The Packhorse — Restaurant in England

Very, very disappointed.

First of all, I was rudely spoken to on the phone when I asked if my pre-booked table could be changed time slot due to a hectic evening. The gentleman I spoke to was very blunt and groaned when I asked to change. We then arrived but the evening went very much down hill even more!

The table we were given was right in the corner with very little space to move around and my girlfriend and I were very cramped. The room opposite had a much more lively atmosphere as we were left in a room on our own, apart from a couple next to us.

The starter was the only nice part of the meal (parfait and sausage roll). The main course was a disaster. The ‘poached chicken breast my girlfriend ordered, (£13) was shocking!! It should be on the lunch menu. I could have made this at home for under £4 as all it was was a few sliced up cold pieces of chicken, salad leaves and a few croutons thrown in a bowl with salad dressing, it was all cold and had NO flavour. The grilled chicken wraps at McDonalds have more flavour. This should have simply been written on the menu as “chicken salad”.

My meal was the steak and what a shocking meal. It was mainly gristle, and for the staggering price of £23, I expected MUCH better. All it was, was a slab of steak on my plate with a minuscule amount of onion chutney and it was no where near worth the price I paid. I have eaten many steaks that were much better than this, and at a cheaper value. I do not understand how your steak was worth £23!! The chips which came with it were described as “parmesan chips” were just bland and were cold.

This is very disappointing as it was for a celebration for my girlfriend as she has graduated from university. I will most definitely NOT be returning to...

COVID and every other excuse under the sun have left almost all hospitality businesses with an excuse to raise prices and serve poorly cooked food which makes my average efforts seem like fine dining. Glad, like others, to get out and about I've been very dissapointed with virtually all the offerings even 'quality' eateries.

However a visit to the Packhorse restored my faith that there are still great value establishments out there.

Set in a 17th century building of great character, in a beautiful village the Packhorse offered a good range of menu and a great selection of drink, including localy made brews. Staff were friendly and attentive and it's all reflected in the numbers there despite it being the middle of the week. The good selection of food was very well cooked, well presented and portion size ample and all at an average, or below, price point making it extremely good value for money. Of the six of us everyone fully enjoyed their meal. There was a little bit of a wait and some items had sold out but it was mid week and a lovely day which clearly resulted in an almost full capacity. Something rarely seen for an out of the way country pub at this time of year. The only down side is parking. You are best parking at the top of the hill where there is a lot more space than embarking down the narrow lane to find you can't park and it difficult to turn.

A thoroughly enjoyable location and a great hostelry and a community run establishment to boot. Well done. One of the best pubs I've been in...

02/09/23 Edit - I'm sad to say that I'm having to revise my previous review of The Packhorse and dropping it by a *. We have been for dinner and lunch a handful of times in last last few months, and where we used to be confident in the comfort that we would be getting a great meal that ticked all the boxes, it seems something has drastically changed in the quality of the food that is coming out now in comparison to this time last year. We had hoped this may have been a 'blip', but it's clear this just isn't the case.

Examples - Pies underfilled (1 small piece of meat), batter on fish anemic with size of fish significantly reduced in size, portions of chips with no potato in them, overcooked chicken, different garnishes provided on the same dishes.

The portion sizes are also noticeably reduced compared to what they used to be.

I really hope the kitchen and management see this and can improve going forward, as it would be a shame for us not to want to come here to eat any longer considering everything else that is still so great about this pub.

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Everything about this pub is done so well, from the food (quality and portions are fantastic), to the setting which is what you would call a traditional country pub (but a lovely one at that).

Staff are excellent and very accommodating. Can't fault them.

We have spent many a summers evening here with our dog (they are very dog friendly), and can easily say it is our favorite...