The Royal Oak Reviews Summary

Service

Pros:

• "The staff was very friendly. They had a good drink selection."
• "Me and my other half and our lovely doggo popped into The Royal Oak to grab some food and have a quick drink and the service was amazing."
• "Staff were attentive and went the extra mile by explaining the history to those who showed interest."
• "Staff were very friendly and courteous, food was excellent value for money."
• "Staff were helpful but then again the app was used for all orders."
• "Staff were friendly and attentive and food arrived earlier than their estimated wait time."
• "We found the service exemplary, with very friendly hard working staff."

Cons:

• "The waiter didn't point out to us that we would only pay £1 for a pint when ordering a burger and charged us £1.8 for each half pint."
• "Went for a pub lunch. There was only one person serving at the bar, so had to wait ages for our drinks and for someone to take our order."
• "Very long wait after ordering on app - about 25 minutes for drinks to finally arrive."
• "The staff quite clearly hate offering table service."
• "Waited a least 10 mins to be served as some of bar staff flirting with customers."
• "The downside was that we waited nearly an hour for them - we'd been warned of a 30 minute wait but this was a bit much."
• "We had to wait more than an hour for our meal."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Absolutely THE BEST VEGAN BURGER I have ever had in a pub."
• "Cosy atmosphere, good selection of beers and excellent 'today's special' chicken and mushroom pie."
• "The steak & ale pie was excellent and mash the mash potato cooked to perfection."
• "The Fish and chips were massive, cooked well and flaky."
• "Food was great, we had the £7 lunch deal."
• "Food was very nice especially the pies."
• "The food was delicious!"

Cons:

• "The broccoli on top was quite overcooked and cold."
• "A pie, mash and vegetables consisted of a fair sized pie with more gravy than meat, a spoon sized portion of flavourless mash potatoes and one stalk of overcooked broccoli."
• "Was charged £9 for a stale chicken and bacon sandwich that looked like it had been fetched from Gregg's a couple of days prior."
• "The crust was the hardest substance known to man, and tasted very stale."
• "Food is expensive and of relatively middling quality."
• "The food was nothing special, small portions of bland food, with many items unavailable."
• "Korean chicken burger bun slightly burnt and chicken breadcrumbs overcooked and dry."

Ambience & Cleanliness

Pros:

• "You can see a lot of money has been invested in keeping the pub clean and tidy."
• "Modern/Classic mingle, wooden layout. Nice atmosphere and friendly staff."
• "This pub is said to have existed since 1002, but the furnishings, the food, the drinks and the audience are contemporary, the prices fair and the atmosphere friendly."
• "The pub is very friendly and welcoming and consists of modern decorations."
• "The Royal Oak had some wonderful internal architecture and ambience, really gives off the feeling that an olden days pub should have."
• "The pub is on several levels and has good atmosphere."
• "Clean, good food with decent portion sizes."

Cons:

• "The gent's toilets are up a VERY steep stairway with an almost laughable hand rail."
• "Dirty toilets and loud music."
• "One of the ladies' loos had no toilet paper for the entire time we were there."
• "The ladies toilets were in a very bad state (the floor in both stalls was wet, the crevices in the tiles were riddled with mould, and the doors could definitely do with a fresh coat of paint)."
• "Ladies toilets had one cubicle with no toilet paper as it had jammed in the dispenser, the other had a very stiff door."
• "But the ladies needed a good clean, one out of order and the other one there was a leak, water everywhere."
• "The dusting would struggle to pass a white glove test!"

Value for Money

Pros:

• "Staff were very friendly and courteous, food was excellent value for money."
• "Food was great, we had the £7 lunch deal."
• "Good traditional food at affordable prices."
• "Prices are not too expensive and fair for most dishes and drinks."
• "Reasonably priced for drinks and the Sunday roast at £11.99 is good value."
• "Good prices too."
• "The food is very satisfactory and at a reasonable price."

Cons:

• "We ordered two drinks a Pint of Peroni and a single vodka mixed with a J2O it came to £14.50! That's prime London prices..."
• "Was charged £9 for a stale chicken and bacon sandwich that looked like it had been fetched from Gregg's a couple of days prior."
• "Food is expensive and of relatively middling quality."
• "We both ordered the pepper tart, which was quite pricey. Sadly it really wasn’t very nice."
• "After spending around 60gbp we would expect a spotless service otherwise we could've it at McDonald's."
• "The steak was drained in oil and consisted of 80% of fat."
• "The fries were also overcooked, mostly hollow and burnt."