The Cross Keys Wood End — Restaurant in Great Britain

I booked this place less than seven hours before arriving, having heard lots of good things about it—and I wasn’t disappointed.

Accessibility

As a wheelchair user, I found the experience very good overall. There’s one accessible parking space; the car park itself is a little tight, but that’s understandable given the ongoing renovation. An extra accessible bay would definitely help, but I can’t really grumble.

Inside, access is excellent: level entry, plenty of space to manoeuvre, and I didn’t need to ask anyone to move for me to reach the restaurant area or the accessible bathroom. The bathroom itself was well designed, and all tables had good access.

The Restaurant

The place has a lovely modern feel, and I got a genuinely warm welcome from the owner. The food was well presented, arrived quickly, and the menu offered a nice range of options. Admittedly, I’m not a big pizza or pasta fan (this spot does have an Italian twist), but there were still good alternatives. I opted for the tapas, which was really tasty. Personally, I’d have liked a chicken option beyond the Caesar salad, but that’s just my preference.

Service & Atmosphere

Service was excellent—attentive without being intrusive—and the manager personally checked in to ask how my meal was, which I appreciated. The restaurant had a buzzing, lively atmosphere. It was a little noisy for me (maybe that’s just me getting grumpier in my late 40s!), but it definitely added to the sense of energy.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I really enjoyed my visit. It was busy, which speaks for itself, and I’d definitely come back—next time I might even try the...

It was our 1st time visiting and I don't think we will be returning, unfortunately.

We booked based on location and style of the The Cross Keys, we felt the service was good at the start if not a little slow. Left waiting to be seated at the stand while the same waitress passed us twice.

A young man seated us and our waitress came over not long after for a drink order. Good start. Then not long after we gave our food order.

Starters arrived, the Octopus very tasty and we were checked on, plates were taken away after we had finished.

That was the last time we were spoken to or checked on and I had to ask about our food which was just being plated up. Over 1hr 10m roughly after we had been seated and placed our order our mains arrived.

The rack of lamb, was only 2 not sure if that is classed as a rack, arrived very tasty with the sides. The burger was ordered and was very dry and not really worth it tbh so much so half the meat was left. An apology from the waitress was made but not really if you know what I mean.

The atmosphere was alright there was a large table of people in the middle of the room which were quite loud, people frkm the table kept walking around to speak to other people at the table and we had 2 different people just standing with their backs towards us beside our table. It made a lunch for 2 different to enjoy.

We didn't feel the service matched the advertised environment and the food wasn't really worth the money. 2 people, 2 starters, 2 mains, 2 drinks for £84 and 10% service charge. It wasn't the nicest lunch we have had and I wouldn't be rushing back unless...

Went for a Father’s Day celebration with my son and my new grandson. “Special” set menu £35 for 2 courses and £41 for 3. Very limited choices. My starter was ok, fresh and tasty, and the dessert was delicious. But the main course (roast beef) was charged at £29 for the plate and I would have been unhappy had it cost half that. The beef was tough, the Yorkshire could have been used as a cricket ball (must have been sitting around for ages), the roasties were at the opposite end of the scale (anaemic) and my wife’s lamb didn’t taste like lamb. Service was average, the arrival was shambolic as we were not seated in the area that had been requested. A female staff member told my son he should have specified the location preference in remarks. Why, because you had to select your preference on the booking form itself? It was as if she was blaming him for their cock-up. Their initial attempts to resolve the issue were poor, although we eventually were seated in a suitable position given the pram. All in all, a disappointing experience and terrible value at a venue that seems to have a very high opinion of itself, one I don’t share. If you’re going to charge those prices, you’ve got to be very good...