The Beagle — Restaurant in Babergh

Updated on 10/10/2020 During Covid-19 Me and partner hadn't been out for a meal for months. We decided to visit here as i have been here loads of times and my partner never has. I booked online. There was loads of time slots available. I didn't see any "in your face" warnings about Covid on the website so i went through their pages and found the Covid section. It had a little video and had the rules of what the restaurant wanted. Face masks to be worn in the restaurant and at the bar, but you were allowed to take them off at your table. Which seemed reasonable. All booked. Arrived with 20 mins to spare. Went in with masks on and went straight ahead to a lady waiting to check people in. She took my name and took us right to our table. Everything was laid out just as normal but there was a nice distance between everything.

Someone gave us menus and said that we would be waited on. We were looked after very well. Our drinks came and we took them off the plate ourselves. The food came out in decent time. Everything was great. The only one downside to the evening was a couple arrived and they were sat next to the fire. which was directly opposite of us. They looked a little uncomfortable. They pulled a member of staff aside and asked if they could be moved as they were too hot next to the fire. Even though the fire had died down immensely and wasn't even aflame. The waitress told them she could have a look for another table but they are fully booked. She came back and said they might be able to sit near the bar as that is the only space. They made a little fuss moaning about the fire sounding like why would anyone be seated here and even suggested moving their table round. which in current situations would disrupt the social distancing. The couple were then moved. The waitress was very polite even though these people were not. It's really nice to see this pub running well during Covid-19. Everything is still very clean and tidy. The toilets are very clean. Would definitely recommend visiting.

Whenever I walk into this pub the atmosphere and the style blows me away. It's a truly gorgeous pub. The bar is nicely laid out and the brick floor is lovely. They have a small sitting area to the left of where you walk in which is nice and cosy. They also have a small open fireplace which is extremely nice on cold days. The choice of drinks varies and the meal options are good. Their lunchtime and evening menu are a very good price. I have given this restaurant 5 stars because the staff behind the bar are very attentive and friendly. The restaurant is clean and tidy and always welcoming.

There is also plenty of parking behind although it does get packed easily. You can park at the front too. There is a disabled entrance ramp and there is enough room inside the pub...

From the start we received bad service, I didn't feel welcome at all-more like I was a causing a nuisance just by being there. It took half an hour for our drinks to arrive (they actually arrived after the starter) and the water for the table didn't arrive at all (I had to ask a second time for it, I think it eventually turned up during the main). We had both ordered non-alcoholic cocktails as both of us were driving. I also don't drink alcohol at all. Both of our drinks were alcoholic which I was pretty upset to discover when I took a big mouthful of it as I haven't drunk alcohol for around 15 years for a number of reasons. I feel this is quite a serious mistake to make as one of us could have been pregnant, or a recovering alcoholic for example but the staff seemed very blasé about it. The next mistake that happened was that my friend who ordered a vege burger was instead served a chicken burger! Both of us are lifelong vegetarians so again this was really quite upsetting. Thankfully she noticed it was meat as she cut into it but again this in my eyes is a massive mistake to make as it is something that can be very upsetting-people avoid eating meat for serious reasons such as religious or even medical reasons. Again we got a curt apology but really not much else. The only compensation that was offered was to get the burger at half price. When I asked if we could also get a discount on the drinks that were wrong our server said no and the reasoning she gave was that she had put the order in wrong for the burger so that was her mistake, whereas the drinks were the bar's fault. I don't see the logic in this as it is still the fault of the establishment overall. This was my second visit and although the service was pretty bad the first time around, I decided to come again because the food was good. However after my experience tonight I have been left never wanting to come back and will be cancelling the other booking I had for this month. I really think the management need to take a long hard look at how they are running things because the staff don't seem happy at all and that is all being passed onto the customers. Happy staff,...

Boxing Day dinner. Parking there was fine with no issues, but not many spaces left. We got seated straight away. The restaurant had a good ambiance, was cosy and set out with enough room and privacy. The floor showed a lot of debris though, no doubt from the footfall. It was otherwise clean, including the toilets.

Food. The food in general was well presented and had taste.

Starters; I know they are starters, but felt that they were more like tasters. There could have been, slightly larger portions. For example, there were only 2 balls of Arancini (I believe the norm is 3?). The bread with the duck and salmon dishes (both tasty), was limited to a slice on each. Another slice (they weren't large slices), or the general offer of more bread to the table might have alleviated this. But as I've said, everything was ok and tasty!

The main meals were ok.... The fish, pan roasted cod loin, was bland, it tasted watery. The scallops, when found, alright. It was basically fish and some potatoes, with shells. In a, sort of, tomato sauce. No other veg. The pork belly, could have been cooked slightly longer to make more tender. The vegetables were limited/lacking. The crackling was very nice. The apple pie was slightly over done on the pasty. However the roast dinners seemed large and offered no complaints.

The desert, wow that was superb. White chocolate cheesecake trio. Was well presented and tasted phenomenal. We would definitely have that again. The Christmas pudding was nice too, but could have had more brandy sauce with it.

It did take 30 minutes to receive coffees at the end, that were not very strong and very milky. But were warm.

The first waitress we had, it felt like we were causing her an effort. She even incorrectly, corrected the pronounation of Arancini when it was ordered, not a good look. Perhaps she was at the end of a long shift. The second waitress was much more personable and friendly.

All in all, it was pleasant. But the high light and what made it, was definitely the...