The Raven Inn — Restaurant in England

We went here for a birthday meal. Because there were 9 of us we were told we had to preorder, which wasn’t a problem.

When we arrived one of the party asked to swap out mash for chips and another asked to remove the mash from their meal. We overhead the staff say that the kitchen staff weren’t happy because the food was already plated up (before we had even arrived!!)

The roast potatoes on some of the plates were rock hard and inedible, they did swap these when asked. They tried charging us extra for some additional gravy that was requested because there wasn’t sufficient on the plates! Weirdly the child’s dinner was brought out last (same when it came to dessert). I have never known a place bring the child’s dinner last.

Food arrived at the table when we had only just ordered drinks. No cutlery and some time before drinks arrived and everyone else’s dinners.

I had fish and chips, it came with a grilled lemon which when squeezed over the fish left a burnt lemon taste. Not sure why it wasn’t a normal lemon like everywhere else.

The sticky toffee pudding tasted of ginger and limited toffee sauce.

Dessert portions were a good size, one of the few positives from the evening.

Service was lacking. Although the food arrived before we’d really managed to get settled, everything else was super slow and we had to flag people down constantly. The one positive was Peter. He was super helpful, very enthusiastic and couldn’t do enough to help. Hats off to him for his positivity amongst a sea of utter disaster and disappointment. Not the best birthday meal for my mum and we won’t be coming back any time soon.

As an aside, you probably need to repaint the disabled bays on the car park. It wasn’t the most obvious...

The Raven is an absolute find. It’s got that “proper pub” look from the outside, and inside, it only gets better. What really makes it stand out, though, is the fact that it’s community-owned. Locals saved it from demolition, and now it’s not just surviving—it’s thriving. Bit like a pub version of a feel-good movie.

My wife and I dropped in for dinner and were genuinely impressed. I had the flat iron steak with peppercorn sauce perfectly cooked, full of flavour, and not a chewy bit in sight (which is more than I can say for some places). Sarah’s burger was so good she refused to share, which says it all really.

The staff were great—friendly, quick, and somehow always nearby without hovering like confused waiters in a sitcom. It all felt relaxed but well run.

Place was spotless too. Clean tables, tidy bar, even the loos were in good shape. Always a good sign. And yes, the beer’s cold and well looked after—no complaints there.

I’m not a wheelchair user, but it looked fairly accessible—no step at the entrance to the pub. There is a bit of a slope down from the car park with steps to the side so maybe not ideal but otherwise doable.

All in all, The Raven has good food, good beer, great service, and a proper community feel. Hard to beat, really. We both would...

I can hand on heart say we will never go back to eat here! I don't want to be mean but it's a great looking place that won't survive if they don't up their game! Both had a Sunday roast and my wife's beef was cut the wrong way and was so chewy we had to send it back and didn't pay for it. My roast chicken was a roasted fillet, sliced. Chewy and tasteless... when you have a roasted chicken dinner you expect it to be cut from the bone! Bland untrimmed baby carrots, soft mushy broccoli, very lumpy watery mash and roast potatoes pale and soft which i know had never seen any oil, and the Yorkshire pudding was never made that day, it was a chewy burnt leftover one. To top it all, tasteless powdery watery gravy... I left 2 thirds of it but still paid in full as I couldn't be bothered anymore. If a place can't get a simple roast dinner right, it's a sad situation in mine and my wife's (who is a chef) opinion! It really was, THE worst roast dinner ever, no love in it at all......