The Fontmell Shaftesbury Tripadvisor Reviews - The Fontmell Shaftesbury - Trade Reservations
Save up to 30% at The Fontmell Shaftesbury!
Have someone use their loyalty points to book your stay or buy a reservation from someone who can't make it to theirs.
If there is nothing that fits your schedule, you can bid on your preferred time.
We only list verified Reservations!
All listed Reservations are reviewed by our team before appearing in the calendar or being allowed to answer a bid you place. That's why AppointmentTrader comes with a included Money Back Guarantee for each transaction.
Shaftesbury's Best Hotels that are most frequently booked by customers of The Fontmell Shaftesbury
The Fontmell Shaftesbury Tripadvisor Reviews
Latest Reviews On Tripadvisor
30 Reviews
0 Replys |
Fabulous birthday supper
Opened the door to a crammed and vibrant bar. Passed through to a peaceful and tastefully decorated dining room across a bridge over a stream! I could have eaten almost everything on the menu, but chose crispy squid (which was outstanding) followed by herb crusted monkfish in lobster bisque chowder (which was very good although I was disappointed that it was served with some of the membrane still attached). Service was exceptional and it didn’t break the bank. We will be back.
Be the first to ReplyGreat!
Delicious (and generous portion) squid for lunch. Everyone in our party (of ten) was complimentary about their food. Charming and professional service which takes some doing with a large group of individuals. Saw the new menu and very much looking forward to returning.
Be the first to ReplyYou will not be disappointed
Lovely lunch at The Fontmell today with friends. Cally and Matt prepared gorgeous three course lunches and looked after us with really good sized portions. Arnie and Felix were very attentive and we lacked for nothing. The choices were excellent and the food was outstanding. Was rather stuffed afterwoods.
Be the first to ReplyAmazing lunch
We all had an excellent meat at this delightful Pub. The service was top class and very efficient. You were not rushed at anytime and could take as long as you wanted. The food delicious and plentiful. I would recommend the Ham Hock for starter, the portion size is generous with large chunks of ham in a delicate jelly. There is a new menu coming out for the Spring so will definitely be going back for that. Well done Arnie and Team
Be the first to ReplyHidden Gem!
If you’re unsure about booking this place for a bite to eat - just book it. You won’t be disappointed. Basically - simple menu options done brilliantly. We haven’t eaten at this pub for a couple of years and thought that we would give it a go, knowing that was under new ownership. From start to finish, this was a brilliant meal. Although the menu wasn’t expansive or extensive, it was done extremely well. Clearly the owners priority was on doing the basic things well. All six of us had different meals and we were all delighted and surprised by just how very good the food was. Best meal I’ve had at a pub in absolutely ages. Even the attention to details for the olives and bread was appreciated - the best! Waiting staff - great. Ambience - great. Location - super. Who else can claim a river running through the restaurant without getting your feet wet? Only points for improvement - the music (which was in fairness quiet). I think if you notice the music, it’s the wrong type and I think something different (more chilled) or no music at all for the dining section would be an improvement. Maybe some one or two more ales. I cannot understand why this pub wasn’t heaving on a Saturday night, and seems to be a hidden gem waiting to be discovered. If you’ve read this far and you’re undecided - just book in. Thanks team for a great evening, Jamie.
Be the first to ReplyDelicious Surprise
Lovely food. We wanted to eat locally and so chose the Fontmell which has been re-opened under new management and has a good reputation for locally sourced food. We werent disappointed. The food was presented beautifully and was delicious from starters to puds
Be the first to ReplyLovely lunch
We went here for lunch after visiting Springhead which is close nearby and the food was amazing . The choice was, understandably, fairly limited but we chose the fish and chips and mussels and really enjoyed them. The mussels are particularly recommended! We sat in the bar area with the log burner as we had the dog with us but there was a spacious restaurant and a large outdoor space which looked great for the summer. Excellent service too.
Be the first to ReplyLovely Lunch
Enjoyed a lovely lunch at The Fontmell. We were well looked after by Arnie, Sarah,Matt & Cally. The Crispy Sweet Chilli Squid was delicious, Duo of Duck and the Brill were Amazing! Fortunately we just about had room for dessert.. Fruity, fluffy and light the Raspberry souffle was perfect and the silky Vanilla creme caramel went down a treat.
