The Royal Oak — Restaurant in England

My family and I have eaten at the Oak numerous times since moving to a nearby village four years ago. We have recommended it to many of our friends and family, and we have knowingly introduced at least eight of them to the pub after they ended up dining there on our recommendation. Up until now, we have always been made to feel welcome and it has been our pub of choice, for the good food (chef Sam is great), reasonable prices, and the fact it is family run.

In the past year, my family has eaten here for all our birthdays and collectively we have visited on another 4-5 occasions, though not necessarily all together. We have never had reason to complain about anything until now, and they swiftly came up with a solution when they lost my birthday carvery booking. However, I will now move on to explain why we will not be returning to the Oak again in the future.

Our most recent, and final, visit was this week for their Asian theme night; at £13.50 a head, we thought this seemed to be good value. I visited with my husband and six year old daughter. We explained that she had already eaten dinner (they don't offer their standard menu on theme nights and we weren't sure whether she would eat what was on offer, based on a previous theme night experience), but asked if we could have a side plate to offer her a few small bits so that she didn't feel left out. We thought the food was delicious, but, in the end, she didn't eat anything at all, and her dad ended up eating the small amount on her plate.

When it came to paying the bill, we noticed that we had been charged £6.50 for a child's portion. We queried this and explained that our child hadn't eaten anything at all. The price was then reduced to £4, but they wouldn't budge from this, saying that they had to charge "when a plate had left the kitchen" and they were sure we would "understand".

Unfortunately, we do not understand why we were charged for a plate; from their perspective, there was no food wastage and she hadn't eaten a bean. I would possibly expect this "computer says no" attitude from a chain, but we were saddened to be met with this reaction at the Oak. It wasn't as though we had ordered her a meal and could then take it home with us, because it was a buffet set up. Equally, this wasn't offered to us. Suddenly, the £13.50 a head for me and my husband became £15.50 - no longer such good value. Although the charge was not significant, it was the principle that upset us, and we felt like we had been taken advantage of.

In a way, I am loath to leave a negative review, but after a few years of being happy customers, I'm afraid this disappointing experience has marred our feelings towards the Oak. I understand that people are always more inclined to voice their opinion when they have something to complain about, rather than to give praise. Bearing this in mind, I will score 3/5, considering I probably should have left a 5/5 review before now, and I feel it is only fair to balance this out.

Luckily for us, we have had a nearby pub reopen recently and we will be taking our custom there...

Read my reviews and you'll know I love my food..... but this place is THE BEST..... To the point I actually revisited it again in the SAME week!!

MENU= good font easy to read and understand not to little info but also not to much to create to much stress when choosing. You can see what your getting and how much it costs. Great for nuro diverse people very clear I liked it 👍I asked for one change (no onion rings and instead chips) you were happy to do this so also nice thank you.

FOOD..... ITS NOT SOME FANCY POST TOSH THAT LEAVES YOU STILL HUNGRY...THIS IS EXSTREAMLY TASTEFULLY COOKED HUGE SERVING OF PROPER FILLING FOOD AND THE MENUE CHOICED ARE SPOT ON, MEAT OF ALL SORTS WITH LIGHT OR HEAVY FOOD OPTIONS, FISH OPTION VEG OPTIONS. I CAN HONESTLY SAY THIS PLACE IS IN MY TOP 10. THE SUNDAY CARVERY WAS 1000% BETTER THAN A TOBY CARVERY I HAD SO MUCH MEAT I STRUGGLED TO FINISH IT ALL!!!! GO FIND IT WHEN IN DEVON I GENUINELY RECOMEMED IT.

Price: £20/25 will get you a main meal and a drink. So a great option for a date or night our I feel.

The pub itself: Plenty of parking (Sunday was a lil harder) kid friendly play area you can also eat in. Toilet are very clean and nice. Pub has oldie world feel but very clean and tidy. Wealchair acsessable. ....but didn't notice a disabled toilet you may wanna check.

My only suggestion would be something serious hot and chocolatie for the chocoholics or a good old jam rolly polly or sticky toffee pud and custard 🍮 should be on the menu. If it was this place would have been...

The strong reviews shaped my decision to try this place for lunch - the experience did not disappoint.

It's a genuinely great place for a traditional Sunday roast. A kid friendly atmosphere in a characterful pub with warm / friendly staff serving great food. It made the experience even more enjoyable.

The Sunday dinner is fantastic value for money, with very generous helpings, cooked and prepared to a high standard. I had the beef which was succulent and tender, the jumbo Yorkshire pudding was a tasty challenge but everything was spot on. The pigs in blankets were lovely too but I really struggled to eat them after filling up with my main (something I normally wouldn't struggle with but there was so much food).

When I arrived at 2pm the pub was full and I was offered the chance to use a standing table but declined, said thank you and left. I nearly drove away but the manager ran after me and said she would make room for me in the corner of the dining area. She was so warm and lovely - it's easy to tell that she's a natural dealing with customers in a friendly way. I'm glad they made room for me.

I will definitely...