The Masons Arms — Restaurant in England

🛑 “Come for the food, stay because it never arrives.”

We arrived at The Masons Arms as a group of eight, full of optimism and empty stomachs. Sadly, only one of those remained by the end of the evening.

Drinks took 20 minutes—not because staff were lazy, but because only two poor souls were trying to serve the entire pub. Props to them for not just walking out.

We spotted a blackboard proudly displaying “Specials” — butter chicken curry caught our eye. When we asked if it was available, we were told there were no specials. Apparently, the only special thing was the chalkboard’s imagination.

Starters took 1 hour and 10 minutes to arrive, and let’s just say they were edible. The “prawn cocktail” looked like the seafood section had exploded between two slices of bread and landed on a lettuce leaf. Fishy bread sushi? Hard to say.

Then the mains… oh boy. They rocked up just after 9pm. Two hours in. Starving, we attacked them with the desperation of people stranded on a desert island. • Fish & chips: Think soggy batter, minimal fish. Would’ve made a better pillow than a meal. • Steak: Chewy enough to qualify as a gym session. No steak knife provided, because clearly we love a challenge. • Dirty fries: Came with beef and… something fruity? Like someone dropped a fruit pastille in by mistake. Left completely uneaten—wasn’t worth the mystery. • Burger: Passable, if you like your gourmet meals resembling chip shop burgers in disguise.

By the time we were done, we made the very fair call to pay for drinks but not the full food bill. The manager’s response? Threatened to call the police. Because obviously that’s a great way to handle unhappy, hungry customers.

Eventually we negotiated to pay half the food. To which we almost fell off the bar stool when comparing the value of food and service with only half the bill!!

If you like overpriced disappointment with a hint of police drama, The Masons Arms is for you. For everyone else—run.

⭐ 1 star. Because Google won’t let...

Stayed at The Masons Arms campsite during a motorbike weekend with some friends. Online booking was simple and easy, called up to confirm the pitch was large enough for our 3 small tents (all 2 man size) and told pitches were suitable sizing. Arrived after a wet and windy ride through storm Antoni. The staff were welcoming and friendly and were able to book us in for a meal that night even though it was a busy Saturday night for them. The facilities were perfect. Campsite right next to the shower and toilet block which was clean and a welcome sight after a cold and wet ride on the motorbike. Unfortunately one of the groups tent had leaked the night before at the previous campsite and so his sleeping bag was drenched, after speaking to the duty manager (didn’t catch her name but had pink and blue hair) asked if they had a drier on site we could possibly use, none available but called the landlady who lives nearby and arranged for it to be taken there and was dried for him. A 3 course meal that evening was devoured after a tiresome day, every dish was delicious, and the portions sizes were spot on (3 rugby lads who enjoy their scran 😆). Beers on tap were great too, plenty of cask beers, cider or larger available, just no Guinness but a minor setback in the grand scheme of things. To top off a great evening enjoying great pub grub and drinks, with the bill was our friends sleeping bag, dry and warm for him to enjoy a decent sleep! Amazing service, and such attentive staff, all were pleasant and happy to help. The breakfast in the morning was spot on, full english with a pot of tea, just the tonic to set us up for the ride back. Would definitely recommend staying here on your travels to or from the west country. An absolute beautiful part of the world and a great pub & campsite to enjoy it! Looking forward to the next motorbike tour and another stay at The Masons Arms! Thanks to all...

Made a booking for a table of 4 sunday evening,we all intended on having a sunday roast dinner but had no chicken on the menu for myself and children. Which of course was absolutely not a problem. I made the decision to go with the spicy chicken burger and oh my! It was awful to say the least! Chicken was so over cooked the burger was inedible. The fries only tasted like fish oil.But service was even worse! No one came to do a check back to see how we were enjoying our meals. Even with 2 small children.There wasnt even a questioning as the why our plates were still full of food,I even ordered another dinner as I was still hungry,and still,nothing. Never had such bad service anywhere. They literally just put the plates down and run away from the table as quickly as they could,it wasnt even busy,they were just standing around! When came to pay the bill,again,wasnt asked how our experience was so when I do say I didnt enjoy the meal or service no apology was on offer. The young woman told me she was waiting for me to pay before asking how everything was? What??! Ive worked in hospitality for 11 years and never have I ever heard anything so ridiculous! Almost insinuating I wasnt going to pay because I was clearly unhappy about service received.I'm so gutted as we love to visit this little pub,service was great! Didnt feel like a nuisance family with 2 young children. Fact is, we like visiting places that make great food too! but since the last.lockdown it seems to of deteriorated and lacks in decent service. Front of house definatly need more training on how to actually serve,I think if they didnt lack in manners so much it wouldnt of made the experience that much worse! I hope management see this review and realise they need to better train their staff on general and basic service skills,skills that make everyone from all backgrounds and walks of life comfortable...