The Coachman's

Thanks to all staff for great food and excellent service on Sunday 28th Jan 2024. Superb value all round and highly recommended.

We have been going to to the 'Falcon ' now for a number of years for a meal out, but we were not very happy here with our last visit. My wife made a booking by phone for a meal with a friend, but this time instead of just asking for a phone number as confirmation, she was asked to leave her email address and card number. My wife said that she was not comfortable in leaving our card details, but she was told that some people had made block bookings and not turned up, which I can understand would cause problems, but we pointed out that this was just a simple booking for a table for two, which we had made on several other occasions in the past without problems. This produced the reply 'Well I suppose it will be OK ' then! When it came to the day of the booking, it so happened that I had booked a table for two with a friend at the 'Brendon ' next door, where we found the place to be humming with activity, and Christmas cheer! All the tables were taken! When I came to pick up my wife afterwards in the 'Falcon ' I was surprised to find there was a mere handful of people there. The place was uninviting, cold and devoid of any Christmas atmosphere. I asked one of the staff whether there was any heating on, to which he replied, 'I can turn the fire on if you want ' I resisted the temptation to say, perhaps you should have done that when you opened up! The only thing worth praising was the quality of the food, which my wife praised (hence my giving this review 3 stars). The bad news is that prices were far more expensive than on previous visits. My understanding was that both the 'Brendon ' and the 'Falcon ' were under the same ownership, so my making comparisons between the two places would not be inappropriate, for surely if the situation I have described here is typical, it should be of some concern to the owners! I would also mention as an aside, that one of the Christmas attractions in past years has been the Christmas Carols. This has always taken place in the Coachman 's Bar on Christmas Eve. Not this year though, it was changed to an outdoor event prior to Christmas Eve, in the so called 'Secret Garden ' which of course is a stupid name, because it is no secret to anybody! Anyway, even more stupid, was the idea to hold it outdoors when the weather is either cold or wet or even both, rather than in the warmth of the Bar, with full blown audience participation. When I queried why things had been altered, I was told that because Christmas Eve fell on Sunday, there were Sunday Lunches to be served. I would have thought though, there would have been adequate time after lunch to straighten up the Bar for another event that evening! Ah well! I don 't know whether any changes in the management have taken place at the 'Falcon ' but suffice to say, my wife and I are going to think long and hard before we ever consider going here again!

We went on Monday 10th for an early evening meal (6.30) obvs menu changed but were both disappointed the gammon was no longer on the menu- we ordered Fish n chips- batter was very greasy, but fish was fresh, I ordered the special, skate wing, nice meal although not a decent size portion, once bones were removed not a great amount of fish. My reason for the 2 score quite simply ‘barking dogs’ even heard the waiter say were full of them tonight. 6 dogs from small to large. Had the Hotel receptionist mentioned they were overly dog friendly we would not have booked earlier in the day. I quite frankly do not want to eat near barking wet smelly dogs!

Avoid if you want nice food. We went here after recommendation from a local. Upon trying to order food to sit outside. We had to ask for permission from the hostess at the podium. Bar staff wouldn’t take the order. Despite having already been given the menus from the hostess. The whole system seemed backwards and weird. I can only imagine she was gauging how busy it was before allowing people to sit outside to eat. When we eventually ordered. The ribs came out stone cold. Had to send them back. The chips were tasteless. When the new ribs came out. They were also tasteless and fatty. I had the fish curry which was ok. Nothing to shout about. We definitely won’t be returning. Several others sent food back whilst we were there. Sorry to moan.

Came for Sunday lunch with the family. A revisit as we enjoyed a meal the week prior. Sunday lunch was lovely but unfortunately I was served alcohol when ordering the aperol 0%. This is unacceptable especially as it’s a medical reason why I can not consume alcohol.The waiter who took the order was very apologetic but I don’t think he was to blame as he read our order back to us prior. The lady who delivered the drinks however was frosty when I asked after taking a sip, if it was the alcoholic version. Her reply was that it was that aperol is an alcoholic drink…which I know that’s why we ordered the virgin drink. I think there is a miscommunication between bar staff and a lack of knowledge of what is sold. Will not be returning or recommending which is a shame.