The Queens Oak — Restaurant in England

Visited as a family of 4 and if I'm honest it was a bit of mixed bag. We're not from the area but were visiting some friends and decided to pop in before going home. First impressions were great, very attractive location and interior - although we did struggle to park.

A polite gentleman brought us to our booked table and food menus were presented. A waitress came over for a drink order although without a drinks menu we weren't quite ready and she awkwardly brought one over.

We eventually placed an order for starters and mains. All was well so far. Waitress came back moments later to say that one of our starters was no longer available. No problem, we ordered something else. Starters arrived and one was wrong. I felt as though it was my fault as the waiter told me there were two starters with the same name; nevertheless he apologised and brought the correct starter. Starters were all delicious and cleared with no problem.

Mains arrived and I can speak for 3/4 of us when I say we were mildly disappointed. The liver was thoroughly enjoyed, however the fish was rather salty and more batter than fish. I had the minute steak, I partly take blame for not being educated on different cuts of steak, but expected something very different. At the time of ordering, I asked our waitress which steak a woman at another table had and was told it was the minute steak. Understandably, I was rather disappointed when I received a tiny piece of steak amongst a mountain of fries, nothing akin to the steak meal I had seen at another table. It was just ok, as I say I was quite disappointed when I received the meal which made it very difficult to enjoy.

We didn't manage any desserts as we're not particularly big eaters, and settled the bill at the bar. The service wasn't particularly warm, although wasn't unpleasant; however I think it's very apparent that the staff require a bit more menu knowledge. We also weren't asked at any point how everything was/if we enjoyed etc. which would've made it easier to express our opinions on site. Overall, it was definitely overpriced for what it was, had it been half the price we paid I wouldn't have the grounds to complain but with prices as high £10+ for a starter I was expecting more to say the least.

We received a friendly goodbye when we departed, and definitely left feeling full. Maybe we will give it another go, maybe we won't. Would like to give a huge thank you to the staff regardless, and hope this gives a little bit of...

Disappointing... Very. I picked this place from good reviews and pictures posted by the owners. I was really looking forward to the ploughman's sharing plate, but when it arrived it was half the size of the picture. The scotch egg, cheddar and apple were missing too. The burgers ordered for the others were more meatballs that appeared to have been deep fried and the triple cooked chips failed to deliver as they had failed to be cooked properly, they were soggy and greasy. Isn't it odd, that one of the only other poor reviews cited exactly the faults I got during our visit. I can see where the owners want to be with this pub and if they focus better on the basics they might get there as the venue is tremendous. The food, however, was extremely poor indeed. Oh, and 50 minutes wait... Like I said, disappointed... Very.

As follow-up to the very prompt reply, I should make it clear there was no cheddar on the board which was much smaller than the picture you posted on this review site. The burger shape was raised with you at the time (it had to be cut in half to be made remotely burger shaped) and you were told the chips were not properly cooked. I appreciate you may have compliments at other times, but on this visit my assessment of the food is well reasoned and accurate. I even ensured that I could see your intent with where you want your food to be, but it is clear you need to focus better on getting the basics right first. As an additional plus, your cask ales/beers are well kept and had we just popped in for a drink, this might have been a much better review. I hope you accept this information as an opportunity to improve, or be more consistent with your food, as your location, beer, decor and garden...

What a great destination or pit stop on a magical walk across snowy paths and fields. A lovely friendly welcome to a traditional but stylish English pub. Good choice of ales and good wine list, a quick scan of the menu and an equally quick decision to stay for lunch, and so glad we did. We started by sharing white bait dusted in paprika then my other half chose beef cheeks in Guinness and I had sea bass filet on rocket, sun dried tomatoes, olives, new potatoes and a delicious pesto. Both dishes were faultless. No time for dessert as we had a two hour return walk. Feedback to front of house to pay attention to the diners, scan the tables every time you enter the dining area, we struggled to order a second glass of wine and by the time we got someone's attention we had almost finished our meal and decided against ordering, an unnecessary missed sale. Only a minor point on what was a truly super lunch, and we will certainly be returning. Update following a return visit mid Feb: a Sunday visit this time and a bit of planning, booked ahead and glad we did, bar tables only!! Having enjoyed our menu choices on our first visit and to learn that the 'new' spring menu was imminent we decided to repeat our choices of visit no.1. Consistency speaks for itself, both the Ox cheek and the sea bass were as good as the first time round, good job chefs. Now for service, here we saw a change, front of house team were as friendly as the first visit but high score fof attentiveness, they didn't miss a nod or a wink, massive improvement. Different team, maybe, I'll report back after our next visit, fingers crossed for some fabulous...