The Old Devil Inn

Update September 2012: Sadly, the couple running this establishment have moved on and the only expression applicable now seems to be “no, not really…” A shame in a way, BUT fortunately, they can be found just round the corner here: http://www.thesnootyfoxwarrenrow.com/index.html

Old review: The people running this had run another establishment for a while, which we had enjoyed often. A friend told me that they were now here.

Calling at short notice, they were very helpful in accommodating us on a Saturday night (as someone else also noted on a local blog).

The interior decoration is stylish and interesting and there is a balcony at the back where you can have a fag and overlook the sizable garden and watch Japanese chickens strutting round (they are not on the menu – get your Teryaki elsewhere).

The staff were very friendly and attentive, taking our order outside. They seemed to be very good at multitasking in an efficent and friendly way.

“Avocado with coronation chicken and mango.” Sounds a little pedestrian, maybe? (Visions of a sad half avo with mayo containing a bit of chicken and crowned with a dollop of mango…)

But knowing these peoples’ skills, we decided to plod along that pedestrian route.

The result? A splendid large platter featuring crisp salad, correctly sliced strips of avocado, lashings of beautifully-rich coronation chicken and beautifully garnished with strawberries and redcurrants.

The wine list was geographically eclectic and had some promising stuff listed. You need not guess for long what we chose, looking at my name above. It was one of those wines that a non-drinker or alky could also handle with ease, as it would have been sufficient to enjoy a subtle bouquet to die for. However, we chose to drink it as well; a decision that we did not regret.

For the main course, I chose Scotch beef fillet steak with Rocquefort sauce. (It’s always interesting to see how well a restaurant copes when you ask for a steak not cooked ‘rare’, ‘medium’ or ‘well-done’, but rather ‘medium-rare’). They got it spot on. The chips were good, too, which can be a surprising stumbling block for many. My good lady chose a delicious salmon dish that she sadly did not manage to finish, although she dearly wanted to.

Puddings were out of the question by now.

Caution? Make sure that you are bloody hungry, look at the size of the starters and give it a bit of thought before pigging out.

BTW, They also have some B&B rooms, but I don’t think that category exists on this site.

My company recently booked me into the Old Devil Inn for 5 days they were told that this was the best room they had.

Day 1 on arrival i was told the t.v in the the room did not work, i thought that's is ok i have my lap top i can live with that got into my room to find out the central heating did not work there was a blow heater in the corner plugged it in this did not work room was freezing.

Day 2 Woke up to the sound of barking dogs, went to have a shower in the small cold mouldy on-suite. went down stairs ordered a cooked breakfast was given a greasy plate of food with no offer of toast or bread with it dogs walking around eating area. mentioned heating was given frosty response but given different blow heater.

Day 3 Again woke up to a freezing cold room by this point had developed a cold, went to have a shower to find there was no water ended up having to have a wash with the small amounts coming from the cold tap in sink, this was really not good at all, as i was there for work reasons i had a important meeting that day which i had to present myself un-showered with a cold, went down stairs to be given another greasy breakfast and to be told a plumber has been called little use that was to me that day. returned back that night had to boil kettle on the floor to make a cup of tea.

Day 4 Woke up to another cold room with no attempt from owner to fix heating even though a plumber was there previous day water fixed had shower went down stairs for breakfast to find no one there waited in the bar for 45 mins before someone came back and took my order.

In a nut shell my stay there was very disappointing if you have plan's on going don't it was like something out of faulty towers but with out the comedy. 

Been to the restaurant a number of times and keep going back for the atmosphere, choice of food, quality, and overall friendliness. I would recommend the Inn to all. Thoroughly enjoyable and great value. Good for all ages and tastes. Deserves a visit to make up your own mind! Martin.

Been to the Old Devil Inn numerous times now and each time have come away feeling extremely well looked after by the Manageress and the staff there. Always attentive to our every need and very friendly and polite. We have eaten a wide range of different starters, meals and desserts and always been happy. A key favourite of my mothers is their Roast Pork dinners and crackling, she always looks forward to it! I don’t understand why so many people are always quick to write a bad review on something but when they thoroughly enjoy a place or experience never seem to advertise that to the world! Hence my review today! Always impressed, food, drinks and the people there. Meals are always so good and fulfilling it’s very hard to walk out the door at the end! Thank you for always making our experience so lovely and we will be returning again very very soon! 3 very happy customers! Sandra, Nicole and Candice

Great portions, great quality and great service… errrr what more do you want?

