The Shave Cross Inn — Restaurant in England

We were told we could not book in till 6pm which we had never experienced before we were paying £180 for one night and was very disappointed that we could not spend any sort of time as dinner was booked for 8 and we travelled all the way from Kent so needed time to get ready when we got there the owner took us to our room all we seemed to get was a grunt not a nice man at all made to feel so uncomfortable room was clean and warm but definitely not worth £180 very small. Went down to dinner they had a log fire going but because building so old was very cold was not till later we realised that we had been sat in bar not in restaurant. My partner had booked this for valentines there was one other couple no music like sitting in a neglected old room. We had two courses t bone steak mushrooms chips with a nice sauce over top then banoffee pie and my parntner had icecream which was more ice than icecream this was supposed to come to £28 each plus £3.75 for sauce plus we had two shandy two gin and tonic. We finally went back upstairs we were freezing and could tell the owner just wanted us gone so crap valentines no ambience at all. We got into bed mattress really hard then through the night I was up and down to the loo as I was ill with diorher. I went down to breakfast with my partner and tried to eat but they sat us by the front door no one else stayed it was freezing cold no fires on then to top it off when breakfast came had big hair in it and beside me on the window seat I was sitting in big cobweb absolutely filthy under cushions that was me done so after trying a mouthful of food I needed the loo again have just started to feel ok we also sat through breakfast with our coats on and then Paul payed for dinner they tried to charge for pudding when it was in with the £28 Paul told the owner as we left that I was not well he was not bothered and very misrable old man left his son who was very nice trying to answer the questions we had and could tell his dad was always this rude. Definitely not worth a visit and we will be doing our homework next time WHAT A CON. Very disappointed will not...

Lovely staff and superb local beers and ciders. However, no children's menu or options, meaning this is not an ideal venue for families.

We ordered BBQ ribs (a £9 starter) and chips for our 8 year old, BBQ ribs (£9) and pizza (£12...) for our 10 year old. Ok, but margherita only option, and lack of proper kid's options baffling considering the number of families that must stay in the area over the summer.

We had the shared camembert bread bowl (fine) and then the fisherman's pie - essentially a £14 bowl of inch high mashed potato - I found a couple of small pieces of white fish but nothing else, which was pretty dire. This was was served with a large upright chunk of bread topped with a thin layer of chopped onions and peppers dressed with a balsamic reduction, which looked pretty but was impractical to eat and fundamentally bread and mashed potato. A decent portion of fish? More than one type? Vegetables?

My wife had the burrito, which she said was was nice enough but just rice and pulled pork - not recognisably Mexican (eg mixed beans?) and didn't come with guacamole or sour cream until we rechecked the menu and requested them.

We didn't address these points with the staff, because they were lovely, and we enjoyed our time at the pub, despite the food not really being good enough. I'm surprised that we had such a different experience of food to the amazing reviews that seem common - perhaps a different chef that (Thursday) night?

There's an amazing original skittle alley with the score board left just as it was after the last game, but it was behind a pile of NERF guns (no bullets so might as well not be there) and looking a little forgotten despite the jewel that it is. There's also a stunning pub garden too, but we didn't have a chance to sit out.

This beautiful pub looks like it just needs some love and time devoted to it, a reappraisal of aspects of the limited menu, and children's...

Having had Shaves Cross on my "must visit" list, I managed to get a table for a Sunday eve roast. We had never been to this pub, to eat or drink, and went because of reviews. We were greeted by a super friendly host behind the bar. She was smiley, warm and chatty...in fact the nicest part of our visit. We booked a 2 and 3 meat roast, and waited. Its very lowly lit, and moreso because it was a hideous eve! But you could barely work out your bearings. I might add, we are local, and I have worked and owned a pub locally... I'm assuming this is ambient lighting. We ordered at 6.25 and at 6.50 it arrived. Few others in the pub, so you might assume the kitchen busy, or freshly prepared. My husband had beef, that was little more than flesh-and he would eat "anything" but struggled. My pork was so fatty, and the beef (which I'd asked for the well done side) I couldn't cut with my knife, let alone my teeth. Yorkshires were on the lower scale of burnt..but burnt all the same. And sadly, the veg promised more than delivered, as most was pulped, but I couldn't see what they should've been. CONTRARY TO THE OWNERS REPONSE, I DID NOT CLEAR MY PLATE AS IT WAS INEDIBLE Horrible eve, sad conclusion, and no thanks, we weren't going to risk a pud. I DID NOT MENTION THIS TO THE STAFF AT THE TIME, AS I DIDNT WANT TO CAUSE A FUSS OR A SCENE IN FRONT OF OTHER CUSTOMERS. I rarely leave reviews, and when I do, its to praise. Was just so very disappointed in what we hoped...