The Woolpack

Best fish and chips I had while in the UK. Maybe a street vendor would have been better but the Woolpack was more comfortable!
Great, fun food and good service. It is a hot spot for my UK friends and a place this American will always fit into a trip!

Its a real shame. The food here can be pretty good sometimes, and at other times it can be seriously disappointing. In fact I have never known another restaurant that served such an inconsistent quality of food. I used to eat here quite frequently — but got fed up with not knowing if I was going to have an enjoyable meal or a massive disappointment. I think the real problem is that there is nobody in the place who can be bothered to check that what comes out of the kitchen is of an acceptable standard. Maybe they just employ incompetent chefs on certain days of the week. Sadly the service is equally unreliable.

What a disappointment. After years of going to the Woolpack and receiving very good service and enjoying a superb meal our recent experience has prompted me to say we will never go back. Considering the restarant was very quiet we had to wait 20 minutes before anyone took the trouble to give us a menu and this set the precendence for the rest of the evening. My meal was forgotten and after asking where it was did receive an apology, however the rest of our party had almost finished their meal before mine arrive. Vegetables had run out and no replacement offered. Had to wait a long period of time between courses. Shoddy service, meal was okay, not sure what has happened to the Woolpack but we won’t be going back, I am sure there are much better places to eat. One star is being more than generous.

Can’t believe the other reviewers went to the same pub. Went for lunch today, first time since it burnt down, and have nothing but good things to say about the place. The new manager, Tom, is a really nice bloke who seems really knowledgeable about the drinks and the chain in general. Had scallops (yummy) and a pork Pâté/​terrine (could do with a really strong piccalilly or pickled veg, but tasty) followed by sea bass (gorgeous) and rabbit papardelle (bit salty, but yummy). The only let down was a rather dry brownie for pudding, but our complaint /​comment was taken on board and I feel confident my next brownie there will be better. Would definitely recommend it to friends.

The car park is always packed whenever we drive past so we decided to give this fine dining pub a go. You have to mind your head as you walk in as there are a few low beams. Décor was nice and quite a cosy little place. My partner and I had rib-​eye steak and venison. Food was very good and staff were very attentive. Food was pricey but you get what you pay for. Drinks were very dear so after meal we went elsewhere for a few bevearges. We would visit this place again.

Arrived at the booked time and waited by the entrance — the chap organising the bookings looked at us — a group of four several times from about 15 feet away but made no move to come and greet us — in the end I had to go to the barman and explain we had a booking after which we had to go to the bookings organiser who introduced us to a waitress who took us to a table. Service was slow and completely inattentive courtesy of the waitress. Eventually we asked another waitress (as we had no idea wherethe original had got to) to take our order. Whitebait starter was fine but rib– eye was the worst I have ever had. Given I’ve had rib eye in numerous countries thats saying something — approx 25% was inedible (chewy bits) and had to be left on the plate. I have never left any rib-​eye before. Dessert Panacotta was sweet — Morrisons is better. Original waitress was not around when we had finished our dessert either so we had to ask another waitress for the bill. Not worth the money or time and neither the original waitress or the Maitre D didn’t care — we shall not be returning.

The Woolpack burned down in early May 2009.

jessicaperrett describe it very nicely and i don’t think so there is any thing else left to say but you need to go there to see it

Great place to go for a drink or a meal. Both area’s are decorated nice and there is always a nice atmosphere. Good quality of food at a good price.

This has recently been refurbished and the interior is now a strange mixture of the old, with bare wood floors and beams, and the new, with modern lighting and sculptures on the walls and modern tables and chairs. But despite this apparent strange combination, it does actually work very well together. They also have a very large garden out the front which has numerous tables and some very large canopies. As for the food, well, you will not be disappointed. Exquisite, expertly presented and very tasty. This place does have a very good reputation in the local community for being a great place to eat.

Being a vegetarian I the was really disappointed with this place the other day as they had a really large menu and one very unappetising option for me to choose which was tomato ravioli. The service was also pretty miserable and the atmosphere was quite starchy in the restaurant area. We have been here before for drinks and I would have to say it is a much better pub than restaurant and wouldn’t really recommend to anyone.