North Kesteven
The Bell At Coleby

The Bell At Coleby

Coleby, LN5 0FQ, North Kesteven, United Kingdom

Wine • Beer • Steak • British


"I have not been to The Bell for several years and a friend had recently been so we decided to go. The welcome was excellent, the lads behind the bar, who also served the meal were attentive and polite. I feel that the female host could have interacted a little more, though I appreciate they were busy. We were sat at a table in the bar initially and though our table was ready, we were not called up to it until after the reservation time, and it took a while to take our order. Having said that, after we ordered the food came fairly swiftly. I can’t criticise the quality of the food; it was well cooked, hot and tasty. It was expensive for “pub grub” but it wasn’t your normal pub grub, the quality was that of a good restaurant. The chef came out to talk to us, yes he was sweating a little; it was a warm and muggy evening and he was working in a hot kitchen. He asked us if our meal was alright and we had a short conversation together. Having looked on the website prior to visiting, I was aware of the cost, so there was no surprise. If I was going to criticise anything, I personally like real ale, but I don’t like Timothy Taylor beers, and that is all the had. There are a number of local breweries who make excellent ales and maybe The Bell should support them. All in all a good evening and I would definitely go back, providing my table wasn’t by the door to the kitchen!"

The King's Arms

The King's Arms

Church Road, Martin Dales, LN10 6XZ, North Kesteven, United Kingdom

Pub • Fish • Lunch • British


"We booked for dinner for 4 adults and 2 toddlers, and were told we could be ‘squeezed in’ at 5:45pm. When we arrived we requested 2 high chairs for our 11 month old and 2 year old daughters, to which we were told they only had one, and one was ‘buried under things’. We politely asked if the second could be collected, to which we were told ‘No. If you would have told us about the ages, we could have organised this for you’. We had booked ‘4 adults and 2 toddlers’... We were seated under a window, where the sun was streaming in (so much so the table opposite had sunglasses on . We asked our waitress if she could close the blinds a little, to which she explained ‘I’ve already asked him, and he said no’. Presumably referring to the friendly man we’d already encountered. We ordered at 6:05pm. My husband then drove back home to collect a high chair for us to use. By 7pm we still didn’t have any food. We asked the waitress who told us it was ‘just coming’. By 7:20pm still no food, apology or update. We asked again, being told ‘5 more minutes’, as we saw the chef wondering around the bar chatting. We spoke to the lady (in charge? behind the bar, who told us they had had a lot of walk ins. We were one of 3 tables (2nd to arrive in the restaurant so knew this wasn’t true. The food finally arrived at 7:30pm. The food was adequate. By this time we were ravenous and keen to get the babies home, so almost anything would have sufficed. We were after something quick, easy and wholesome. The food was fine, however the 1.5hr wait for scampi and chips was not. Good, or at least, friendly, customer service may have saved this, however they failed here too. The website claims to offer a ‘friendly and personal experience’; I suggest the website be updated. I certainly wouldn’t recommend."

The Finch Hatton Arms And

The Finch Hatton Arms And

United Kingdom, NG34 9PH, North Kesteven

Steak • Coffee • Cheese • Salads


"I have given this establishment a 1* review purely because 0* isn’t an option. Anyone considering booking, please read ahead so you aren’t left without a room for the night like we were. How they have managed to achieve 4* reviews so far if this is the way they treat paying guests is absolutely beyond me. After an easy booking process, communication about our stay and arrangements was great. We knew ahead of time how to check in and where to collect our keys once we arrived (we were arriving late at night and no reception would be available . Upon arriving, the keys for our rooms weren’t there, yet two other keys for single rooms were. Given 4 adults were staying and we’d booked executive rooms, this clearly wasn’t appropriate. We contacted the emergency number provided and finally got through on the 5th attempt to a woman (the owner? who said she would send her son. He arrived 20 minutes later, stormed past us without saying a word, and proceeded to bang on the doors of the rooms wee were supposed to be in to try and wake the people who had taken ours! When he couldn’t wake them, he came back to reception, didn’t introduce himself, made no attempt to apologise, and worse still, didn’t make any further attempts to resolve the situation. He told us he couldn’t wake the guests in the rooms we should have had (it was 1.15am at this point!! and that there were no other rooms available. End of story, not even any attempt to try and help us. We were then left to drive the 90 minute journey back home after a long day at a wedding, finally arriving home at 3am. We were promised a phone call from the same man (presumed to be the owners son the following day. 5 days later, and after I’d had to call to chase him 3 times, I finally made contact. He was still unapologetic, rude and full of excuses, blaming everyone and everything else, and took no accountability for having left 4 people with no room at 1.30 in the morning. I’ve never experienced such horrendous service and feel it important to highlight what happened so people considering booking are aware of what could happen to you, and how poor the customer service is."