Bull

Ray (9 January 2009)

My wife and I have been eating at the Bull 'forever'. When it changed from being a pub into a pub-restaurant in the mid 90s the food and service were good. This deteriorated markedly as we moved into the mid '00s particularly in terms of the time it took to get served. We would usually phone first to check out the waiting time, and more often than not would go elsewhere. However, last year new managers took over and have made an immense difference. The food is good, the service is excellent, almost too quick at times, and cheerful with it, it is table service now, and the ambience is as great as it always was. The couple of minor complaints we have raised in recent visits have been very promptly and pleasantly dealt with. If it stays like this it will continue to be our favourite regular haunt. We are happy to highly recommend The Bull. Enjoy your visit!

PB (8 August 2007)

The Bull has recently extended its seating capacity significantly, and its outdoor area now includes an extensive range of tables, chairs and benches, as well as outdoor heating. Great for having dinner on a summer's evening, you might think. But be warned that there are often long delays for ordering food, even when the place is not full. On a recent visit one Saturday evening, I went with some friends at about 8 p.m. and we had no trouble finding a table (the place was half empty) but found that no food orders were being taken until a backlog could be cleared and the earliest we might expect to have our order taken would be 9.30 p.m. and we might not be eating until, 10 p.m. We decided to go somewhere else instead, which didn't seem to bother the manager at all. It's a great shame, as this is a beautiful and comfortable pub with terrific character that used to be very friendly and do lovely pub food at a very good price. But not only is the service bad, but the extensive chalked special’s boards have shrunk to a handful of offers only, and have been largely replaced by a set printed menu of relatively limited choice and noticeably higher prices. I still think it's a lovely place to go for a drink, but it's no longer somewhere I could recommend for a meal.

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