The Old Bell Hotel — Restaurant in England

We've ordered the Sunday lunch delivery from here a couple of times in the past. On both occasions we've had one meal and one cob, and were perfectly happy with them.

Today we both had the meals instead - one chicken and one pork. When it turned up, there was two portions of meat, potatoes and Yorkshires. However, there was only a single portion of the veg - meaning the green veg, red cabbage and cauliflower. And there was only a single portion of gravy. In addition, only one of the meals had stuffing included despite both listing it on the menu.

On ringing up about it, we were first told that this was correct and then on complaining further we were told that somebody would look into it and ring us back. 15 minutes later we hadn't heard anything so had to call back. At this point we were told that the delivery was wrong and that somebody else had probably been given our veg. We were at least given an apology and a full refund for the food because of this mess.

On actually eating it, despite going cold by this point and having to make up more gravy to go with it, it wasn't too bad. Not up to the standard that we've had before though - the cauliflower and beans were hard, and the Yorkshires were on...

We hired The Grand Regency Ballroom at The Old Bell in August for our wedding reception. Brad was super helpful in answering a lot of questions, and allowed us to pop by a few times to see the room. The room is beautiful and spacious which made it perfect for our wedding of about 100. We had 7 tables of 9 which was suggested by Brad and was the perfect amount as many of our guests stood by the bar or stayed in the courtyard which we had great access to. There was also disabled access/toilets if you came through the main bar.

The bar was well stocked and the staff really friendly and helpful. We brought our own buffet and own DJ (although I believe you can hire both through The Old Bell itself). And it was only just over £600 pound to hire which officially gave us access from 12pm on the day of our wedding until 10am the following day, meaning we could leave some items overnight and collect them the next morning. Brad however, let us decorate the room the evening before hand - but this was only because there wasn't another event on that night so the room was empty.

A great room, a great night and great staff - thank you Old...

When the previous Old Bell (which I loved) closed down, I would never have imagined that anyone could top it. After all, it used to be the best small venue for miles around. It seems the key to success for this place was to simply not attempt to rival it's predecessor and become a more high-end sort of joint. And they have certainly succeeded.

This place has everything a serious booze drinker wants. There's a fantastic selection of ales, both cask and tap. The variety of spirits is also top notch and the bar snacks here are really great, coming in a huge bowl and easily feeding a table of peckish drinkers. There's also a small, second bar out the back called the Tudor Lounge which is a nice, cozy little room with a roaring fireplace. They even sometimes have solo musicians in there, giving it a classy/relaxed atmosphere.

The staff are all great, but the booze is a little on the pricey side. A great place to have a chat and a few rounds before moving onto somewhere noisier...