Kingsdon Inn — Restaurant in England

I telephoned the day before our visit to book a table for lunch. During the call I double checked if it would be okay to bring our three small dogs along with us (miniature poodles). I was advised the establishment was dog and child friendly and the person who took the call was very friendly and said that he loved dogs. This was encouraging.

Our booking was for 1pm and we arrived at 12:35pm (due to finishing at the local National Trust attraction earlier than expected). We decided to walk in to ask if it was ok to sit down earlier and we were advised this was ok. The establishment was empty at this time (with the exception of 2 guests on a nearby table).

The reason I am rating this experience terrible, is because the female working at the bar who was greeting customers was extremely frosty with us on arrival and stared at us in the most dissatisfying, unfriendly and unwelcoming way. This took us by complete suprise. She muttered a very forced, unfriendly hello with no smile, no 'how are you?' and didn't use any basic manners at all. All she said was 'you can sit anywhere in the tiled area' once we had very briefly discussed the booking with her. As we had dogs with us, we were perfectly happy to sit in the tiled area, and we would have been happy to wait until 1pm if necessary, but her attitude and the incredibly unfriendly welcome put us off and I wanted to leave. My Husband felt the same as myself and also noticed it (which is rare for him as he is very relaxed and easy going), and he suggested that perhaps our faces didn't fit that of the typical customer.

The dogs were well behaved (they sat on the floor minding their own business under our table) and we were also no trouble at all. However, we won't be going back, as her attitude was very off putting and although the food was served fast and was nice, the service completely let the establishment down and was a disappointment.

I understand not everybody likes dogs (or people), but basic manners and politeness should always be used in any establishment serving customers, even more so by the staff member/s who are the first ones to deal with/greet customers on their arrival.

We were celebrating our third wedding anniversary and found this establishment online whilst we were planning the day. It was such a shame we were made to feel like that on any day, let alone a special day like the...

After just returning from a 2-night stay, I thought I'd check some reviews and see what other people have to say. I was very surprised by some negative comments on here, so I want to address those with my own thoughts. I have stayed multiple times, so I would say I have a good understanding of the Kingsdon Inn.

Please don't listen to the negative reviews; they're a load of BS and are very pedantic.

First of all, the staff at the Kingsdon Inn couldn't be any friendlier. Couldn't ask for better hosts than Adam and Cinzia!

The food at the Kingsdon Inn couldn't be any better. We haven't had a single bad meal; every single meal has been a solid 10/10. I'm yet to find anywhere in the UK with this quality of food, almost everything is homemade. As for the breakfast, it's simply the best breakfast you could possibly have. I can assure you. You would never think such high-quality food would come from such a small establishment! Hats off to Adam and the rest of the chefs.

The location is tucked away in the middle of the village, surrounded by a small park and lovely houses. The first time we stayed here, it was midsummer, and it felt like we were in the middle of the French countryside! The location couldn't be better.

In regards to staying here, the rooms are perfect and have everything you need. They're super clean and spacious. Due to the age of the building, you may hear some pipes creaking every now and then from the heating, but what do you expect from a building this old? As for the reviews about the noise from below the restaurant, you're staying at a very old inn, again, what do you expect? There's only some noise during restaurant opening hours, but it really isn't that bad. The reviewers are just being pathetic. There are three rooms, and all are above the restaurant. Again, this is only an inn and not a hotel with 100 rooms spread miles away from a kitchen.

I hope this clarifies a few things, and I hope you book your stay here because you'd be silly not to. There aren't many places like this in the country, I...

My wife and I have used the Kingston Inn on and off for over 40 years and until now the quality has always been good - excellent, however a recent 30% increase in the cost of the Monday Club 3-course came as a bit of a shock today, especially as this is the fist time since we've been using the pub that we had to actually highlight an issue with one of our meals, which seem to have shrunk and dropped in quality. The schnitzel was extremely greasy and the new potatoes overcooked. I did raise the issue but no one other than the excellent waiter seemed concerned. It's never a good sign when the meals are served almost immediately after one course has finished. I sincerely hope that this is a one-off as we'd hate to lose such a wonderful hostelry, I say concentrate on the quality or else you may find more people questioning...