Old Swan Minster Mill

We popped in here for lunch midweek and left feeling very disappointed. The building and surrounds are beautiful but that’s the only praise I can give. There were 3 staff behind the bar when we arrived and not one of them greeted us. They shuffled from side to side until one lady said to another member of staff “go on, you serve them”. We were told we could sit anywhere that there were “probably menus on the table”. We ordered and the food appeared very quickly but was underwhelming. My salmon and cream cheese sandwich was as basic as it gets. It was small, plonked on a huge white plate, with the merest smear of cream cheese. There wasn’t even a sprinkle of black pepper on the salmon or a twist of green pea shoot to break up the bleakness of white bread on a white plate. My husband’s Croque monsieur was similarly small and plain. We emailed our thoughts to them on our return home but almost 2 weeks later, have had no reply. We won’t be back.

Pre-booked a table for Sunday lunch, all 6 of us went for a roast beef dinner. The initial waitress to the table was asked what cut of Pork the alternative roast was, the ladies reply was “I don’t know”, she made no attempt to find out and come back to confirm. During dinner our glasses were not cleared from the table and it became a little cluttered, we also had to get up and ask for another jug of water and order more drinks from the bar. Other than the service issues I have mentioned, we found the food to be a really good standard and will return at some point.

Came for lunch, had a croque mademoiselle. Very soggy, think it had been made up in advance with the avocado and ‘sun-dried tomato’ (seemed like finely sliced normal tomato to me) and then grilled with the cheese before serving. Not at all an experience worth paying £12 for. We also had no idea what value the grease proof paper it was served on (on a plate) added to proceedings. On the plus side, the staff were attentive and pleasant, so just a bit disappointing that the food wasn’t great.

Very unimpressed grumpy, sullen staff, lukewarm ale and food lacking any depth. Shame. Lovely setting but could do so much better!

Having enjoyed a walk around the pretty village we were ready for a bite of lunch. The Old Swan is a really attractive pub inside and out, and very old. We visited on a Monday lovely to find a pub open for food on a Monday these days, and they let our dog in, which also scores highly in my book! (there was also a pub garden available). The welcome from the bar lady was low key, but a young waiter brought water for our dog. We just wanted a sandwich and £12 each was a bit steep. We had a Croque Monsieur and a Croque Madame, both toasted golden brown and served with pickles and crisps. So a fairly upmarket sandwich really. Though pricey, we did enjoy our visit.