Six Bells Horringer — Restaurant in West Suffolk

Went there for lunch on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Having a dog, we headed straight to the garden. The place was empty. Only one other party with two dogs inside . When we first arrived we were looked up and down by the woman who later served our food. While I was ordering at the bar, she went outside to tell my husband to keep the dog on a lead so she couldn’t get inside. We did that but later, we let her off lead as she was laying on the pavers just behind us and there was absolutely no one else apart from us. We were also told food is only served on the patio, not in the garden (?!!!). When the woman came to serve the food she demanded we put out dog on a lead, even though she was not troubling anyone or did not try to get inside. When I asked why, I was told that’s the rule. Then the woman continued to lecture me, I asked her to stop but she clearly wanted to argue. Later she sent a guy (I am guessing he was her business partner) who started lecturing us even though it was clear we didn’t want to be bothered. Our dog was on a lead by then. Apart from that, the food we ordered (fish and chips, and a burger) was truly below average. There’s absolutely nothing that pub has to offer for me to recommend it to anyone. Too many rules for the sake of rules, mouthy smart Alec owners...

I visited on 9th Oct 21 and had the fish and chips but the batter was so thick and heavily fried I had to smash it rather than cut into it which left the fish crumbled and covered in the inedible batter and the chips were unfortunately equally dreadful. I think we must have caught them as the kitchen was closing. The staff didn't seem to notice that we hadn't eaten anything or are used to meals being returned uneaten. When I went to pay, I was asked if I'd enjoyed my meal and said that I hadn't and was cut off by the bar staff while explaining why and told "I'll pass it on" in an extremely curt manner. I have given 2 stars because the village location its self is quite pleasant and drinks were OK, we sat outside so can't comment on the inside other than there appeared to be something missing which is why we sat outside. I only comment now because it has come up on Google today that I have visited and asked for a review. I don't leave reviews as a rule but it worked out expensive to send this meal to the bin and drive back down into Bury for something to eat...

Regarding AOL’s review, their version of events is misleading as we were in the pub at the time.

Their dog- an extremely large and excitable one- was off the lead, running in and out of the pub while the owners were sitting outside. It was barking and jumping at people, including staff trying to serve food. We felt very uncomfortable as the dog was not under control and causing disruption. The staff were completely reasonable in asking for the dog to be put in the lead. In fact, they handled the situation far better than many would have- especially considering the woman became very rude, argumentative, and confrontational. It was clear the staff were just trying to enforce a basic and fair policy in a calm way. We’ve always found this pub to be welcoming, well run, and dog friendly- for people who follow the rules. It’s a shame the staff were treated with such disrespect. They showed real professionalism in a...