The Tawny Owl — Restaurant in England

Hey, i love the Tawney and have a lot of memories there. I had my wedding party there 12 years ago but the food has gone down hill!

Me and my small family and I decided we fancied some late Sunday dinner and called the Tawney. We booked a table and went straight down, ordered our food with hungry bellies, and waited patiently. The staff mooched around the bar and we thought it would be here shortly. 45 minute's later we had to ask after seeing what looked like the chef clock off and leave for the night!!! Then the food came out. My wife ordered scamp, and the kids had sausage and chips and cheese burger and chips, I ordered a mixed roast. Mife wife' wife and the kids come out first... the scampi was cold, the sausages were black but pink on the inside and cold.... the waitress said when dropping the plates down, yours will take some time because we have run out of gravy!!!!!! And to be clear, my wife is such a nice person (nicer than me) she said well that's really crap!" Out of reaction because of the service. This comment made the plate come to the table.

"And to be clear, this late dinner cost £65 with drinks."

My plate was put down with a small jug of gravy, less than 4 minutes later. I said "I'm not eating that, please take it back" sorry but I felt sick, the meat looked grey and im honest i could not tell you what meat it was and im not even going to go into the rest of the plate. After my kids were served cold uncooked food, that I didn't let them eat. I asked for the manager.

I want to remind you we called less than 20 minutes before and asked if they were still serving and had any tables!

The manager came over and could not have been nicer but was in clear distress but weirdly alright about it, like she knew they messed up. I have never asked for my money back, but I did this time!

It had such a good reputation but I'm sorry it's not a decent restaurant anymore! Fine for a few over priced beers but if honest, I'd rather make the extra trip to the Manor farm or even the Blunsdon.

Two stars on service because the manager pulled some dignity back, just need to get that into the restaurant side of the Tawny...

The landlady/manager thinks it is OK to go into peoples handbags and actually remove property and keep it! Unbelievable! It was my wife's Birthday drinks last night and we met friends at the Tawny Owl. Some of them brought presents for her (as you do), a bottle of bubbly and some cans of gin were among them. Whilst we were up at the bar ordering drinks having been at the pub for about an hour, the landlady/manager had come over to my wife's handbag and removed a can of gin and taken it behind the bar. She then came back to the table once we had returned and demanded to know who's bag it was and accused us of drinking the cans in her pub. I can't speak for any of our friends, but we certainly did not drink the cans at the pub and quite frankly even if we had, why the landlady thought it was OK to go into someone's property and steel beggars belief! Plus the attitude of the bar staff was disgusting. I've never been spoken to by anyone in a customer facing roll like that before. I think Arkells needs to get their trainers in this pub to teach both the manager and her staff about customer service. The only saving grace for this pub was the very professional attitude of the doorman. He was very understanding and listen to our point of view and I believe tried to convey it to the manager. She needs to take a leaf out of his book! He obviously cares more about his customers than his manager does!! Overall our night was ruined buy this whole debacle. Oh and plus money went missing from my wife's handbag which seems somewhat of a coincidence, but of course the landlady knew nothing about that when asked but openly admitted she had taken other items from the handbag......

27th October 2025. On first inspection during the late afternoon my room no 1 Peacock looked fabulous & spotless but the Bar Manager struggled to open the door. However .. when I returned later at 9.30pm I could not open the bedroom door so I had to go down & ask another bar maid to open it for me. She fiddled & faffed about & eventually managed to open it. With the main light on I noticed the following: I unpacked got ready for bed then fancied a mug of tea but when I looked inside the kettle it was stained BLACK yuk. I checked the bedding & it had a dirty mark on the duvet cover (which was so thin it felt like a sheet). I had to lay my coat on top of me to keep me warm! The sink had a crack and only one tap worked. The worst is yet to come.

The panelling on the bath was awful black mouldy & disgusting. Hid by a grey bin. The glass shower door seal was rotten split shredded and mouldy.

I was so tired just wanted to go to sleep.

Summing up it was shabby dirty & mouldy. The Kettle was black. I couldn't close the rotten bathroom windows. All in all a disaster. I had intended to have breakfast the next morning but didn't want to. I didn't want to stay another night. I handed my key to a cleaner as the Manager wasn't there. I would not recommend The Tawney Owl to my worst enemy. The staff were polite that's all I can say. I intend to take this further. What a dump don't go there .. please...