Roast Topside Of Beef
The Yewdale Inn

The Yewdale Inn

Yewdale Road, South Lakeland, United Kingdom, LA21 8DU

Cafés • Steak • Pizza • Pasta


"Knowing we’d be in Coniston on New Year’s Day (2 adults and 2 children) I booked online at the Yewdale in early Dec to make sure we secured a table, anticipating it might be busy. On arrival we were met by a pleasant waiter who showed us to our reserved table in the mostly empty pub. We were slightly disappointed, having booked a table, to be in the bar area next to a big group of young men who were swearing quite a bit and acting generally laddish. Some of the talk was not something I wanted my daughter who is 7, to hear. Thankfully she was entertained by the colouring menu sheet that was kindly supplied. To be honest I thought we be put in the restaurant bit given we’d booked in advance (the bar reserved for walk ins) but it appeared closed until we were leaving about 6.30pm. Anyway we got on with it as we do as we’re not fussy and there was another family with children there too. Our second disappointment was the big sign saying ‘sorry no pizza today’. Pizza was an option for us and something we were looking forward to having visited in the summer, so this was disappointing. I’d have thought if they weren’t offering pizza they should have told us in advance through the booking system or indicated online. This reduced the menu by 50%. We ordered from the main menu and children’s menu. The children’s fish and chips was excellent and I can’t complain, it was one of the best fish I’ve seen in a child’s menu. The adults lasagne was clearly homemade and tasted ok. Better than it looked . But at 15 I’d have expected it to come with chips not just a bit of garlic bread. Or chips should have been an add on for a couple of given the size of it but they were 4.50 on top. All a bit pricey for what it was and the portion size. The biggest disappointment was the fish pie. I was looking forward to haddock, smoked haddock, salmon and prawns as indicated on the menu. Instead I basically got a bit of haddock (well white fish), a load of spinach, and some cheese mash. No sign of the prawns, smoked salmon or haddock. The buttered greens it came with were leek and green beans and filled half the plate! We didn’t stop for dessert and opted for a chocolate bar at the petrol station instead given how disappointed we were with the mains. Beer selection was good and no issues there and staff were pleasant and attentive. We will probably visit again for pizza but the pub food overall was a let down."

The Chequers At Loose

The Chequers At Loose

Old Loose Hill, Maidstone, United Kingdom

Pub • Steak • British • Vegetarian


"I feel a bit bad about writing this, but for the first time ever there 's only 1 star and probably the longest comments I 've left. We arrived around 12:15 on a September Thursday after having a walk hungry, we fancied a pub lunch. Staff were pleasant if a bit rushed the young lady behind the bar was on her own and doing the best she could. Several things were off the menu, but we ordered a Curry of the day (Thai Green on this occasion) and sausage mash with gravy. Difficult things to screw up... After a reasonable wait, two small dishes appeared. The Thai Curry was tiny, containing a few small bits of grilled chicken in a fairly anaemic sauce, with a small amount of plain white rice on the side; the two sausages were quite small and on a small bed of mash surrounded by gravy. Both dishes were stone cold. We sent them back. Frankly, if we hadn 't paid in advance, I 'd have left at that point. A few minutes later they re appeared, along with a small dish of sweet chilli sauce and 3 small prawn crackers, two of which were not properly cooked (still solid in parts, i.e. not cooked hot or long enough). The sausages were now hot, the mash lukewarm and the gravy cloying and still pretty cold. Being fair, the very small sausages were quite tasty, but the mash was under/not seasoned and the gravy had little flavour, no onion or anything even vaguely interesting, and was still cold. The curry was a disgrace. The rice was flaccid and tasteless, the curry had almost no flavour and the chicken was watery, and pretty grim (tasteless too). Tiny portion as well. We left the curry. I did eat the sausage mash as I was really hungry, but in retrospect wished I hadn 't. I almost never leave food anywhere in the world, but I left that curry. I 'm not sure how dishes that bad could be let out of any kitchen. We complained to the waitress (who was doing her best) she asked us not to leave and a minute or two later refunded our main courses with an apology. I felt for her as she was doing her best as front of house when the kitchen was a shocker. Note that we didn 't ask for a refund or even hint, they just provided it. I 've never asked for a refund. It 's sad, as these days rural pubs need to do things right, but this wasn 't just small things; everything they could have done wrong with those two dishes they did wrong. Nothing cooked from fresh, nothing checked before leaving the kitchen, tasteless food, tiny portions, cold."