The Thames Head Inn — Restaurant in Cotswold District

We returned to this pub earlier today for a Sunday lunch with family, purely due to its halfway location – certainly not for the food, which we remembered as average at best. What we didn’t expect was a meal so poor it made a Toby Carvery at 9am sound appealing. • On arrival, we were greeted with zero warmth and immediate confusion over the booking (apparently made twice under the same name). • Instead of simply asking how many were in our party, we were met with passive-aggressive bafflement. • Despite being half empty, we were seated at a cold, dark corner table we had disliked before. • No music. No buzz. Just the ambient sound of cutlery and awkward silence – imagine a waiting room with wine glasses. • The pub felt more like a retirement home lounge than a countryside spot for Sunday dining. • Staff were consistently cold, blunt, and at times borderline rude. • We were told there was no drinks menu – just “soft drinks and a tap.” • Sunday roast was available, yet no menu was provided. Every question we asked – from gravy on the side to coleslaw – was met with eye-rolls or curt “no”s. • The woman taking our order spoke to us as if we were children inconveniencing her, while another waiter openly gave attitude and avoided our table.

The Food This deserves its own section. • Beef: Wafer-thin, tasteless, and served in a portion barely fit for a canapé – certainly not the 200g you’d expect from a proper Sunday roast. Mine was supposed to be well done, but it looked identical to the medium rare plate next to me. I had to smother it in salt just to get through a bite or two. • Vegetables: A shared plate for four with roughly four broccoli stems, a couple of carrot chunks (undercooked and flavourless), and some swede that tasted raw and had zero seasoning or glaze. Not even the faintest whiff of roast dinner came from the kitchen – you could get more aroma from a microwave meal. • Gravy: Watery, bland, and offered without any effort to elevate the dish. • Yorkshire pudding: An insult. It resembled frozen cardboard and had the bounce of a car sponge. • Several of us couldn’t finish our meals – I left 75% of mine untouched. We were all still hungry after paying nearly £100. We had to go eat elsewhere just to salvage the day.

When we raised concerns, we were met with stony silence. No apology. No offer to rectify. One waiter literally ran off mid-conversation. Staff openly avoided us, clearly talking about us in hushed tones behind the pillar. When we finally flagged someone down for the bill, it was dropped on the table without a word – every item still charged in full.

We left shocked at how poor both the food and service were. This place needs a serious reset – from the kitchen to the front-of-house team. The only thing local about this pub was the attitude: tired, indifferent, and stuck in a rut.

We won’t be back. We won’t recommend it. And unless they overhaul everything, it’s only a matter of time before others...

Liked: Clearly, a popular site judging by late afternoon arrivals throughout our week's stay. Very nice pub serving delicious food if you cant be bothered to cook for yourself. One of the key things by which I judge all sites are the facilities for emptying grey water and the toilet cassette. These are excellent, being clean and almost totally odour-free.

Disliked: Not a specific dislike but something to note if you're an octogenarian like me. Some of the paving slabs adjacent to the liquid waste disposal site are a trip hazard. I lost my balance when emptying our grey waste water, nearly fell into the hole and saved myself by falling sideways, suffering some nasty skin grazes thereby. This is NOT a complaint but we live in a litigious age where another person might attempt to sue the owners for injuries - so just be careful!

We certainly weren't expecting to entertain the police in our awning to coffee while they took statements on our second night. Our immediate neighbours (adult father and son) decided to have a fight as both had had too much to drink during the day, resulting in the son hitting his father so hard it pushed him out of his deckchair with lots of blood going everywhere! Not the sort of thing one expects while on holiday and certainly not the fault of the site owners. That said, the incident did add a little 'colour' to an otherwise entirely...

Liked: When i arrived i was just getting all my things together so i could go and check in and before i had the chance to get out my van i turned around and someone had come out to great me and check me in and take me around to the camping ground excellent service considering i arrived at lunch time on Friday and the pub looked packed out. Hard standing pitches that where level with a grass section between pitches. Pitch included EHU and a TV aerial point, Fresh water was about a 25yrd walk and the Elsan was in a fenced off area next to it. there is a shower and toilet at the back of the pub with is just a short walk away for camper to use and is available 24hrs. It was very clean. The pub served delicious reasonably priced food and we ate there on Saturday night and Sunday Lunch. The staff were lovely and welcoming, and you were made to feel totally at ease. there are outdoor areas that take in the best of the country side views, the area is covered and i think there are over head heaters. There is also a covered smoking area right outside the door if you are smokers.

Disliked: This wasn't a dislike as such because it didn't interfere with my stay but the campsite is next to a relatively busy road and there is also the railway that runs behind the site. but like i said neither of these things were a...