Mendip
The Bell Inn

The Bell Inn

Buckland Dinham, BA11 2RP, Mendip, United Kingdom

Pub • Fish • Steak • British


"We visited The Bell today for lunch. We knew ahead of time that they weren’t serving roasts today, as we called to enquire before arriving. Once settled at our table we overheard someone else asking why this was the case, to which the response was ‘lack of demand’. This was a shame as we’d have been interested to try one. We were still happy to go and choose from the usual menu. I opted for the Cumberland Sausages, Mash, Peas and Gravy and my fiancé the steak, Ale and Mushroom Pie which was served with chips and peas. My food was good, the sausages were succulent and tasty. The veg, you could tell, was either a microwave steam pouch, or from a larger frozen bag, but it was still very tasty. My partner’s said the pie filling was delicious, although it was lacking in lumps of steak and the pie was really a pie dish containing the filling and a puff pastry topper added. It’s completely personal preference with pies, but we would have preferred it to have been encased in pastry, rather than just topped. For the price, we felt the pie was a little on the expensive side for what was served- however it was still tasty. The pub was sadly lacking atmosphere with only two other diners in the lower area where we sat and a larger party up on the top deck towards the rear garden. There was only one member of front of house staff present whilst we were there, until we ordered our final drink when a colleague briefly appeared to assist with the drink order. I suspect, in fairness, coronavirus restrictions only recently having been eased contributed to the lack of ambience and the low level of trade today. Perhaps people are still a little reluctant to eat out, or maybe they had opted to eat at a later point in the day. It would be nice to see the demand for a Sunday Roast increase, and we would certainly visit to try one. All in all a nice visit."

Waggon Horses Free House

Waggon Horses Free House

United Kingdom, BA4 4LA, Mendip

Pub • Steak • British • Vegetarian


"Started off well. Lovely old building, much more character on the inside than the outside suggests. Reminds me in a good way of how pubs used to be. Shame the woman running in was just downright rude. Seems to be a theme running through other reviews. The barmaid was lovely and friendly. The place was quite full with nowhere obvious to sit. There was an area with four tables with the lights off so I asked the barmaid if she could turn them on, and she happily agreed. Sat down at the table and a rude and unpleasant woman came over and told us we couldn 't sit there, they weren 't using the room tonight, and we 'd have to sit somewhere else. No smile, no apology, no pleasant words. As we 're walking out of the area confused wondering where the hell to sit, I said quite loudly care to suggest somewhere? and the woman turned back and said there 's a large table through there , directing us into a cramped back bar occupied by a group of locals who obviously weren 't happy at being intruded upon. My partner was really upset by this point so we ended up leaving our drinks and walking out. I 've drunk at all the local pubs on the back roads round here... The Knatchbull, The Bell, The Vobster, The Poacher 's, Strode Arms, The King 's Head, The Talbot... all fantastic pubs with warm, friendly staff and punters. Never found any of them less than pleasant and welcoming. Never had a problem in any of them. Never had reason not to wholeheartedly recommend any of them. The Wagon and Horses is a whole different story and I wouldn 't go back if you paid me."

The Bell Inn

The Bell Inn

Leigh Street, BA3 5QQ, Mendip, United Kingdom

Pub • Pubs • Lunch • Drinks


"We have Just has the most awful experience in a pub that I have ever had. I'm so upset by the experience here and I can't believe that it has just happened. I'm not sure who else I can contact about this and how we have been treated. We use to go to this pub most weekends for a roast dinner, before covid and lockdown, think it was different owners back then? We were booked in for 3.15pm, we arrived at 3.10 ready for our Fathers Day meal, our table wasn't ready so we were told we could go in the markee and wait. We ordered drinks at the bar and then went to our table, which was finally ready at 3.45 pm, half hour after our booked time. We went to order our starters and our main meals, but unfortunately 2 of the 4 starters were no longer available. So we all ordered the garlic mushrooms on toast. They took 45 minutes to arrive and 3 starters were missing. After another 15 minutes the other 3 starters came out. We then waited until another 20 minutes, when the manager came and said she needed to re take our main meal order to make sure it was right, which was abit strange, we thought maybe she had misplaced our order. I asked the waitress if we could have some cutlery for our mains, she put the cutlery on a tray at the other end of the table, (I guess they were soo busy she didn't have time to hand out our cutlery? so I laid the table. Another half hour plus and the main meal finally came out, but it was wrong, one roast lamb was missing. Mine and 3 others people's roast potatoes were inedible, they were like rocks, and raw in the middle The manager came out to clear the table and asked how our food was, so we said the potatoes were raw in the middle. We asked the waitress if we could have the pudding menu, which she gave us, We asked the waitress if all the pudding were available (after 2 of the 4 starters were missing we thought we had better check She said she didn't know but would go and check..., my 6 year old had been sat patiently at the table for 2.5 hours as good as gold waiting for her pudding of ice cream. The manager then came out, starting raising her voice Infront of my child and said we had been very rude to her staff and she was not going to be serving us puddings!! at no point during the time we were there had we been rude to any member of staff. We had been extremely tolerate, they were extremely busy and because of this the service was very poor, I'm not sure how many people would wait over 2 and half hours. When we got the bill, there was a bottle of wine on there that we didn't order, so took it back the new bill came, had another drink on there that we didn't order, so took that back too. The 3rd bill came and that also had another drink on there that we didn't order. By this point we were so upset we just paid and left. It really is Such a shame, this use to be a lovely pub and we have had many lovely meals here before. I'm not really sure what has happened..but I'm so upset and cross by the while experience and how we were treated I will never be going back."

The Den At Jon Thorners

The Den At Jon Thorners

Bridge Farm Shop, Mendip, United Kingdom, BA4 6ST

Lunch • Coffee • Brunch • British


"Visiting my son working on the Glasto festival site. We fancied a decent breakfast n coffee. Happened on Thorners farmshop n restaurant. Breakfast available until 11.30. We got there at 11. Lucky to get a table n they kindly seated the two of us at a reserved table for 6 as they were delayed Great atmosphere busy, buzzing but relaxed. Really nice, smart decor. You can tell as soon as you walk in they're organised and on it. I was expecting it to be expensive, but we don't treat ourselves that often to eating out so was prepared for that. In fact the Ultimate Breakfast I think it was called, with more than enough to challenge the hungriest eater (my son was a tenner. N mine was £7.50. Really reasonable considering the quality, variety n amount you get especially with suppliers n bills going sky high across the board right now. Both breakfasts included bacon, sausage, egg, baked cherry tomatoes, hash browns, black pudding, baked beans, mushrooms n fried bread or toast. I swapped my hash brown n black pudding for an extra egg n rasher of bacon. Quality ingredients perfectly cooked. Had a large flat white n latte while we waited. Top notch coffee. Straightforward menu on the table catering for most cooked breakfasts down to something on toast. Order at the counter. You can see the chefs through in the kitchen cooking. Friendly n efficient front of house n waitresses. Service with a smile. Really nice relaxed but buzzing atmosphere. Outdoor patio seating n farmshop to have a wander round afterwards with arts n crafts upstairs (pricey but nice to look at! n food downstairs. Meat surprisingly reasonable. Highly recommend n will be back next time I'm in the area. K"