written by on 29/04/2011
We visited The Strawberry Duck 8 months ago and were disappointed then. I ordered Potted Duck expecting either traditional potted meat or a confit but instead was served plain strips of duck in a pot. It was literally 'potted duck' and also a joke. Other things were wrong with meal that day, too much potato and not enough filling in the fish pie for example and nothing that was outstanding. We did not want to review the pub negatively then, wanting to give it a chance as a new business in the village. We gave it a wide berth instead. However, we decided to give it another go yesterday for a simple mid week evening tea. It was not busy. The burger my husband ordered was tiny and over cooked. The fish pie was much smaller than last time (a very small pot of food coupled with a tiny pot of overcooked shrivelled peas, it was not filling for £10) and dried out on top. It was quite bland with little seasoning and even less fish (I could only find a few flakes of salmon). My son ordered sausages and mash. The sausages were chewy-hard having obviously been cooked previously and now just micro-waved. In fact, it seemed most of the food had been pre-cooked then micro-waved for us. Also, all three tables eating in the bar area asked for ketchup and all were denied as they had not received an order yet (a 10 minute trip to the local shop for the sake of customer service would not have hurt). When I complained at the end of the meal, there was not much of an apology or explanation and one waitress became rather defensive saying it was not the restaurants fault the order of ketchup had failed to come. It was a horribly limp and pathetic meal and we felt we should have stayed at home for a better one. It is a terrible shame because the decor is now fabulous, the location is wonderful and this pub should be packed every night and would be if they ensured the food was top quality, every time. We will never visit for food again.