The Plough — Restaurant in West Oxfordshire

Order: Kansas burger Atlantic burger 1 x pint of ale £43.50

Wasnt feeling Italian food (despite the little place, San Marzano, a few doors down being a reliable favourite) so went in here based on the atmosphere of the downstairs pub area being convivial and welcoming. Dog on the bar. 5/5.

They sat us alone, upstairs, in a stale dining room area. Fair enough, bar was busy. We found it funny.

Service was generally good, but we weren't told anything about the menu, pies, specials, soup, etc. without asking. No big deal.

Nice pint of real ale was £5.50.

Atlantic burger was battered white fish and thick cut chips.

Kansas burger was beef. bacon, BBQ sauce and truffle mayo with fries.

Both served on low grade morning baps from your local catering company (which gave the beef burger that Birdseye BBQ feel).

This was the general theme of the food. Cheap mayo and ketchup. Frozen chips. Huge raw onions. Nothing was made or thought about particularly well. For a £19 burger, they were definitely cashing out.

Shame, because the staff and pub seem nice, burger menu needs more thought (it's subranded on the menu as "Bret's Burgers")

Constructive feedback for Bret:

Mandoline the onions or do a quick pickle liquor. Takes no effort to prep, and a huge puck of raw onion on a burger is a war crime.

Ditch those rolls and make your own chips. One style of chips made in-house is better than multiple bags of frozen crap.

House-made condiments are a simple addition to a menu and could elevate your crappy chips. The cheapest of the cheap ketchup and mayo ain't...

I have to state up front that we know Mark, the new landlord of the Plough, & have done so for many years. He's taken on a big task in trying to put reputedly the oldest pub in Witney back on the map, so you have to cut him some slack. The potential is there in this rambling old building, with a long garden that stretches down to the river. The staff are mostly new, & not used to the pressure of pub life, but they seem willing, & Mark is trying to train them in the ways that he learned from his mentors in the hospitality business. We booked Sunday Lunch for 3, & chose roast (2 Lamb, 1 Chicken). We wanted the smaller portions - as some older folk do - and were happy with the result. Facilities: The Gents' toilet could do with being brighter, & needs some maintenance to taps, & the door-lock. Maybe it could be relocated & upgraded at some future time. There's no car-parking at the pub, but the main car-park is a short walk away. We'll go back, of course, & we'll be interested to see how Mark makes his mark, so to speak. All he needs right now is a little forbearance from customers, who we're sure will see a transformation in the...

We went here for Father's Day lunch. The pub was packed when we arrived which was a good start. We were very warmly welcomed and given the menus. Between us for starters we had confit chicken, fishcakes and chicken liver pate. All three were delicious. For mains we had two slow roast lamb, one roast chicken and one roast beef. The beef was served pink and it melted in your mouth. The lamb was tender and full of flavour and the chicken was tender and delicious. The vegetables served with the mains were roast potatoes, parsnip puree, glazed carrots, red cabbage, cauliflower cheese and mixed greens. There was also a delicious Yorkshire pudding. Everything was absolutely delicious and cooked to perfection. For dessert we all shared a strawberry, apple and rhubarb crumble with Elderflower custard as we were so full we couldn't manage one each. I cannot praise this place more. The food, service, ambiance and value for money are second to none. Go here if you want a...