The Elm Tree — Restaurant in England

Update 24/04/2024:- Went for lunch again today despite my last review(s), simply because it's convenient for where my elderly friend lives in Hanham...and was pleasantly surprised! No fire again although the day was rather chilly but thankfully no TV. The bartender/server was again very accommodating, friendly and polite. Between us we enjoyed a decent handmade burger and two beer battered haddock with homemade tartare sauce, one with garden peas and the other mushy peas, all served with triple cooked chips and nicely presented.

Isn't it funny. After giving what I thought was a fair and fulsome review, the owner of The Elm Tree responded to say they had added up the prices of what we ate and drunk and made it £50. All I know is that my elderly friend paid a £25 deposit for the table reservation and the final bill came to £35. I make that £60 in anyone's money! I don't understand why they're quibbling over a tenner when I'd already said it was value for money. They also said that someone before us had asked for the TV to be switched on! Hahaha. Well that "someone" was no longer there at 12.30 because there was only one other person eating lunch and he was in the other room (other customers followed us in), a guy sitting at the bar with his back to the TV hadn't made that request and the lovely barmaid didn't know why it was on either! My elderly friend would have found it difficult to move to another table other than the one reserved for us as owner suggested. She's quite unsteady on her feet and relies totally on her walking frame which is rather large and cumbersome. As a consequence of the owner's needless nitpicking I am downgrading my review's star rating.

Met friends for lunch here Monday 22/01/2024. Afew people having lunch but the fire wasn't lit and the TV was on with no-one watching it. As we were placed very near to the TV and one friend who's elderly couldn't quite hear, we asked if it could be switched off and the barmaid cum server was very obliging and turned it off. In fact, she was really lovely and friendly and did everything she could to make our visit nice. The food was pub grub but pretty good. I had macaroni cheese with a slice of garlic ciabatta and small salad, one friend a smaller lunchtime serving of fish & chips and the other, something new to us all (and the barmaid!) a beef ploughman's, which turned out to be very much the same as a usual ploughman's but, instead of cheese, several slices of cold cooked beef. He said it was good. A pint of beer, a wine and a soft drink came to a reasonable £60. A good number of tempting desserts were on offer but we were all full! Hanham is very much an ordinary suburb so it was nice to find a...

I love the Elm Tree, the food is always well cooked, tasty and plentiful, just as good pub food should be. However, last night the service really let it down (not the staff’s fault). My friend and I had a table booked for 7.30 so we ordered a bottle of wine and no sooner had we sat down we were asked for our orders (hadn’t even looked at the menu at that point). Anyway, we ordered our food and it was perfect, after the meal we ordered another bottle of wine (at approx 8.50pm). The bottle was bought to our table and we’d no sooner poured the first glass when the pub started to empty, which felt really strange. At 9.10 we were asked to drink up because the one and only bar staff had to lock up because she was working alone. This meant we had to quickly arrange for someone to pick us up (we were not expecting be going home at 9.10) and literally down a bottle of wine within 30 minutes (the bar staff did kindly let us wait another 5-10 mins whilst we waited for our lift). I totally understand why the pub had to close but I feel rather annoyed that we were not told the pub would be closing early or warned when we bought the 2nd bottle of wine that realistically, we wouldn’t have time to drink it and so therefore maybe a glass of wine each may have been more appropriate. The get together with my friend was cut short without warning, which resulted in a disappointing night. I’d ask that in future, if patrons have a table booked at 7.30 they are warned if the pub is going to close early as I have never gone out for a pub meal on an evening and be expected to leave within an hour and 3/4, it was after all, supposed to be an evening out not a grab...

I love this place. My new Autumn evening favourite spot. If you like quiet, relaxed, out of the way little country feel pubs, this one's for you.

Subtle chilled ambient music in the background.

A phenomenal looking menu (not yet sampled but will do very soon), a simple yet cosy interior with woodburner, rustic and comfortable tables and seating, pleasant and friendly staff, and you can even play a game of who's who with the many gorgeous prints of Movie Stars from the Golden era hung on the walls throughout.

Feels a bit like stepping back in time into a more comfortable and less stressed bygone age.

Also has a nice, partly covered, garden area with heaters. Too cold to try this...