"Having been regular visitors for some years, we have experienced a variety of menus and staff working in the pub. As we always visit with a dog, we are used to sitting out in the conservatory, which we don’t particularly mind, with the exception of the music and when sunny, it does get rather warm. We have however, eaten inside the pub in the area that is hardwood flooring, accompanied by our well behaved cockerpoo. As we arrived yesterday, at about 12.45pm, the doors to the conservatory where closed and locked, so knowing we could get through via the hardwood floor dining area, we entered through the main pub entrance. There were several people eating at tables and suddenly there was a loud shriek of ‘dogs are not allowed in the restaurant’. Well to say it took me by surprise was an overstatement, I apologised and explained the doors were locked and offered to go back out and round to the conservatory. ‘No need’ was the reply, so we continued into the familiar surroundings of the sunny, hot glass house. The waitress, who was not the initial ‘greet and meet dog disciplinarian’ explained she was new and again asked that dogs are not taken through the pub, as if we had any chance of not grasping this concept already, but I guess she had been asked to reiterate the fact and she unlocked the doors for our exit when the time came. One of the party wanted to swap garlic bread and salad for chips and as the new waitress was unsure of this option, she brought in the dog whisperer, who said yes that wasn’t a problem. So we are our meals, which were all pretty good in fairness, although the menus rarely seems to change much over the years. We have been asked if our dog would like a bowl of water in the past, but this was not forthcoming, which wasn’t a big deal as our dog had lapped up some fresh water from the bowls outside the main entrance doors, giving us the impression of a dog friendly pub. Anyway, we settled the bill, only to find that the chips had been added on as an extra but we couldn’t really face another run in, so left on our way. Overall, the food was nice, the customer service not so much, which is a shame as our dog is part of the family!!"