Be the first to ReplyBirthday dinner
7 of us visited this quirky country pub for a birthday dinner celebration. Service was good and the menu was interesting. I had a shallot tart for a starter and followed this up with the duck breast main course , served with a duck bon bon & potato rösti - the duck was cooked exactly as I had asked for it. Really lovely environment and with a covered stream running through the middle of the pub it was something a bit different
Be the first to ReplyGreat lunch
A return visit but this time at lunchtime and we sat in the bar. Lovely light decor, and friendly staff but best of all was the delicious and unusual food. The halibut with Thai aromatics was superb and the plum souffle really unusual. Good sized portions and reasonable prices for the quality of the cooking and overall experience
Be the first to ReplyOverpriced mediocre
Overpriced. My husband ordered chicken legs in a sauce. He got two very small legs with a few spring onions on top and a few chips. Cost £20! Totally tasteless. My meal was good Belly pork with mash (should have been roast potatoes). Gin and tonic £7.90, pint of dish water beer £5.50. Polite but slow service and then had a service charge of 12.5% added to bill. When I went to pay I was informed I don't need to pay the service charge if I didn't want to. Why add it on in the first place? Totally wrong to do this.
Be the first to ReplySoft drinks over priced
I can only comment on the drinks. Popped in for non alcoholic drink, and got a pint of lime and soda and was amazed I was charged £3.90. That can't be much different from a pint beer, that's ridiculous.
Be the first to ReplyDissapointing
Stayed over the weekend. Room 1-avoid although there was a warning on the booking of kitchen noise there was a effectively a jet engine extractor fan over the room from 9am till past 11pm, aswell as being boiling hot, broken mirror in bathroom, broken shower attachment, broken extractor fan and a half cleaned room its fine..Dinner, starter of salmon pate we sent back as frozen, rest of the meal was average, full English on first morning was lovely! The following day chef didnt turn up and couldnt get into restaurant till later and then told a number of ingredients for breakfast were missing as chef didnt order- shambles. Feel sorry for some of the waitresses as not their fault!
Be the first to ReplyDisappointing!
This place is in a lovely setting and has such potential but is let down by poor service. We ate here for Sunday lunch a week ago and although the food when it came was generally good the service was disappointing Decided to give it another try last night and unfortunately this experience was even worse. The menu had changed and was uninspiring and we were then told some elements of key dishes had also run out. To be fair to the staff it appeared they were rushed off their feet due to a very large group booking outside as well as a fairly full restaurant. But given the size of the group booking the management should have staffed up and stocked up on food. Service was very slow and when our food eventually arrived 3 of the 4 meals were very disappointing with further elements missing - for example a dish with a walnut and Parmesan side salad arrived with just leaves- no dressing, no Parmesan and no walnuts! Again to be fair to the staff on duty they were hot and tired and did adjust the bill appropriately when we complained but overall a disappointing evening and we won’t be returning again for a while
Be the first to ReplyDisappointed / so much potential!
Lovely setting, food reasonable service deplorable! Only three tables occupied, service was disorganised and slow. Items missing, no waiters/esses circulating the tables. Food took a ridiculous time to come. We walked out after 30 mins of waiting for our desserts. Lots of staff including a chef sat in the bar area while our waitress identified they were short staffed. Avoid until they have sorted their staffing and front of house, kitchen and staff management.
Be the first to ReplyHad an exceptional roast beef
Had an exceptional roast beef with my son. Lovey beef, positive abd organised service. No complaints at all. Highly recommend
Be the first to ReplyBest burgers ever and some
Delighted to see the burger menu extended to include lamb and chicken - tried the chicken which was seriously out of this world. They make their own seasons mix and delicious guacamole and have picked just the right bun to absorb these delights. Back tomorrow - maybe lamb this time!
Be the first to ReplyAvoid this place until it improves
We came as a party of five and were the only table in the restaurant. We were offered bread and olives which never arrived. Lots of frantic staff who had no idea what they were doing. Out of 5 mains only 4 arrived so my husband had to wait another 20 minutes for his burger. Staff were totally confused. When serving soft drinks they held the glasses around the rim where you’d put your lips... so unprofessional. The food was mediocre for a Michelin listed place. The Michelin people need to review it ASAP for standards. The fish and chips were greasy - I couldn’t eat the batter and the burgers very soggy. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone sadly. Very poor.
Be the first to ReplyNot recommended at the moment - clearly having some (hopefully short term) staffing and food quality issues
Happened upon this pub for a drink while out walking and we had been very much looking forward to going back for a Sunday lunch, but it was extremely disappointing. We were served over cooked beef so tough it was almost impossible to cut, awful dry potatoes and some frozen peas. The staff were friendly but there are nowhere near enough of them. There were long delays so assume there is also a staffing issue in the kitchen. Not at all what we expected. Hopefully it is short term and we can return and have the experience others have had!
Be the first to ReplyA problem made worse.
