The Axe and Compass — Restaurant in England

UPDATE 10TH AUG 2022... UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT We went for dinner tonight and had a fantastic meal. I had mushrooms and Stilton on I think it was ciabatta which was lovely. Then had the tempura prawn salad ( it was boiling hot today) it was a mix of peppers, cherry tomato, red onion and cucumber and watercress with their homade coleslaw ... See photo... It was really nice, the prawns were really well cooked and not chewy ( so easy to over cook prawns) and I had a side of crispy, herby potatoes . The others had steak which looked great and tasted flame/bbq/griddle? Who knows but it tasted great apparently. Jenny who was serving was brilliant and kept the drinks coming and did a great job of telling us about how great Sunday lunch is, so we obviously will be booking to try it... A vastly improved service and great and well priced food 💕💕💕

The food was very nice, but a long wait... Apparently you can pre order but I wasn't informed of that when I booked.. They are having phone number problems and it took ages to find the new number... On the new Facebook page, I was about to give up and book elsewhere.. So guys my suggestion, take down the old Facebook page and add the telephone number to the top photo not on the stream where its been lost as more posts are added. Very odd bring asked to write our own order down by the waitress ( I think she may be the lease holder) who is very welcoming and a bit "quirky'... But added to the overall experience which was nice...

It could be great with a few tweaks... Set the tables for prebookings it's much more welcoming.. Don't leave plates on previous now departed customer tables... Have some lights on in the dining room which is dark and not welcoming...

We shall go back as we live locally and always loved it in there about 6 years ago fell out of favour a while but...

Where to start.

We were booked in at the end of March to go for Sunday lunch. A 70th birthday celebration. Off the bat our table wasn't available despite the booking being made several weeks in advance. We had a 30 minute wait. Then we had to wait over an hour for our dinner to arrive. In a restaurant that has no children's menu and only does Sunday dinner on a Sunday... not very good to be honest.

The food... what a meal to forget. From the mustard coloured peas that are clearly tinned, to the over boiled carrots, mash that you could use to cement a brick wall with and beef, well I assume it was beef, I was told it was beef. Beef dryer than Ghandi's flip flops and about as enjoyable to chew on. On a plus note the Yorkshire pudding was almost decent, it was just ruined by a very soggy, doughy bottom.

The entire meal was lacking in seasoning, it was all just overcooked bland mush.

Sat with 3 hungry children we ordered desert for them (3 servings of ice cream). After 30 minutes of waiting, presumably waiting for the staff to freeze some ice cream, go to Asda to buy some ice cream or being confused that it doesn't come in a can, we cancelled the order.

With no apology from the staff, the bill was promptly slapped on the table.

After complaining we were greeted by the chef/owner. The owner/chef justified this culinary performance by saying "Even Gordan has an off day". I am pretty sure Gordon Ramsey doesn't over cook everything and remembers the seasoning though.

I am honestly baffled how people are awarding this place more than one star.

Service was poor throughout from the waiting staff. We were never asked if we wished to order drinks, how the food was or anything. Generally a very poor show.

I honestly don't think I have seen food served in a pub this bad...

Stopped off here by chance when travelling back to Bath from Norfolk (scenic route) one Saturday lunchtime.

4 of us had food and drinks for under £40 which is outstanding value for money (2 x ham, egg and chips - superb value at just £5.50 each for generous portions with lovely quality ham, a morroccan lamb and a delicious veggie lasagne served with salad, coleslaw and garlic bread - all clearly home made - these 2 meals were on a special deal so were £13.95 for the two).

Our 2 dogs were made welcome in the bar which was very spacious so plenty of room for them to lie down.

Service was brilliant - we were asked what sauces we wanted before the food was bought out (always a nice touch as no waiting when food arrives) - the sauces were also properly presented i,e. Heinz Ketchup in a bottle (we hate sachets of sauce and cheap non-brand substitutes).

Shame this is too far for us to visit regularly but would definitely...