The Village Inn — Restaurant in England

Been here many times before and really enjoyed it. That much so, we invited our friends to join us and they came to eat here on our recommendation. However, I now know that they cannot handle a party of 14. We were asked to pre-order to help the chef out but could change our minds for something on the 'Special's Board' on the day. Only one person from our party wanted to change their order for something on the Special's Board but the place wasn't happy about it even though they said we could as they said the chef had prepped the meals. We had booked the table to 7:30pm but wasn't served our food until 8:30. I don't know if the one change to the original order caused the hour wait but one hour wait is excessive. We ordered drinks at the bar and have been, on our previous visits, ordering the Lilley's Mango Cider. Even though they had a bottle of it displayed on the bar, advertising it, they had none in stock, apart from the warm one on displayed, which they tried to offer to us. No thanks. Cider is nice served cold, not at room temperature and I don't want ice to water it down. When my Chicken Katsu Curry arrived it was freezing cold, and not only mine but my sons too, who had order the same meal. It's like they have warmed it up but left it standing as the curry sauce had a skin on the top. The curry sauce however, was worse than what you get at a Fish and Chip shop curry sauce - not very nice at all. A few of our party also ordered Lasagne which comes with a nice ciabatte/flat garlic bread. Not this time. Only 1 person received the ciabatte/flat garlic bread and the rest received a garlic bread you can buy for £1 from the supermarket. And another person received a very small portion of the ciabatte/flat bread and the rest made up of the normal/cheap garlic bread. Very disappointing that not everybody received the same meal even though they ordered, what they thought was, the same meal. Then it came to the desserts. A party of 14, with plenty of notice given but when it came to us ordering the dessert many items were gone and the limited choice we had only had a few of each items remaining. We ordered the Cherry Pie and custard, as we had ordered this on our previous visits, and they told us there was only 4 portions remaining. After everyone had ordered their desserts, 5 minutes later the waitress came back saying, they had made a mistake and there were only 3 portion remaining and not 4, so my wife and I decided to share. Add to this, there was no ice cream being served at all as someone had apparently left the Freezer door open all night. When we received our Cherry Pie it looked like they had tried to create 3 portions from what should have been 2, as our dessert, which we were sharing as they can't count, was half the portion size of the other 2 that came out. Obviously there is no portion control. Overall this was not as good a visit as our previous ones and the only conclusion I can come up with, is that they cannot handle large party's. Any more than 7 and they are struggling, even when you pre-order. Very poor. Would not recommend for party's more than a handful or be prepared to be...

This pub is situated at the entrance to the caravan park, which is a bit confusing as it's not obviously a 'village' pub. There is adequate parking opposite. The staff are absolutely lovely. Welcoming, friendly and helpful. We arrived with a very lively 2 year old and our table had a (clean) high chair. There is a limit garden space with a child activity set up which is broken. But there are plenty of outside tables and benches and a boardwalk which is nicely laid out. We ordered and were able to sit outside before we were called in to say our food was ready. The service time was good. The menu is varied and well priced. There were several 'specials ' and a childrens menu with beans or peas! (So often no form of vegetables are included) The atmosphere is very much like a club house, comfortable and uninspiring, without any character. It is very family and dog friendly! Some of the seating needs recovering. The toilet facilities are excellent. The food was well cooked and tasty. We had pie with vegetables and the 2 year old had slightly over cooked fishfingers, chips and beans. Why vegetables cannot be offered with a childs portion is a mystery to me. Although to be fair, we did not ask. We would go again, especially now we know where it is! It was straightforward food for a good price. Thank you especially to the lovely staff who probably have to cope with some extremely busy times with the local...

During a motorcycle ride over towards Swanage me and a friend decided to pop in and have a breakfast somewhere new. We are so pleased that we did!

As you approach the restaurant/bar the whole atmosphere was really inviting, the area is very well kept and designed in a way that gives the best options for everyone to enjoy.

We wanted to make the most of the sunshine so we decided to use the outside seating, it had a real luxury feel about it and not your normal standard of restaurant/bar.

We opted for the full English breakfast and it came with no downsides, it is clear that they use very good quality produce and it made all the difference.

We will certainly be coming back, especially with the new beer garden/entertainment being currently built ready for this summer. I hear It will be quite the place to go and visit.

Finally the staff were really friendly and couldn't be more helpful.

If you haven't been I really recommend...