The Bell Inn — Restaurant in London

disappointing Sunday Lunch. I looked at a variety of reviews for restaurants in the area and opted for The Bell Inn after having driven past the previous day and seeing it mentioned as "best sunday lunch" in various reviews and websites.

We booked for 1.30pm and arrived to find a large wedding party just getting ready to leave, we waited at the door for about 10 minutes before being seated in the bar area, we sat for another 10-15 minutes before anyone came over to ask if we even had menus yet. Once we had menus and opted for three Trio Sunday Lunches, beef, gammon and pork. When we finally got our meals I had one small dried up bit of pork and a very thick chunk of beef and a couple of bits of gammon. The gammon was very nice, the beef was very tough and seemed to have been reheated, it had grill marks on it as if it had been roasted in the oven, then carved, and then reheated on the grill. Never seen this in a Sunday Roast before and it made the beef feel very overcooked.

The worst part of the meal, however, was the gravy, the meat all being overcooked so they drenched the whole meal in gravy, it was very thick, tasteless gravy with a shine that looked like it had been heavily thickened with corn flour. Overall just very bland and entirely disappointing.

Then it came to paying the bill and finding each carvery charged at £19.65. The price on both the menu and the website was listed as £16.95. When we queried this it took another 10 mins to fix and we got told it was a misprint in the menu. Even though the website states the same price....very strange but urge future visitors to check their bill. On top of that it was £10 for a glass of merlot and £6 for a bottle of non-alcoholic Cider (the most I paid this weekend for a similar bottle in the...

Girl friend and i went for dinner sunday evening. The pub was practically empty. Asked for a cuppa at the bar. Staff served the tea but took ages to get the milk etc. Then was told there wasn't a clean tea spoon, as it was taking ages to simply wash a tea spoon I then was given a dessert spoon? Milk, cup and sugar bowl was just left on the bar (which was sticky) and i had to ask for a tray so we could go sit down to eat?! By the time i sat down the tea was cold. Was served our meal which I must say was good...But as we were trying to eat (on a table which needed a wipe down) and have a conversation two members of staff were having a conversation and they were really loud! My partner and I found it hard to hear each other at times as the conservatory echos. Once we had finished staff came over to take it away and simply asked "if it was ok?" Didn't ask if we wanted anything else? Nothing. All in all unfortunately not impressed and wont be going back. I know some of this might be coming acrossed as being "picky" but it was expensive and I just expected more from the pub in general. Shame as the pub it self is in a lovely...

My wife, friends I have had lunch here a few times now, and we did again today. Where we were excellently looked after by Carl. Carl has served us a couple of times before but we were sorry to see he'd hurt his leg today and was using a crutch. There was also another young lady serving who frequently checked we were happy and had everything we needed.

We like the Bell because it has a spacious beer garden with very comfortable tables well separated, which in these Covid days gives us peace of mind. They've kept the menu fairly small in order to cook the dishes available to the highest standard. We have gradually eaten our way through the majority of dishes and they have all been excellently prepared and delicious. The pub apparently was awarded the best hospitality award last year.

The price is surprisingly reasonable considering the quality of the food and the generous portions. It is a lovely venue and very handy when we've been hiring boats from the nearby ferry crossing. We can thoroughly recommend it and the friendly efficiency of Carl and the rest of the staff. You don't wait long for service...