Richard (23 April 2009)

It was my birthday and wanted to go to a nice restaurant with a nice á la carte menu and found the Falcon on the internet. The menu looked good and it was booked. On arriving we were met and asked if we would like a drink before being seated, things were looking good, that is until we opened the menu. This was not the menu advertised on their home web page so I asked for the á la carte menu only to be told that this was it. Ham egg and chips are nice but not something that I was looking forward to on a special occasion. The menu was more of a pub menu and very disappointing after an á la carte was advertised. After finishing the starters, the mains arrived literally a minute later, no way on earth were they cooked fresh, stuck under a grill even with the salad leaves leaving them burnt and crispy, the steak was not cooked and had to be sent back. To be honest this was the worst meal I have had and would never go back, so disappointing I really can’t express how bad this was.

Janie (10 November 2007)

For me, The Falcon was like an old friend who I hadn't seen for a while, and when I did, found them changed, and not for the better. We've been dining at the Falcon for almost thirty years - it was a favourite place to go for Christmas Day lunch, when I was a child and I spent my wedding night there fifteen years ago. We last visited in 2003 and had a wonderful meal, but our experience last night was not up to the standards I'd come to expect.

Firstly, the cosy cellar bar was mainly empty of bar staff while we waited for our table and although we'd booked for 8 pm, it was after 8.30 pm by the time we were seated. As a party of six with two children, we were seated outside of the main dining area, in splendid isolation. The bubbly ordered by my father as a surprise for my mother was forgotten, but later taken off the bill as a gesture of goodwill.

The service was adequate but impersonal - the special atmosphere of the old Falcon was missing and although the food was acceptable, pub grub is a good description and I would need a lot of persuading to return.