The Oak Tree — Restaurant in St Helens

The Oak Tree hosted our wedding reception in August and the owners and staff could not have been more helpful and accommodating! We would like to thank Ben especially, as he went above and beyond with every detail which made our day better than we could have ever of dreamed! We discussed food options, colours and decorations upon our first visit in March, this was when we also discovered that a live band had already been booked for that evening which was a wonderful surprise. Ben kept in touch regularly which was very reassuring, as was he. Nothing seemed too much trouble, he was very organised and thought of everything! Prior to the wedding, on a day that was suitable for us, Ben and the staff erected the marquee to show us the actual size of the covered space we would have, provided samples of the decorations and decorated a table which was incredibly helpful and was greatly appreciated, especially as it must have been one of the hottest days this summer!! Ben explained that The Oak Tree tries to use local services when arranging events and we would like to thank Sweet Memories for the beautiful balloon displays. I was able to take the wedding cake to The Oak Tree on the Thursday before the wedding where it was kept safely. When me and my new husband arrived at the reception we were overwhelmed with how beautiful everything looked. The ivy archway was adorned with fairy lights, as was the trees either side of the beer garden. A large area of the beer garden was cordoned off, just for our use, with ribbons tied to steaks in the ground. This gave us a priviacy without feeling 'penned in'. Their white marquee was decorated beautifully with hessian and lace bunting and an additional smaller marquee was placed next to the main marquee as an entrance where the wedding cake and favours were. The tables were decorated beautifully inside and outside. Everyone commented on how wonderful the food was! We had chosen the bronze fork buffet and it was amazing!! There was plenty of food, was refreshed before anything ran out and we were all well looked after by the staff. We had an amazing evening and would like to say a huge thank you to Linda, John, Ben and all the staff at The Oak Tree for making our wedding day such a special day to remember. Thank you, from Mr &...

Been to this place many times and always been good but Sunday gone we went for a mega Sunday dinner which we have had many times always been hot 3 meats always been thick and plenty but this time the food came cold the meats were fatty I had chicken beef and gammon which I always have the chicken had skin on it the beef was gristly and to chewy the gammon was cut that thin you could see through it and was very little of it and was mostly fat the girl who served us was very attentive she took my dinner back to be warned and brought it back hot she took the vary thin fatty gammon back and brought me a saucer back of 2 small very thin pieces of what I think was gammon too thinly cut to tell no taste to it never had to complain before as always had a good meal but this time I was very disappointed my partner hate he's cold as he doesn't like to complain took my meat home to give to dogs it's a shame we like this place and after that meal it's out is put us off going back there was even little black bits floating in my pint just picked them out and drank it but didn't get another don't know what is going on but needs go back to the way it was it wasn't even as busy as it usually is most of the time you can't find a seat but there was plenty tables to choose from i have to in the past don'e a good review as I never had nothing to complain about but this time I've had to mention how bad it meals were and the drink with bits in was another disappointment never had that before either always praised the food and drink here but after that I don't...

I visited here last night, and was very disappointed. The service from the staff was shocking. It was very clear that they had received no training in even the most basic things. After waiting for 20 minutes, I had to attract attention and ask to order. I asked one waitress what the guest ale was like, and she had no idea, and thought it was funny not to know. As it happens, the ale was warm and stale.

The atmosphere in the garden was tense, as the table next to me had been waiting for over an hour for food (and eventually left before it arrived) and another table was in a similar situation.

One member of staff was wandering around with no shoes on.

I didn’t eat, but the food looked cheap, and there was as much returning to the kitchen as was coming out.

The menu wasn’t COVID safe (sticky, unwashed, reusable) - and had clearly been compiled by someone with less IQ than a brick. More than that, it claims to have vegan halloumi!

Given that there are so many places to choose to eat and drink on Newton high street, I would not recommend this...