Just ate at the Old Devel Inn the food is prompt, great service and very friendly staff especially the young lady ;-)

Had a superb Sunday lunch with a party of 6 and we were accommodated well. Meat was cooked to perfection. Good portion sizes. The pubs were excellent too, we only had a little room left.

Other good points are:-

Cracking real ales, well kept.
The house wines are to a high standard, Chilean merlot and a Chenin Blanc.

Great atmosphere, friendly management and staff.

A good solid pub that serves pub food well.

Would recommend if you need a feed and a pint.

Went as party of four on 10.09.2011 – the food was absolutely EXCELLENT – well presented – portions phenominal! – hospitality by manager and manageress faultless – have been several times before and have always found the same high standard – would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

I visited with my family on 13th August for dinner and was very disappointed with the service and the food.

We have eaten here before and thoroughly enjoyed it hence why we went again, there were a few negative points that spoilt our evening.

Firstly there was no diet coke or bulmers cider……in a pub???

my parents are on a carb free diet and asked for extra vegetable instead of potato with the liver and bacon and the fish pie, my partner asked for the ‘Hot’ Chilli to be extra hot and i ordered lasagne knowing the portions are generally big………

The liver and bacon turned up with a huge dollop of mashed potato and the fish pie was more mash pie with a few prawns and barely any fish, when my mum mentioned the mash on her plate to the lady (i presume the owner) we were told ‘you should of said no mash’ we did although it seems that the waiter didn’t pass this on, my lasagne portion was tiny and the ‘HOT’ chilli was not hot.

On paying the waiter made a mistake with the machine and swore in front of us, not what you expect in any kind of service industry, we all found him to be cocky and overly chatty.

All in all although we were disappinted we took it to be an off day but reading these comments it looks like this establishment has gone down hill :(

Disappointing.... We stayed here on 2 July 2011 a party of four. My mother who has recently had a hip replacement operation had to crawl up the filthy carpeted back narrow stairs as there was no disable entrance. The so called double bedrooms were very small the bed was right up against the window and dusty curtains,cobwebs on the walls and ceilings,mould on the bathroom ceiling and around the window,thick dust every where.

When my husband went to complain and ask to be moved to another room he was told,there was no more rooms and if we didn't like it we could go else where as they could let out our room for £100 a night. As we came down for a wedding and there was a regatta on that weekend we had no choice but to stay.

I suffer with hay fever and asthma so we decided to clean the room ourselves. We started with removing the thick dusty lampshade and washing it in the hand basin,a cleaning cloth and detergent spray bottle was left in the bathroom so I guess it was left there on purpose for one to clean ones own room.

I got to work on the toilet, my husband on the cobwebs on the walls, thick dust around the door frames and back of TV. I took pictures of this and only wish I could up load them here.

There was no hand soap to use,although there was sachets of shower gel and shampoo,the shower is a hand held shower which trickled out luke warm water,so I couldn't even wash my hair and no hair dryer to use. There was a kettle in the room so could make a cup of tea, the coffee sachets and uncovered tea bags were in a dish on a dusty table.

The bedding was crumpled and on pulling the covers back we discovered 2 black hairs on the sheets,not sure if this belonged to the previous guess or the dogs they have rooming the hotel.

Breakfast the next morning was an experience, we asked for four teas,we were asked if we wanted milk,they came out two at a time with the milk already in them (no milk jug, tea pot or sugar on the table ) and five minutes later the other two teas arrived with the sugar,by this time my tea was cold,the full English breakfast came out swimming in oil,my mother was offered black pudding which she never got,we asked for toast which arrive cold on a plate no jam or marmalade.

The serves is very slow,husband and wife arguing in front of guest,dogs sitting under your table. I think the hotel inspectors should be called in. .....All I can say, avoid you have been warned.

Stayed one night, room very small, bed, table & chair, bathroom.
had to boil kettle on the floor

breakfast ok, but cat sitting on a laid out dining table, cat feeding dish in dining room, 2 dogs running around

returned to room, fresh dog poo on the stairs, smell was terrible!

not returning

Went there a year ago after an annual day out racing with our friends and came back a year later as food was good last time, though service slow but we were advised back in June 10 it was under new management.

