John O'Gaunt Inn — Restaurant in England

As you'll see from my review history, I very very rarely post a bad review except in exceptional circumstances. This was one of these.

I was expecting a lovely three course meal in a cosy pub out of London, based on the reviews. We were looking for a bit of a treat, as I was catching up with an old colleague (of a charity we both worked for) and her partner (CEO of a Mental Health charity). However I was severely dissappinted and appalled at how they treated us.

The barman was gracious on arrival but the waitress who served us (couldn't have been much over 16) was absolutely clueless and seemed to not care about her job or the customers under her service. She was clueless about the menu when queried and kept having to nip off to the kitchen to ask, whilst giving us strange looks for having questions about the food/ breads/ menu. We felt judged, immediatly.

When the food finally arrived we had ordered a sharing Camembert. The camembert was delicious but the bread it came with was burnt, unevenly sliced and looked, quite simply, like it was from the bottom of the barrel. Why the chef thought that exceptable to serve I have no idea. Not a good start.

Next I had a vegetarian main (curry with cauliflower rice), from a very limited veggie menu. Quite frankly, it was bland. I make much better at home.

When chased, the service was rude and the landlady/ manager was abrupt with us for having some issues, despite us being warm and kind to her - always giving the pub the benefit of the doubt.

I was not even offered a dessert menu.

Finally, the ambience was soul sucking. It was quiet and joyless, like eating in an old folks home. In fact some people near us got told to quieten down, despite it being early on a Saturday evening.

Just such a shame that the staff and food don't live up to the hype. Genuinely would not recommend this place to anyone. Not worth your...

The decor is nice, the food was tasty, well presented, nice enough. Maybe a bit pricey. But unbelievably limited options for GF. Especially in 2023! We had told the pub on booking one of our number was GF - so it was not a surprise/unexpected drop in. They didn't seem to care. Particularly as the menu a) has a huge "bread" bias...brioche here, toast there, burger buns and soda bread elsewhere and b) is not easily available online.

When there we asked what was suitable for a GF diet...there was such a limited choice unless you wanted mussels/baked Camembert/pate/soup with nothing to have with it. Surely in this day and age it is not beyond the wit of man/restaurant to have a GF bread available? Especially is 80% of your dishes contain bread! When asked, the response was rude and defensive. "We bake our own bread so don't have any alternatives". Service both before and after that point was OK...but no warmth or welcome felt. And I felt appalled on my GF friend's behalf. I am not sure I would bother returning, despite the...

This is a local eatery riding on the coattails of its previous Michelin Guide inclusion.

The tired repetitive menu is only equalled by the horrendous attitude of the owner. Despite spending the best part of £200 between 3 of us on starters, mains and wine - the owner took umberidge and decided to lay out her expectations for guests 25years the junior to herself in full earshot of the other diners.

Apparently telling stories and enjoying company is inappropriate in such a high-brow public house.

Had such high hopes after a visit with 6 guests 6months previously - but even after offering an olive branch to hear the landlady's point of view we were told "it's my opinion, it's my resteraunt"

My opinion is - You can keep your overpriced bad attitude. (Your soda bread does stack up - but as Iriahman I can make that with my eyes closed on a Sun afternoon for a...