The Smugglers Inn Reviews Summary

Atmosphere & Location

Pros:

• "Great traditional pub set a very short distance from the sea front and across from the village green."
• "The Smugglers Inn has a nice friendly atmosphere."
• "A really lovely, dog friendly, country pub in the heart of the village, that has retained its old world charm."
• "A nice cosy atmosphere with low ceilings and exposed beams."
• "Very pleasant garden with kids activities if you need them."
• "Lovely old wooden beams, cosy atmosphere, nice music in back ground."
• "A lovely pub with a family friendly but chilled atmosphere."

Cons:

• "The table we had was filthy and uncleared."
• "Had to sit in garden area, which was very dirty."
• "Parking can be a little tight if the pub is busy."
• "Every table inside was reserved, but no one was sitting at any of them for the hour we were there."
• "Seemed busy for food but not good as a place to have a drink, as it's food prioritised unless you want to sit outside."
• "Can't really put this down on the Pub but we were sitting next to 3 wet dogs trying to enjoy the meal and then 2 more dogs started a barking contest with the 3 which was just not cute."
• "No longer able to have a leisurely drink inside on a Saturday evening at 7.30pm. Made to sit outside and when we asked for the heaters to be put on we were refused."

Service

Pros:

• "Staff were mostly accommodating but I do feel our waitress made us uncomfortable asking for things as she was running around like a headless chicken!"
• "Staff are ALWAYS rushed off their feet but I never get a stressed out vibe as they are always smiling."
• "The staff were very welcoming and friendly considering how very busy they were the waiting time was short."
• "We were greeted by a polite friendly waitress who asked if we had a reservation to which we replied no, in no time she found us a table."
• "The waitress and host were both fab!"
• "Very friendly staff and a lovely big beer garden."
• "Staff as always friendly and helpful."

Cons:

• "I asked 3 times for a bowl of water to be told 'I’ll bring one over' to then be told 45mins later that 'dog Bowls just in summer'."
• "The overall experience wasn't worthy of a tip which possibly led to their cold farewell."
• "Perhaps the worst dining experience. Staff unfriendly."
• "Got quite busy and not enough staff so service was a little slow."
• "They didn't inform us of items not available until after we were seated and they also didnt state that they didnt stock the drinks we ordered and provided alternatives without asking if that was ok."
• "Waited 30 minutes and our order had not been taken so had to ask someone to take our food order."
• "However, the service was seriously awful."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Good food at a reasonable (well for these days...) price."
• "The food was excellent."
• "The food was delicious and plentiful, and the service was friendly and very efficient."
• "The lunch surpassed expectations, perfectly cooked and beautifully presented."
• "The food was delicious, well cooked, and the portions were very generous."
• "The food was delivered and what a delight that was for our eyes and taste buds wonderfully presented and a plentiful amount of everything."
• "The food here was absolutely delicious, I had fish pie and the vegetables were cooked beautifully."

Cons:

• "The turkey roast wasn't what it should be and was below our expectations."
• "The homemade chicken and mushroom pie was frankly, uneatable, the mushrooms were like rubber and the chicken was hard and chewy."
• "The only gluten free options were to remove items from the dish and most of them contained gluten and dairy both of which my child can't have the only option he could have was just ham and egg literally."
• "The ham on the ploughman's was served far too cold & therefore chewy."
• "Main meal was disappointing very salty 'homemade' pie which didn’t look very homemade."
• "Vegetables were clearly old (brown broccoli isn’t fresh)."
• "The food was very bland and not worth the money at all."

Value & Pricing

Pros:

• "This place goes from strength to strength. Top class management who understand quality, atmosphere, excellent value for food coupled with generous proportions, along with friendly service."
• "The food is competatively priced and reliable."
• "Good range of tasty dishes, well presented and reasonably priced."
• "With a bill for 2 courses of food and drinks for 4 adults coming in just under £100, we thought we had reasonable value for money."
• "Simply great value pub, go hungry as portions unbelievable."
• "Excellent food and sensible price so we ate here several times over the week."
• "Great food at a reasonable price."

Cons:

• "Felt like a weatherspoons rather than an Independant."
• "Nice beer and atmosphere but was really put off by the extravagant portion sizes."
• "Do they not realise some people do not want or only want a small amount of gravy."
• "The kids meals are a little in the small side."
• "The roast dinner needs a lot of improvement."
• "The food was of a disappointing standard."
• "Used to be amazing but the food has got progressively worse over the last 4 years."

Facilities & Accessibility

Pros:

• "There is a dining room for bookings."
• "Good car park in the midst of the old village of Milton on Sea and less than a mile from beach car parks."
• "Dog friendly place with a water bowl as you walk in."
• "Indoor and outdoor eating areas with small play area to keep little ones entertained whilst waiting."
• "Very clean disabled toilet, especially on a very hot bank holiday Friday where it was so busy."
• "Separate play areas. One for kids 1-5 yr olds and a play area for 5-10 yr olds."
• "There's also a good sized car park and wheelchair accessible entrance."

Cons:

• "Would not return or recommend."
• "The only real let down was the service."
• "The service wasn't overly friendly but efficient."
• "The service was a bit on the slow side however they did look fairly full so can be forgiven."
• "One star missing, as the Gents was a bit yuk and pongy."
• "Can't really put this down on the Pub but we were sitting next to 3 wet dogs trying to enjoy the meal and then 2 more dogs started a barking contest with the 3 which was just not cute."
• "No staff bothered to wash ahead of our food being served!"