Bell Aston Clinton — Restaurant in England

Attended for a Work Do on 15th December with a total of 15 people.

The process was a bit muddled from the start. I had to make contact with the pub themselves to see if they needed advance orders for all 15 of us. They sent over an email with word document to detail these preorders. This was completed and sent back within 24 hours. Unfortunately, we received no email reply stating it had been received and I called them again the following day. They stated it had been received an email confirmation would follow shortly. Nothing. The day before the Work Do we received a call stating that The Bell was waiting for our pre-order form. Again, they had to be directed to their emails that it had been sent two days before.

Despite this initial confusion, food for all 15 people arrived perfectly and without a hitch on the night.

The portions were laughably for some dishes and whilst being tasty, they weren't particularly anything special. Our group was satisfied as a whole with the food. Drinks are a little pricey, probably due to their being little to no competition in the area.

Unknown to us, The Bell closes at 11:30pm. For a Friday evening, this close to Christmas we were a bit shocked they were willing pushing good money out the door this early during a current financial crisis publicans are in.

Unfortunately, the end of the night is where our whole experience was soured rather rapidly.

The last orders bell was rang at 11:00pm and we started being ushered out at 11:15pm. Some of our group even had unfinished glasses taken away. At around 11:20pm some of our group had now left, whilst the rest of us were ushered outside. I myself returned briefly inside to see if I could use the loo before hopping in a taxi. After asking if the toilets were open still, a staff member, who had brunette hair, around 5.5ft in height and had thick glasses, with a slightly raised voice, spoke across the bar to me and said 'No, they're closed. Out.' Stunned, I complained that I didn't appreciate being spoken to 'like a dog' and returned to my group outside. Upon returning to them, it became evident that she had given a rather frosty and rude reception to others at our Work Do along with another female staff member with long blonde hair and glasses. This was despite this staff members not directly waiting on our table that night.

Our whole group left in a state of shock at the reception we had been left with. It is a shame because they really let down some fantastic staff members that worked so brilliantly that night. A young boy at the bar and who waited on us was fantastic, despite not being old enough to serve us alcohol as well as a very friendly, tall barman with glasses.

Unfortunately, due to these few highlighted, extremely negative incidents, our firm will not be back in the future and certainly won't be recommending The Bell to others while rude staff continue...

This pub restaurant is in a lovely setting and is pleasantly laid out inside. We arrived and were seated in an empty area next to a room full of noisy children/adults. We asked to move to a quiet area and eventually found a comfortable place to sit to eat. The server took our orders and the food came relatively quickly. The salmon/prawn pot was mainly an overpowering Rose Marie type sauce with a few pieces of prawn/salmon. The lobster/prawns in butter was tasty but again there was far more butter sauce than seafood. The scallops with pea puree was found to be very nice. The main dishes were so so. The fishcakes were well cooked and enjoyed. The beef steak salad was tasty but the dressing was overpowering. The pork belly/pigs cheek/scallops dish left something to be desired. The vegetables were mildly overcooked. The pork belly was very fatty and slightly overcooked. The pigs cheek was well cooked . The scallops added an extra £4 to the dish for 3 small scallops. The potatoes dauphinoise was slightly overcooked/dry and served as a block with some fairly tasteless gravy. The pizza was ok but the BBQ sauce on top was a bit overpowering and off putting.The deserts were Eaton Mess and a gluten free Chocolate Brownie (with ice cream). Adequate but nothing exciting. Drinks with the meal were sodas/beer and coffee after.

I think that the staff was pleasant enough but there were a few problems. We had to wait to be seated when we arrived on time. We weren't asked how our starters were even after we had finished them. Our comments re portion sizes were met with comments that the food was expensive and thus that was what the price was.

I realize that the staff is limited in what they can do but I did feel a bit more effort could have been made to make the meal pleasant for us. Perhaps it would have been better to come at a less busy time of day. Overall I would say it's ok but I wouldn't rush to pay these prices for the quality of food/service that...

We absolutely love the Bell. It's absolutely fantastic.

We have been here on many occasions throughout the years, Every time has been an absolute pleasure.

The staff are always very welcoming and polite. The service is outstanding.

The food, wow. The food is absolutely delicious.

We have been here as meat eaters many moons agos, and it was always tender and well prepared.

Now we are Pescatarians. They always have a good range of food for us and vegans. Nut roast, many more options. But they are always happy to adjust to your requirements. Nothing is too much for them.

The Bell is always clean and tidy. And the decor is just beautiful, very well thought out inside and outside the grounds.

I would highly recommend making a booking for the bell as the are normally pretty busy. But if you go online or ring in advance you shouldn't have an issue, Or you can just turn up if you're only intending on a few drinks. The day we chose was pretty quiet and a rarity.

They have a beautiful outside eating and drinking area which is non smoking.

In the summer time it's so beautiful. Flowers everywhere and trees. Even fairly lights to add an extra sparkle.

On the opposite side off the garden they have benches where you can go and smoke if you choose.

Also in the winter they have open fires which are just toasty and warm and very cozy.

They also have rooms to stay in also.

I cannot recommend the bell enough. You won't be disappointed. Go see for yourself and...