The White Horse — Restaurant in England

We booked a table for 4 on a Thursday evening at 7pm but were warned they had staff shortages so there might be a delay on the food ? As it turned out there was no delay, the staff were excellent, friendly, helpful and there seemed to be plenty of them, though I dont know what its like in the kitchen but they are advertising for a Chef. We went through the now familiar procedure of leaving our names and mobile numbers at the door sanitised our hands and were seated at a pleasant table by the window. We were soon joined by our friends and drinks were ordered. My mate is a bit of a Real Ale Buff (anorak) so he settled on a pint of draught GWB Pale Ale (£4.10) which he examined closely. It didn't initially meet pass inspection, not being Pale enough apparently but when he tasted it he was reasonably satisfied though he only had the one so I'm not sure he was totally convinced. I had a really nice Ginger Beer ( £2.50) which is becoming one of my Favourites lately. It came from Bundaberg in Australia, where we met my daughter some years ago when she was back packing around OZ and had a few nights stay. (See our Travel Blog for the full story). My wife had a Chardonnay at a whopping £6.00 a glass a half of lager and lime (£1.00) completed the drinks. The menu was excellent. Plenty of choices from Burgers to Steaks but for some strange reason we all decided on the 'Pan Fried Hake in Curried Veloute with Samphire, new Potatoes and roasted butter nut squash. (£16). Veloute: A soup or sauce made of chicken, veal, or fish stock and cream and thickened with butter and flour. It was a great choice. The Hake was beautifully cooked (though it was a very small portion and there was little else on the plate for bulk) white flakey and still moist though my skin wasn't crips but I dont eat the skin anyway. The curry sauce (Veloute) was a strange combination but worked a treat and we all said how well it complimented the fish. Samphire was great and the slight saltiness was welcomed. Because we were all still hungry we chose to have deserts . Two cheese boards, (£9.00 each) with a selection of rather thinly sliced cheeses, a pot of delicious chutney, some fruit and a selection of crackers. Grapes are quite common on a cheese board but the Dates were a surprise which I really enjoyed. They went especially well with the Blue Cheese. The biscuits were fine but I much prefer sweet biscuits with cheese rather than crackers. A good choice if expensive. My wife chose the Lemon Tart (£7.00) and she couldn't praise it enough. This was a real winner. My friend tackled a really good looking Sticky Toffee Pudding (£7.00) though he left his Ginger Snap biscuit which was quickly claimed. Yet again, a really good desert. In summary this was a really good meal in a great venue (some Pubs have better ambiance than others and this place feels comfortable). Service was spot on, friendly, attentive, helpful but not overly familiar. Seating was comfortable if a little up right and the price was reasonable (toward expensive) at £116.55 not including a service charge. We didn't notice any delays in getting served so if there were problems they managed them well. Give this a try but dont expect cheap...

When I first found this pub last year I thought it was an absolute gem. Lovely pub with a great feel, stunning beer garden and good gastropub food - reasonably priced too.

However, since lockdown the pub has really gone downhill- mainly due to its service. Every time I go now they seem to handle table service woefully and even if you just want to pop in for a beer you can wait for upwards of 20 minutes to see anyone then a further 20 minutes per round. Tables are left unattended and empty cans/bottle on tables. This evening we waited even longer than usual to be seen to, I went to the bar twice and got told I need to wait for table service. It eventually came and then we waited 20 minutes for two beers and a cider. The second drink sadly never came and we had to leave as had been there over an hour and had only had a beer. It wasn’t particularly busy with half of the tables empty. Bare in mind we were seated outside and it was particularly cold this evening - it would have been appreciated to sit indoors for a bit quick pit stop at one of the many empty tables

It’s a shame that such a stunning establishment can’t get simple service right. I’m not sure whether it’s a shortage of staff of just incompetence and an improper process. I hope this public house can get it right as with the new normal pubs like this will struggle particular over winter and we might not see potential gems like this lasting.

I haven’t eaten here since before lockdown as simply haven’t been able to muster the patience to wait for service and food and drinks to come with a busy work life. Hopefully the food is still as good as it was!

To summarise it’s a stunning establishment that’s currently let down by its appalling negligent service- hopefully it’s improved before...

I booked a table for 7 for a joint birthday meal, booked a few weeks ago, arrived today 31st August, in ample time for the table, (13.30)booked for 13.45, only to be told it was booked for 14.30, was asked if i had rung to change time, which i hadnt as two of the party were travelling from newport and didnt want a late drive home, i showed the confirmation booking, for 13.45, was met with an apology and a problem with online booking, a table nearby overheard the conversation and kindly said they would take their drinks outside to free the table they were sat at, table was cleared, and then we were told that we couldnt have that table as it was for a two oclock booking !! Finally we were seated at 2.25pm, then had to wait 20 mins before anyone took our food order, they did say we could have wine for the table as an apology for the wait, but as no one was drinking wine a bit of an empty apology ! The food was great, but was let down by the shear lack of customer service, we inquired as to instead of wine maybe a reduction on deserts would be an option, but told that wasnt an option and as we had only waited "20 mins to be seated it wasnt warranted", that wasnt actually true and that being said was to say the least very annoying, we had waited far longer !!! but they could do coffees, which at this point we were ready to leave, so again an empty apology. Would i recommend No, the food although good is on the high price point, the young serving staff are polite and friendly. But alas the managers customer service skills really do need a...