10/4/11 Was a hot day and car park only 1/2 full so we pulled in as we knew we would probably get a table and garden was only 1/2 full which was a bonus. The menu seems to have expanded over the last year and now has a sunday lunch menu, lite bites, sandwich menu and burger menu inside as well as as special and vegetarian menu. Prices do not seem consistent and seem really reasonable for some dishes and not others. It really is far too big a menu and needs cutting down into a 2 page main menu with perhaps a smaller 2 page menu for lite bites and sarnies. My friends commented that Gordon Ramsey would go skits if he came into the pub and saw that menu!

Food was good, 45 min wait but we were not in a rush. Service again very slow, vegs came out 10 mins after roast dinner but we didn't complain. I think they need more waitressing staff to destinated areas, i. e. back of pub and garden as one poor blonde girl seemed to be doing all the work. We asked the girl for the bill but after waiting 20 mins, no sign of it so we went into the pub and the landlord could not find the card machine. He found it under a beer pump after a few mins which we all found amusing.

Our party came away said this is a nice establishment which has potential to do really well but the place how is is run at the moment reminds us of Fawlty Towers :) Lots of slow service and almost like they are new to what they are doing. Would go there again but be prepared to be patient and bite your tongue!

If you don't like animals, I would not come here as a loose dog and 2 cats in the pub and some people may find this offputting or those allergic to animals may not like it. I didn't mind though.

Normally
I would not post a comment, however I felt it necessary too do so. I have ate here three times in the past couple months and have had fantastic food! The people with me also enjoyed their food.

Agreed the service was a bit slow, a bit slower than I would have expected - however, I was happy to wait.

I have guests coming in from out of country and have decided to bring them the the Old Devil Inn- I am looking forward to another good meal.

Ate there last thursday was overwhelmed by the enormous menu and multiple specials board, didn't understand how everything could be made fresh with such a vast menu. Starters were ok, mains were a disaster, tuna special on spicy pasta was awful, raw in the middle, left me very poorly. One guest had the burger which was pure salt he sent it back and the proprieter joked that the chef must have knocked the salt into the mixture but there was no mince left to offer a second burger and by this time it had taken an hour between starters and mains. Another guest ordered the stick beef with jasmine rice, the meet was an unidentifiable cross between pork and beef and basically pure gristle. The portions were huge and virtually inedible, staff were incompetant and propriter was over friendly and repeatedly made jokes about having some of the wine on the table. One word - AWFUL

Myslelf, my wife, my 3 daughters aged 8, 4, 2 and my friend with his wife and two daughters have just been barred from the Old Devil by the landlady.. the reason..? we phoned at 4.30pm and were toldto get there for 5pm to order food, this we did and the greating was nice, we got our drinks sat in the garden and waited for our table to be ready. We ordered our food at 5.15pm, 2 roast beefs and 5 roast chickens.. at 6 pm we were told that they had run out of roast potatos and we could have chips.. We sat down, the kids meal came and the food for them was good.. the adult food came out, just meat on the plate and a bowl of fat chips to share.. we asked for veg twice but that didnt arrive until 20 minutes later, so my roast which was £14.95 considted of 3 slices of beef, a yorkshire and a plate of fat chips, the veg did arrive at the end of the meal.. We asked the landlord if he would consider discounting the food and to his credit, he took off the 3 kids meals, we said that was very fair.. the total bill was £108.. we paid and were about to leave and the landlady came over, and said she just wanted to make the point that she didnt agree with the husband and it was our fault as we arrived late and it wasnt their fault they ran out of food and they had a busy day.. we said that we thought her husband had dealt with the situation well and we were happy to leave it at that, but she accused us of being freeloaders and only interested in getting free food, started swearing in front of all the children and other customers and barred us all from ever coming back.. A horrible, gross, impolite woman who thinks it is ok to swear in front of kids and call her customers free loaders... go there at your peril..!!

Recent meal here was disappointing. The venue itself is very pleasant and the staff very friendly. However the impression gained was that volume tried to make up for quality. My wife had liver and bacon and I had a salmon fillet. What spoiled both meals was the huge mound of lumpy mashed potatoes upon which the main ingredient was placed. Most off-putting and not pleasant to eat. A complaint to the waitress was met with a bland 'I'll tell the chef' with no follow-up