The Bell — Restaurant in England

Earlier today we had perhaps the worst Sunday roast we have ever eaten in The Bell Inn. It took 20 minutes from our arrival time to get our drinks and for someone to take our order. We were informed when we ordered that there were no Yorkshire puddings and, to be fair, offered extra veg. We then waited 35 minutes and nothing appeared. My husband asked how much longer our food would be and we were told 5 minutes. 12 minutes later still the food eventually appeared, 47 minutes after ordering and over an hour after we arrived in the pub. That might have been understandable had the restaurant been busy but at that point there were only 6 other diners. I had ordered the roast turkey and my husband the roast beef. The food was more flopped on to the plate than arranged. My turkey was tender but instead of being in slices was a mass of small pieces. My husband's beef was pink as promised and he said it was nice. However, the rest of both meals was awful. The carrots had been cooked so long ago they were wrinkled and floppy and burnt in places and completely unappetising; the so-called cauliflower cheese was barely cooked cauliflower (I couldn't get my fork into the main stalk) with a gloopy, tasteless sauce poured vaguely near it on the plate. The roast potatoes had obviously been cooked ages before and kept warm, and were tough and chewy rather than crisp and tasty. There was some rather anaemic looking cabbage on the plate which was edible but not very appealing. The stuffing ball was almost burnt on the outside and far too salty. The waitress could see that we weren't happy with the meal and came to check on us. We told her what we thought of the food and I also mentioned that there were no pigs in blankets as mentioned on the menu. She said did I want one and I said yes. She reappeared about 10 minutes later with a whole breakfast sausage and a rasher of bacon so she at least had tried to put something right but it was hardly a pig in blanket and by that time I had given up trying to eat the rest. When we complained again she said she would tell the manager. The manager came to the table a few minutes later with more cauliflower cheese (not quite sure why because we certainly didn't want any more of this). My husband explained to her how disappointed we were in the food and showed her why and she agreed that most of it was inedible. To be completely fair in this review, when we went to the till to pay, the manager was apologetic and took my meal off of the bill and also gave us 20% off the rest of the bill which we felt was reasonable. While doing this, however, she told us that they only had an inexperienced chef and an apprentice in the kitchen which begs the question why did they even attempt a food service today? She told us that she had now closed the kitchen and nobody else would be eating today which wasn't much consolation for us but the right course of action taken, rather too late in our opinion. We were not the only customers in the restaurant complaining about the food or...

We stayed for two nights. The hotel receptionist was very welcoming. The lady who organised the breakfast was very pleasant and the breakfast options were varied and to a high standard. The bar staff were also very pleasant in the evening but on a negative note the evening meal was not good. I ordered a rare sirloin steak with seasonal vegetables. The steak was not tender. The vegetables were served cold and I had to have them replaced. The vegetables included peas, carrots and parsnips. The parsnips were nicely cooked and i can not agree that peas are a seasonal vegetable in April!! Peas were of a poor quality. I had a soup which was ok but nothing special. Clearly the staff were not trained to work in a restaurant. For example we had to ask for knives, forks, for serviettes etc. On a positive the beer and wine were of good quality but i would not eat in the restaurant again. A member of our party had a room overlooking the main road and they found the traffic noise unbearable. Our bedroom was clean and presentable. The water was very hot so not suitable for children or adults with disabilities. Also the water pressure in the sink was too high so as you turned the tap water sprayed over you!! The location is great and Woburn is full of charm. My recommendation is yes to staying in the hotel but go elsewhere for an...

Right from our arrival at the Bells we felt genuinely welcome, from our initial encounter with the young bar staff who were so helpful, pleasant and polite. Nothing was too much trouble for any one of the staff that we came across, it was a lovely environment. Our accommodation was in the main hotel opposite, once again all of those that we encountered were simply lovely, yet professional and reassuring. Our stay was just a one night stopover whilst travelling further south but will always be so memorable, mainly due to the lovely attitude of all we were involved with but also our decision to have breakfast the following morning, this was in truth probably the best we’ve ever had, perfectly cooked, beautifully presented, absolutely faultless and plentiful. We would revisit this establishment again in a heartbeat, and I’m certain at. some point will do . Thanks to all for making our stay one which we will always fondly remember and cherish...