The White Swan Reviews Summary

Atmosphere

Pros:

• "Nice bit of folk music playing in the lounge, and a reasonably long bar."
• "Terrific lively atmosphere, must visit."
• "Had live music on bank holiday weekend, it was heaving and good fun."
• "This one was popular with the locals, and had a great friendly atmosphere."
• "Live band on the Friday. Great vibe, packed with a wide age mix of locals and tourists enjoying the rock n roll covers blasted out at decent volume."
• "Decent pub food, busy and quite atmospheric pub. Food was average but portions were really good."
• "Great historic pub in central Swanage."

Cons:

• "Sadly we didn't even go right in... it's had its soul ripped out to make way for a very modern looking interior."
• "No atmosphere, clueless service and we went elsewhere after a drink."
• "It was too noisy with the live band downstairs in the bar which we were not told before."
• "There was loud pop music in the bar area - hardly a good lunchtime ambiance."
• "But it did smell of toilets in the bar area which bought the experience down a bit."
• "The pub itself was grotty and dirty looking."
• "Quite frankly the worst pub in SWANAGE! Do not go there for food only 4 of us eating waited an hour."

Service

Pros:

• "The staff were very welcoming, the food was excellent."
• "Proper pub for locals, as well as catering to the tourist looking foe the real town. No frills, good food, good service."
• "Simon and all his staff very friendly and attentive."
• "Efficient and courteous staff make this a popular place to eat and drink with locals and holidaymakers."
• "Really delightful barmaid who couldn't have been lovelier or more helpful."
• "Staff were very Good, Welcoming, and NICE."
• "Great service & great food. Simon the manager couldn't do enough for us."

Cons:

• "Wait for food for 40 minutes wasn't asked if food was ok."
• "One useless mature female member of staff behind the bar who continually claimed she didn't work there."
• "A disappointing apathy from the staff spoilt what could have been a lovely meal out."
• "The person serving had no idea of the bar snacks available and didn't seem particularly bothered either."
• "The girl in the kitchen was ringing the bell for food to be taken out to customers but landlady was too busy chatting and drinking with some men at the bar."
• "The staff seemed disinterested to help."
• "Very slow service - bar lady not interested in serving."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "The food was pleasantly surprising, I had the home cooked shepherds pie and the steak and piddle pie, both were tasty, fresh and good value."
• "Had a wonderful Sunday roast in here."
• "They served us a gigantic seafood salad, full of prime shellfish and salmon."
• "Well we've just had the local, homemade purbeck pie and what can I say?...well it was fabulous...one of the best pies we've ever had!"
• "Sunday roast (pork) was piping hot, very generously portioned and served with crisp roast potatoes, red cabbage, carrots, peas, Yorkshire pudding, the whole served in a rich gravy."
• "Good vegetarian food cooked beautifully."
• "Great night in the White Swan. Great Wagyu burger. Well kept beer."

Cons:

• "Ive had better sunday dinners at a blind mans convention. Clearly shop brought roast potatoes and Yorkshire pubbings."
• "Not the best Sunday Roast I've eaten."
• "The food used to be superb. Based on two recent experiences, it isn't any more."
• "Chef left to get a milkshake and didn't bother cooking our food, food took over an hour to come and the burger wasn't fully cooked."
• "Food arrived... potatoes were black and inedible."
• "Unfortunately my fish and chips were not great, the fries were overfried and crunchy."
• "The roast potatoes had just been cooked in a deep fat fryer and the veg was not fresh."

Value for Money

Pros:

• "Food is typical pub grub at good prices."
• "Friendly staff and keen prices."
• "The price we paid is OK."

Cons:

• "£15.50 for a side portion of macaroni cheese with a tiny piece of undercooked toast."
• "Chips were fine a large portion but I didn't think it warranted the £12 price tag."
• "Average food very overpriced."
• "Got charged £8:20 for one larger and an orange squash. Then I ordered a jacket potato, that came out frozen."
• "Beer was ok. Definitely not worth the money asked."
• "£8.25 for a pint an a half of weak draught bitter, ridiculous."
• "Poor value and overpriced."

Cleanliness

Pros:

• "The measures in place for corona seem good."
• "It was clean, warm, reasonable loos and friendly so I would recommend."
• "Asked to see a typical room for future reference... which was clean and tidy with on suite."

Cons:

• "Room not made up and had to request new towels."
• "The table clearly had not been properly cleaned in ages as was incredibly sticky."
• "According to my wife, the Ladies toilets were disgraceful, with no sanitary disposal, no toilet brush, non working hand drier."
• "Not very clean,long wait for food,no member of staff wearing face masks, social distancing by staff and patrons abysmal."
• "Tables in beer garden were cleared but not clean and there was a lot of litter around."
• "Sign outside said delicious food and the outside looked inviting and traditional. However when we entered the pub we were struck by the inbuilt dirt in the worn carpets."
• "The place could do with a good clean and tidy - we went and drank in the garden and it wasn't much better."