Queens, Stoke Poundback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Again under new ownership and hopefully this one will work out as it's potentially a good pub in a great location.
Apparently there's a grand re-opening due shortly and more of the pub will be set up for drinking rather than the more restauranty feel it currently has which will definitely be welcome.
First impressions were good with decent food and a very good pint of Enville Ale.
Sam the barman/barmanager apparently learnt his craft with Richard at The Dodford so there's hope there.
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The Queens Head in Stoke Pound has always been a favourite of my family because of its attentive and professional staff, wonderful customer service, excellent food and superb attention to detail. There has been a recent change of management and sadly a change of standards. I’m sorry to say the latest evening was a series of unfortunate experiences and customer service bordering on offensive.
We arrived to an empty premise to finally be greeted by a member of bar staff who was not aware of our arrival despite having booked the evening before. The restaurant serves food from 2 menus, only one of which was given to us when we were seated and there was no kids menu for evening meals.
Soon after being seated a woman arrived to clear our unwanted wine glasses and engage us in general chit-chat. I can only assume this person was a member of the management as she wasn’t wearing a uniform and no introduction was given. Upon removing the last wine glass, she knocked my fresh pint of lager, managing to spill half of it all over my wife and 4-month-old son who happened to be breast feeding at the time.
The woman firstly apologised by saying, ‘she'd had too much to drink’, then disappeared to collect clean cutlery, leaving me and my sister-in-law to clean up with napkins. It was only upon her return that we were moved to another table. To add insult to dampness, my pint was replaced (only at my request) with a half (because after all, only half of it was spilt remember!)
Were we offered a decent apology, or maybe complimentary deserts, free drinks or even a discount from our bill? No, nothing at all. We simply finished our main courses and left so my wife could change her beer stained clothes and bath her beer soaked baby.
It was pitifully obvious that the new management are inexperienced and lack any real understanding of the hospitality business or even common decency for that matter. The replacement of my pint with a half and the refusal to offer even the smallest of incentives saved them a few quid but very sadly ended our 5-year love affair with the Queen’s Head and guaranteed we will never visit again.
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Reported in this weeks Standard as having closed down.
We enjoyed a few buffet lunches but the beer was expensive and I had to return a high proportion due to it being off or end of barrel.
The Landlord, in the Standard article, appears to be blaming people not coming for the closure but consider - high beer prices, gastro pub atmosphere deters drinkers, rural location (drink/drive) - and you can see why it failed.
He has the Greyhound - which according to the staff is struggling and has taken over the Gate Hangs Well down the road which recently closed due to poor customer levels!!!!
Watch this space.
Pubs are dying. They mostly resemble restaurants now and so they have no regular drinkers and at £3.50- £4+ per pint its hardly surprising.
PubCos are greedy and publicans have sacrificed regular beer trade by turning into gastropubs. Quite how many gastropubs can an area stand??? Plus every pub that closes seems to become a curry house and even they tell me they are struggling now due to market saturation.
Who the hell can afford £30-£60 every night they go out to have a pint and be expected to buy a gastro meal?
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Visited on a Sunday lunchtime after seeing an add in Pint Taken but sadly paid £4.90 for a pint and a half of very vinegary and not at all Mellow Yellow.One sip was enough and after pointing out to the barmaid the beer was off she did change it immediately for a fresh pint of half decent Wye Valley IPA.
Surely though the bar manager should try his beer before service;we arrived at 1.30 ish so many poor punters would already have sampled it that day and I can't believe I was the first to complain.
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It is unusual to find such a gastro-orientated slick operation for a canalside pub; it perhaps would've been more at home in a town centre and the well-dressed clientele suggested it was a rather more urbane affair than many of its country cottage counterparts.
However, don't let the rather formalised, restaurantish way it is managed put you off, for you shall sample some of the finest food at the Queens. Some opted for the mxied buffet, helping themselves to a rake of ill-suited ingredients shoved together on a single plate in the name of good value. All well and good, but for a high-quality, balanced single meal, pay a little more and you shall not regret it. The slow-cooked blade of beef with mash and wine jus was outstanding - rarely have I tasted beef as tender and moreish as that. A real treat. Despite hitting the jackpot with this choice I remained envious of my comrades, one of whom had gone for the fish pie which looked equally excellent, and the other the cod loin. All were polished off comfortably and with deserved compliments to the chef.
The manager - a former customer - was on the ball and organised the ever-busying punters adeptly and politely. He managed to avail us of a table to accommodate 8 despite having no booking, and was most convivial. He would do well in a larger operation such as a good hotel restaurant.
Beer-wise, it's a GBG-listed outlet, and we weren't unhappy with the 3 choices - Hobson's Mild, Wetheroak Ale and Wye Valley HPA. The latter 2 were superb, although I was told that the Mild was a bit ropey. Bad luck. It was the most expensive round on our holiday - £23 - but all is relative. Locally that was high but to us South-Easterners, not bad at all!
If you want traditional cottagey comfort and home-made classics, think again. However, if a smart, contemporary pub and restaurant with excellent food is in your sights, pull off here and fill those boots.
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We ate here and cannot fault the food or service. Wye Valley guest was superb (IPA). The lunchtime backround music was somewhat annoying (unless you are under 20!). We have eaten at their sister pub (the Greyhound in Bromsgrove) and are impressed with that too.
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its such a famtastic pub which has such an awesom atmosphere. there is live entertainment thurs,fir and sat and everyone there has a good time.its like no other pub and i love it!!!
lauren eve chandler - 13 Nov 2004 16:40 |
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