Cobb Arms

The soup was delicious, and we enjoyed the wine and the warm service from our server all evening. He was around six feet tall, with longish blond or very light brown hair, and worked across the bar and restaurant. We were grateful for his care, especially since the food left a lot to be desired. Dinner for my partner, his two kids, and me came to just under £100, and this was one of the worst meals we had during our visit and while eating out generally. That’s only our opinion, of course, and I know tastes differ. I hate leaving a negative review because anyone can have an off day, but this really wasn’t for us. The starters were mixed. The pork belly was very good, the bread decent though it could have been warmed and offered with butter alongside the olive oil, and the olives were just about okay. The kids liked those, at least. The soup’s crouton could have been fresher and toasted longer. For mains, I had a burger and chips. The chips were fine, but the burger was far too salty and didn’t have much burger flavour. My partner’s son had chicken nuggets and chips and also thought they tasted salty, though we’ll allow that kids’ tastes can vary. The apple sausages with mash didn’t taste of apple at all. The sausages seemed like a standard supermarket pack, the mash was only just acceptable and could have been creamier and smoother, and the gravy lacked flavour. We assumed it wasn’t homemade, as it looked more like watered-down Bisto than homemade gravy.

The staff were friendly and welcoming, and I’d come back for drinks, though probably not a meal. The pub was cold enough that I kept my big coat on, and the food was only okay for the price and portions. My halloumi burger was cold in the middle. Service was very slow despite the place being quiet; I had to ask for the dessert menu and then nobody came back, so after 30 minutes I paid and left. There isn’t much choice for vg/v. Dogs are allowed in the bar area only, so finding space could be difficult in high season. The building itself is nice.

The weather turned while we were out looking for fossils, so we were glad to come across this lovely pub and restaurant. The table service was superb, and we’ll definitely be back.

We didn’t hang around for long, as there are pubs like The Volunteer down the road. It was six blokes on a birthday pub crawl, and we found the place chilly, with staff who seemed a bit unfriendly. Palmer's beer was good, though pricey. I bet it’s really nice in summer, but frankly we weren’t very impressed.