting which had years worth of cobwebs and dead bugs above the shade on the fluorescent light. I have emailed the manager about this, but have not received a response - disappointingly - as this was the only real down side of our visit
10 Jan 2009 12:35
The Spice Ship, Preston
It's almost a year since I last visited the spice ship and once again we had to wait for our meal, although this time only for about half an hour. If the restaurant had been busy this would have been acceptable, but there were very few customers when we ordered. The order was wrong when brought to the table, we had asked for no salad, but salad was on one of the plates. The drinks order, was also wrong, ordering a large coke and being given a small one. The desserts were also wrong, we all ordered cream and got ice cream. The food, once it arrived was very good, but this place needs to pay more attention to detail. This is a nice place to eat, but it really needs to get it's act together.
19 Sep 2011 19:19