Michelin needs to revisit this pub as it fails in quality of food, service and management. I can understand that they had staff shortages in the kitchen which can lead to delays and problems but no unprompted apology for an hour delay for a Camembert sharing starter is unacceptable particularly when combined with a further hour delay for the main course. So much for the service, included within our order were two burgers without buns. What these rock hard lumps consisted of I don’t know but they certainly did not resemble a 28 day aged 8 oz Aberdeen Angus burger as described. Half of each were left, but not commented on by the staff. The smoked haddock, crispy bacon and pea risotto consisted of a pile of soggy looking rice with a piece of haddock placed on top without a pea or any crispy bacon in sight, although I am told that it tasted OK. In addition, we were seated next to a door to what we assumed was the staff room from which on occasions emitted a strong smell of cigarette smoke. In view of there obvious staffing problems, demonstrated by the piles of dirty glasses stacked in the bar when we came to leave, the management should have come clean when guests arrived and warned them that there could be problems. Maybe reduced to menu, to make things easier. It would be better to have a very limited menu of good food and good service rather than the disaster we were faced with. Some unreasonable people may have objected to a limited menu but that is all they could criticise. By not handling an obvious problem head on the made the situation considerably worse.
Be the first to ReplyDelightful evening
A quiet meal out with my wife. Delicious food, prompt attentive service. The pub was quiet, so I can only think that some of the very negative reviews relate to the weekend when kitchen and staff might be under more pressure. Why only four stars? Because there is clearly a talented chef in the kitchen (immaculate venison en croute), so it seems a pity that the menu is not more adventurous. Belly of pork and sticky toffee pudding plague every pub menu from Lands End to John Groats, and so my heart sinks.
Be the first to ReplyShame the meat let down an otherwise nice meal
Lovely venue, friendly staff with good service provided. Excellent food with the exception of the roast meats on both Sunday lunch mains. Cannot fault starter and all the various vegetables to accompany roast, as well as superb Yorkshire puds and roasties. But dry overcooked beef could not be hidden or made palatable by extra gravy on request. And roast belly pork was equally dry and tasteless when it should have been melt in the mouth tender. Shame really as the meat let down what was otherwise a lovely meal
Be the first to ReplyFabulous food and excellent friendly staff
My husband and I had a fabulous meal out together here this evening. I thought the ambiance was really charming and quirky. The food was amazing!
We had the tempora king prawns as a starter, followed by the lamb as one main and the burger as another, with apple tart tatin and Belgium waffle with a to die for chocolate ganache sauce (both with a glorious ice cream) for desert.
Goodness knows how the chef made the tempora batter and dip, but it was beautifully crispy. All of the food was amazing, but the tart tatin was next level. I had been told that the food was excellent, but this really surpassed our expectations.
The serving staff were really friendly and very efficient and that really made it special.
Can’t recommend it highly enough! Thank you for a lovely evening.
Disappointed again
As a local I have been visiting this pub since it opened over 10 years ago and have watched and experienced the steady decline. We tried it again last night as we heard there was a new chef - no joy. In fact it was worse than ever. The service was hopeless, sweet girls who hadn’t been trained. The menu was as unimaginative as it could be so all four of us chose burgers, not exactly an exciting dinner. The dining room is dingy and hasn’t been updated since the pub opened, not enough light and one tea-light on our table. I feel that the owners couldn’t really care less about making the place attractive and just want our money. They got far more of it thangg they deserve, the drinks are very overpriced as is the food. £3 for a small bottle of sparkling water. There are much better and more enjoyable places to eat in the area.
Be the first to ReplyDreadful!
Don't go here if you can possibly help it.
We were offered only a late table, but in fact the quite nice main area was almost empty when we arrived. We got given the bar table with car park view.
We had had to pre-order food because the kitchen was closing, but in the end the meals arrived 45 minutes after we did, making a mockery of that.
We ordered drinks which arrived after the meals, meaning we went thirsty for nearly an hour. The beer selection is woeful. Water only arrived on the second time of asking, with the desserts.
We were offered the wine list, and said OK, then it didn't arrive so we didn't order any wine, and there was no point by the time the first round got to the table.
A glass of dessert wine was below the advertised size and was charged at more than the advertised price.
The food was mainly inedible. Roast beef consisting mainly of gristle, cold veg, peas and leeks in a grim pale soup, hardly any gravy, two potatoes, and yorkshires made from the leather off an elephant's foot (there's a large box of stale yorkshires lying open in the corridor, ready to be dropped on the next unsuspecting diners over the coming few weeks). Our son rejected his burger, most unlike him, and it's being fed in small pieces to the animals at home. Friends’ daughter was NOT happy with the fish pie. The food menu wraps many long words around few, very basic, offerings.
The service was poor throughout. The only staff present were young, inexperienced and hard to spot. We thought maybe the establishment were suffering from the same shortage of staff as everywhere else - but in fact all six of them were to be found at a table by the bar having their own long lunch. Where were the management? We didn't want to complain as we were with others and didn't want the embarrassment, and in any case there was nobody in authority to speak to.
When the bill arrived it was over £130 light because the staff forgot to charge for the food. We owned up, paid up and had to run, due to miserable children.
I'm typing this a couple of hours later with stomach cramps and hands stinking of "Right Guard Fresh" which is the unbelievably strong fragrance of the Fontmell’s bathroom soap.
We're glad we live over 20 miles away, and we won't be coming back.