The George Inn

Tasmin looked after us really well. She was fairly new to the role, but attentive and caring. The inn’s history is fascinating, and its quirky layout makes exploring the building interesting. It’s great to see Butcombe taking on historic places and making sure they’re loved and historically restored. The garden has beautiful views, and the food was really good, with a varied menu for different dietary needs at reasonable prices. It’s much better than standard pub grub. The homemade bread with whipped beef dripping butter was sublime. My Chicken Supreme was moist, perfectly cooked and had lovely crispy skin, and the Duck Fat potato was great. The Flat Iron steak was another standout, cooked just right. We shared a decadent Creme Brulé, and a Bitter Cheesecake too. The cheesecake was good, though its deconstructed style wasn’t what I expected, and I thought it could have been better. This historic coaching inn is excellent, and a real must visit if you’re in the area.

Ashley made our anniversary dinner special. He was knowledgeable and professional, but also polite and friendly. We saw him cleaning and setting tables too, and he’s a real asset, a hard worker who made our evening lovely. I hope management appreciates him. We stayed at the George during our wedding in Farley last year, then came back for a family meal on our first anniversary. The menu is still great. Usually there are dishes I wouldn’t fancy, but here every option looked delicious. I had the lamb burger, the best burger I’ve ever had.

Ashley was fantastic and really attentive, doing everything he could to make our wedding anniversary evening special. When he noticed one of the dishes wasn’t quite right, he took it off the bill straight away. We had a great time and will definitely return.

We had lunch for two, and although it was fairly busy, there was a steady flow through the bar and dining areas. The service felt relaxed and friendly. We shared plump olives and house pork scratchings, then both had mushroom toast. The portions of mushroom were generous, the bread was good, and the simple garlic and herb seasoning let the flavour come through. It’s a remarkable medieval inn. You can see its age in the smooth, worn stone floors, heavy beams, dark timber and the small rooms that lead into one another. The building tells its own story, while the kitchen focuses on good local produce.