The Rat Inn — Restaurant in England

Awful food, awful customer service We booked the rat inn because it is supposed to be known for its top quality steak. Looking at the website it said there is no children’s menu but children can have anything as a smaller portion, no problem I thought. When we got there (with my husband and 2 girls) one of my girls wanted a burger and the other a steak so the waitress explained that as the girls weren’t sharing a meal then they couldn’t do them at a smaller portion so it would be a full adult meal. Not ideal for my kids (5 and 7 years old) but I accepted this as we were on holiday so was happy to pay extra for what I presumed would be top quality food. So 3 fillet steaks turned up (myself and my hubby had one too), we’d asked for them all to be cooked medium rare. All of them were medium at best, well done at the edges, not a pink bit in sight! We brought this to the attention of the waiter who I expected to apologise and offer to cook some more. But all he did was come up with a list of excuses - it’s probably the lighting in here (that was my favourite!!), the chef is very particular about how he cooks his steak and he does use a temperature gauge… When we then asked for it to be re-done they said it was likely to be the same and were very awkward about doing that for us. Such awful customer service!! In the end we compromised and just sent one back and asked for just one new one cooking, hoping we could share the medium/well done ones between us and then have a nice bit of medium rare steak when it was cooked better. 20 mins passed… an even worse bit of steak was brought out!! Even my 7 year old asked where her pink bits were. Just terrible. And I add that the cost of these steaks were £37! So an extortionate price for the poorest steak I’ve ever eaten and the worse part of it all was the awful customer service. I must add the latter doesn’t include the lovely waitress who was very polite and attentive and even followed me out to the car as my girls had left some crayons on the table, very kind of her. So think twice before going to this place if you want top quality food, it’s far far from what it’s supposed to be. Very...

Very overpriced and disappointing service. We were told to arrive 15 minutes early and then were kept waiting 30 minutes past the booking time for our table. We had wanted the roast chicken but after waiting past the time of our reservation were told it has just run out. We therefore had to order an alternative and more expensive option. Not being a fan of roast pork or lamb that left the beef at £11 more for my partner and I. There was no apology for the wait and we were finally seated 30 minutes late and the food arrived after another 20 minutes, again with no apology for the delay. No one checked how our meal was and if we were enjoying it. My beef was very fatty, there was a small portion of 3 thin slices and cumulatively an entire slice was inedible. My partner's was also very fatty and the lamb ordered by his Mum and Aunt was very tough and quite inedible. We reported the problems and the response was very dismissive. We were told very insincerely I'm sorry you didnt enjoy your meal. Additionally, I was informed that my meat was fatty because it was sirloin that's how it is, several times. That's news to me as I've had sirloin roast beef many times in my 42 years of life and not been served fatty cuts like that. We'd really been looking forward to the family meal and it was an expensive disappointment. Not only was the food and service bad but the ladies toilets had water leaking through a light in the ceiling, which did not appear particularly safe and added to the unpleasant atmosphere. Finally, a point that won't affect people without small children, but we had booked a high chair as we had our 8 month old baby with us. We would have appreciated a heads up that there's no baby change facilities. Going out to the car to change the baby is not ideal, especially in torrential rain, and I had to get on the floor by the table to change her. There's clearly a lack of care or attention to detail. Another table had lovely beef, so obviously they got a nice cut of the meat. I'm genuinely surprised that this place is in the Michelin guide or top 50 Gastropubs. I've had better food, service and value in many other...

We visited The Rat Inn on the recommendation of our good friends at Michael Jobling Wines, this was a special meal to celebrate my lovely wifes birthday and at first sight the menu looks a little expensive, I've always said you only get what you pay for and on this occasion the old saying rings true. We decided to try three courses while our friends opted to miss out on starters, I'll just say there were very jealous looks across the table when our first courses arrived, Mrs S ordered the platter which featured a little of every starter on the menu plus some lovely cured meat while I went for the Ham Hock, the portions were generous with the platter easily the size of a sharing dish elsewhere, my ham came with salad and soft boiled egg and it was excellent. Two lamb, a pork and a beef main course came next with all the trimmings and plenty of perfectly cooked veg. The beef and lamb are both served pink and were lovely, the pork came with stuffing and crackling and was excellent. Desserts were sticky toffee puddings, cheese board and a creme caramel all of which were ample with the sticky toffee being a particularly huge chunk. We finished the meal with teas and coffees and those nice little biscuits that come on the side these days. I can honestly say don't be put off that it's a little more expensive that your average pub sunday lunch as this is anything but that. Generous, well cooked, tasty food. Worth...