The Bell Inn Bovingdon — Restaurant in Dacorum

The bar itself is lovely, a traditional style barn like setting with original features. We were instantly impressed however the service was beyond terrible, after ordering our drinks we were left for 30 minutes before we ourselves had to find a waiter to take our food orders. We were told the food was supposed to be all about good value, which it was, an 8oz steak for £8 is good value however 2 of us asked for ours to be cooked medium well, to which they returned almost 30 minutes later, well done almost to the point of them being like leather to chew and dry as well. Our friend ordered the Stroganoff , and when the waitress brought it she said she was sorry but there was hardly any rice left so she had given us a side bowl of chips to go with it. The assumption that we would be ok with that was an assumption they had no right to make without first asking. The stroganoff itself was revolting and tasted mainly of onions. The landlord of the pub seemed very rude to us about all queries we had, as we are not the type of people to complain in restaurants usually, but we paying over £50 for 4 meals that were all lousy. The waitress told us she would inform the chef of our complaints, rather than appologising to which no apology was ever given. The landlord boasted of having 12 other pubs around the UK to us and overall seemed as though he thought he was above our comments and gave us the general impression that we new nothing and had no right to say anything. Which is just totally unprofessional, despite what he or any of the staff thinks. As we left the pub without any apology i was give a snotty look by the landlord who then proceeded to stare at us out of the window with the staff as we left in our car. All in all i found the service an absolute disgrace, their non responsiveness, denial of facts and defensiveness regarding their poor performance was disgusting and i will never be eating there again. The 'good value' approach to their menu is the best they will ever be able to achieve because the standard of food and service will never be more than 1 star. It is also massively obvious that all other reviews for this establishment have been written by people that know the owners, especially the one below this one which is vague and doesn't seem to detail any actual events as well as ending with a really obvious...

So rare to find a proper English traditional pub that remains as it should be and is culturally seared into the minds of many generations: a roaring log fire warming a winter gathering of local characters for a Sunday lunchtime camaraderie and proper beers. Centuries’ old low beams, a snug, a sign on the bar “Hands off the barmaids”, friendly table service for traditional, unpretentious roasts and English ‘pub food’ (no burgers, halloumi, quinoa etc). Perfect crunchy Scampi with home-made tartar and best crunchy chips you could hope for; proper roast chicken with goose-fat crispy roasties, plenty of al-dente fresh vegetables. Not “an elegant sufficiency” - more “an ample plentitude”. Had a funny history lesson with a few locals and our dog was completely relaxed by our table. Perfect winter’s Sunday lunch out! Thank you....

My friend and I just came back from having lunch at the Bell Inn. We both had their homemade beef and ale pie with mash, peas and extra gravy. It was probably the best pie We have ever tasted, packed full of beef, lovely crisp pastry and delicious gravy full of flavour. Real bargain at £16 for the outstanding quality and portion size. We had a couple of extra cold Guinness’s too and the the service was very good and friendly. Also popped in for a quick lunch at the bar and had the most delicious Roast Sirloin of beef in a warm banquet served medium rare to perfection with salad and horseradish. Perfect! Highly...