The Shovels Reviews Summary

Value for Money

Pros:

• "Great value for money."
• "Two meals for £12! I was amazed, gammon was superb. Good value beer."
• "Two meals for £11.99. And a pint £2.40."
• "The food is fantastic. Value for money is amazing."
• "Good food with very good prices."
• "This place is great value for food & drink."
• "Food was excellent and very reasonably priced."

Cons:

• "But massively let down by the food... the portions were extremely small, not value for money even given the fairly cheap prices."
• "Wasn't really impressed, meals was very small compared to the price, it wasn't bad just not enough."
• "Drinks are far too expensive.. Not great for families on a budget who want a drink."
• "If I’m getting smaller I was to pay less Not the same."
• "The chips are a child's portion and I almost got a portion of peas. The fish is very small."
• "Wasn't really impressed, meals was very small compared to the price, it wasn't bad just not enough."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Absolutely superb food was spot on we enjoyed it that much we have booked to come back before we leave."
• "Very well cooked, chicken, pie and steaks, all beautiful."
• "The food was excellent asked for the steak to be cooked medium rare and it melted in the mouth."
• "Food was delicious as usual."
• "Food arrived also quickly, was hot and all four meals very tasty."
• "Outstanding food, truly excellent."
• "Food delicious warm cooked to perfection."

Cons:

• "Mums roast dinner was very boring and needed extra strong knife on Yorkshire pudding. My chicken kebab wasn't cooked through."
• "Fish n chips was far too small for an adult."
• "the food wasn't as expected it was fatty and not one person came to the table to do a check the food is normally fantastic but today wasn't brilliant."
• "Unfortunately my wife didn't really like her burger."
• "Went for a Sunday roast and honestly it was like dog food - the beef was tasteless and chewy, the mash tasted like instant smash, gravy was lumpy."
• "Steaks not cooked to our order plus they were cheap cuts of meats and the fish seamed to be cooked in old oil."
• "Tried chicken strips with Nacho sauce... Awful!!!"

Service

Pros:

• "Staff behind the bar and waiting on were all friendly and hardworking."
• "The people who served me and my family...checked up on us frequently and had exquisite manners."
• "all the staff are friendly and go above and beyond."
• "Service was impeccable even though it was busy."
• "Service by James was second to none and really made the experience even better."
• "Staff awesome especially Cheryl our server she was their whenever we needed anything."
• "Staff were so welcoming, food was really good and great price."

Cons:

• "Expected abit better after waiting for over n hour, and not being told it was over an hour wait."
• "Three times in three weeks we waited over an hour for food."
• "Terribly terribly SLOW service and it wasn't just our table as other diners were waiting just as long."
• "We had to chase up the food order."
• "Service poor."
• "basic customer service missing, such as checking food was ok at some point during our meal and clearing plates away after meal."
• "The staff are friendly but far too quick to clear empty glasses from tables while others in your group are not finished."

Ambience and Cleanliness

Pros:

• "The ambience is relaxed, the venue is kept clean."
• "Place is looking very nice too after the refurb."
• "Good atmosphere in pub."
• "Pub was very clean with loads of outdoor seats should you wanted any."
• "Very clean & perfect to bring children."
• "This place has a great atmosphere, served quickly."
• "The atmosphere was lovely when we walked in."

Cons:

• "Sticky tables too."
• "Unfortunately I had to clear our table as nobody arrived to do so."
• "The drinking glasses, they need to be washed properly, had a bottle of water but the glass smelled of wet dog."
• "Tables not cleared, music too loud as were 'a table of customers' give it a miss for a while."
• "Table was dirty when arrived."
• "Disappointing atmosphere with football very loud on all the TVs, with it being Mothering Sunday I would have thought there would have been more effort put into the ambience."
• "Table was dirty when arrived."

Dog-Friendly

Pros:

• "Even the dog was welcomed, bonus!"
• "Dog friendly too."
• "Your dog friendly for a reason, if they don't want to sit n eat around dogs tell them go somewhere else or sit outside just like they expect our dogs too."
• "the pub was super dog friendly large good value meals."
• "Thank you for allowing dogs in your pub."
• "Also dog friendly so it's excellent to stop there mid walk."
• "Loved the fact it's dog friendly too."

Cons:

• "The only negative is that whilst the pub claims to be dog friendly, there are only a few tables where you are allowed to sit with a dog."
• "Yes was the reply so we booked explaining that on this occasion we had our dog with us. On arrival we were told that whilst they were dog friendly the only place we could sit to eat was what could only be described as a tap room and this was next to the gents toilets."
• "The only criticism I would give is they allow dogs to be anywhere in the pub. Which for people pile my husband and daughter is a problem as they are allergic."
• "I often find there are scraps of food around the table from previous customers and I appreciate it can get busy but it makes it awkward with a dog as don't want him eating it for obvious reasons especially if contained onions etc."