The Old Swan Reviews Summary

Atmosphere & Decor

Pros:

• "Great feeling to the place."
• "Excellent place in the lovely village of Gargrave, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park."
• "The pub is lovely inside with plenty seating plus an outside beer garden."
• "What a great place! Really enjoyed our stay here, nicely decorated throughout."
• "The place undergoing extensive refurbishment, don't be put off by the outside as it's still wonderful inside."
• "Beautifully set out inside."
• "The place is lovely and has a great atmosphere."

Cons:

• "The decor in the dining room is awful, too bland."
• "The restraunt is in the same room as the bar, and the smell of the food was putting me right off my drink."
• "The 'crushed' new potatoes weren't really crushed and therefore hadn't absorbed much of the cooking juices."
• "It's worth having an eye mask though as the car headlights can be a nuisance at night."
• "Shoved into a back room because we had a dog with us."

Staff & Service

Pros:

• "The staff are really welcoming."
• "All the staff are amazing. Like amazing. Super friendly, helpful and will have some banter with you about anything."
• "Staff were so friendly and accommodating throughout our stay."
• "The staff could not have been more friendly, the room was spacious and spotless with lots of snacks and bottles of water which was a lovely touch."
• "Great service from the bar staff, think she was called Gem, nothing was too much bother."
• "Staff friendly and helpful when you're not sure what pudding to have."
• "Staff were very attentive and polite and nothing was too much bother."

Cons:

• "If I have any criticisms it's that the staff were not very engaging, they just went through the motions, a smile would have been nice."
• "they talk to customers about what you order and judge you, about asking for extra roast potatoes, and veg even though it says please ask for more on the menu, made us feel very unwelcome."
• "Found staff very rude, a local walked into your pub and you served him first, as far as I am concerned my pound is as good as anyone's."
• "Very rude gentleman behind the bar, if they feel customer service is not important to customers and rudness is acceptable then it's another failing pub and in a small community word travels very fast."
• "The interaction with our table was very minimal and at best, very unpleasant."
• "You get a frosty reception from bar staff and serving staff."
• "Staff were rude and aggressive."

Food & Drink

Pros:

• "Food was fabulous, I chose swordfish and the other half had Belly pork!"
• "Food was beautiful and really good value for money."
• "Food was gorgeous and reasonably priced."
• "Both meals were cooked to perfection."
• "Dinner was excellent - varied menu, quick service, tasty food."
• "The food was fresh home made, and absolutely delicious... not pretentious, just good food cooked and served with excellence."
• "The food was absolutely superb, best we've tasted in a long time."

Cons:

• "The wine was served on top of a bucket of ice not in it."
• "Food was under portions to say the least."
• "Ordered fish pie which came not heated through... didn't have much fish in either pie."
• "I was a little surprised to see large pieces of local bacon which, although working well with the cabbage did rather dominate the flavour of the lamb."
• "Really bad experience today not sure what was going on. Our table a starter came as same time as main then a burger was plain with no cheese or anything."
• "Last night my salad was not good. Lacked ingredients listed."
• "Fish was clearly frozen no thickness to it at all how they can put that out and call it fresh is beyond me."