The Bear & Ragged Staff

We had lunch yesterday and the Bear and we all really enjoyed it. Great roast beef and the most amazing brownie I've ever had. Will definately be returning!

Jonny B (Unverified), 10/07/11

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Very nice venue. However, extremely slow service and anything that wasn't cooked to order (ie: Sunday roasts) were extremely overcooked and dry. For the prices on the menu, really not good value. Considering how much this place has been touting itself on the radio lately for the quality of the food, it was disappointing. I won't be back.

18/06/11

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Visited the Bear Saturday night with 3 friends and felt it deserved some praise. The restaurant was full and there was a great atmosphere. We were welcomed with a warm, friendly smile and enjoyed not only great service all night but tasty food too. The rosti that came with my pork was just perfect! And the lemon tart was a great way to finish my meal. All in all a really enjoyable night and if you haven't been lately you should definitely pay a visit!

jade hope (Unverified), 30/04/11

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I went with 2 friends on Sat (22nd Jan) for lunch for the 1st time. We were shown to our table immediately, after a while the waitress took our drink orders, the drinks arrvied minus my diet coke so I informed one of the waiting staff, we then ordered our food which seemed to take absolutely ages - but the food was very nice, all 3 of us enjoyed our meals - lamb shank, beer battered fish and chips- with proper chips! And one friend just had a starter of duck and pancakes which she really enjoyed! So all in all we all enjoyed our lunch at The Bear & Ragged Staff. I'd had a look at their website at the menu to see what I might want - the only thing I would point out is if you have a look at their menu on the website they offer a 2 course lunch for £7.50 but it's not made clear on the website that this offer is only valid from Mon-Fri lunch times!

PW (Unverified), 24/01/11

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Well I have to say I have been very pleasantly proved wrong. I HAD thought that customer service was a thing of the past in this country now, but it is most definitely alive and well.

After last week’s meal at the Bear & Ragged Staff, I was contacted by the proprietor. He told me that the main course that I had ordered was one of the smaller dishes that they do, owing to the cost of the cuts of lamb and the fact that the carrots are specially grown and cost £20 for a small bunch! He asked me to try the Bear again, but this time to try one of the other dishes, promising that I would most certainly come away with a different viewpoint.

We went there again last night. Both my son and myself had the Warm Salad of Pigeon, Frisee, Black Pudding & Bacon Lardons to start, which, having never tried pigeon before, was a revelation, and something I will definitely be having again! My wife and daughter shared the Charcuterie Platter, and were both very impressed with it. For the mains, two of us had the steak and chips, which was plentiful, one had the Swordfish Steak, and one had the Pork Tenderloin. All of these were cooked perfectly and very satisfying. Desserts: two of us had the chocolate fondants, and one had the strawberry crème brulée, all of which were extremely tasty and filling.

All in all, I take back all that I said last week about the Bear, and would highly recommend this now, as long as you remember that if you have a healthy appetite you steer clear of the lamb (and apparently the monkfish), which are both relatively small portions, and which now the staff have been instructed to advise of this fact. I have to say that last weeks lamb was cooked to perfection and was very tasty, but it was just too soon gone.

So, please ignore my previous “rant” and maybe try out the Bear for yourselves.

JA (Unverified), 12/05/09

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I went to the Bear 28 years ago, and swore I'd never go back. It was over-priced, minute portions (a tiny piece of meat, about four oxo cube sized portions of potato, and 6 mange tout if I remember correctly). I always said it was the most expensive meal I'd had, and the worst!

I went back there last night. The mushroom starter wasn't too bad, (lots of rocket filling the plate, but a reasonable size portion). The main course arrived and I'm sure the disappointment must have shown on my face! Canon of lamb: 2 tiny pieces of lamb cutlets, 3 tiny baby carrots, 5 mange tout, and a round potato! To be fair, when we ordered, the waitress did say that we could order extra veg or side orders if we wanted, but as the menu said "spring veg & potato", we didn't think we would need to! At almost £17 for the main course, you would expect a reasonable amount on your plate. I had a rhubarb trifle to finish, tasty but again for the money it was not exactly good value. The total bill was £84 and I just felt that I had been ripped off. I don’t mind paying a decent price if you get good food and good service but I object to paying £17 for a plate that had more plate showing than food! I had thought that the “nouveaux cuisine” of the 80’s (i.e. tiny portions, but over-inflated prices) had gone, but unfortunately it is alive and well at the Bear and Ragged Staff.

I came home and ate a bread roll as I was still hungry! I don’t think I’ll be going back there for at least another 28 years!

JA (Unverified), 03/05/09

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We had dinner at the Bear and Ragged Staff last night and were pretty disappointed.

We had not been since the pub was taken over by the new owner so thought we would give it a go. First impressions were pretty good, the decor looked nice and our table was pretty good. The service was a bit tentative and we had a little confusion with drinks but I think they just weren't very experienced.

To start we shared the charcuterie platter which was delicious, huge and very good value at £8. It included chicken liver pate, rillettes (not very authentic but tasty), parma ham, pastrami, cornichons etc. This was the best part of the meal and I would come back at lunchtime to have it again.

From here it was downhill. For mains I had sirloin steak and chips (£17) with a green salad (£3) which was one of the most disappointing steak and chips I have ever had. The meat had hardly any flavour, and had been cooked under a grill so was barely brown and the texture wasn't great. The steak was cut thin so that to serve it anywhere near medium rare it was barely cooked. There was no nice brown savouryness that you would expect. The accompanying bearnaise was cold and bland. The chips were worse - heavy, oozing fat and limp. My husband also left his chips (side order £3) but did like his swordfish. The side salad was also disappointing and over priced - some of the leaves were soggy and the dressing was really oily.

I was asked twice after the main if I had a good meal and twice I was nice but honest and explained that the steak and the chips weren't great (explained why). Both times the server just said 'oh' and looked a bit blank. No feedback, comments etc. I would expect at least some feedback if not a free coffee/discount from bill. When we left we noticed bowls of un-eaten chips on other tables so we were not the only ones with complaints.

We left after a pretty good coffee and won't be back for dinner (the lack of interest and feedback suggest nothing will change fast). I would come back for the charcuterie at lunchtime but not anything else. This is a pity as I really wanted another good food pub to add to our list of places to go.

The total bill was £63, £40 of which was our mains - far too much for mediocre/poor food (however the charcuterie is a bargain!)

Oxjill (Unverified), 25/04/09

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Went to have lunch at the Bear and Ragged Staff with a couple of friends just last week and was pleasantly surprised. Last time I had been the food was very so-so. It turns out that the tenancy has changed hands on this property in late 2008 and that some guy who had spent most of his working life in Bangkok has returned to England and fell in love with the place. I can understand why, its a stunning set up. They know about service in Bangkok too!

On to the lunch offering. There is a charcuterie offering two hams and chorizo and a greek mezze to start among others. Also a one/two course set lunch for £6.95/£9.95. We both had the Charcuterie (£8) to start, which came with pickle, relish, capers, gherkins and super fresh bread. Nice beginning! If this was the start under new management, maybe the main course will not disappoint too. I ordered the Hamburger (£10), rare. My hamburger was succulent and was actually cooked rare as requested. The bun was very fresh as were the hand cut chips. My partner ordered the Fish and Chips (£10). The cod was enormous, the handcut chips hit the spot again.

All this was washed down by a pint of well kept Abbot Ale each. All told, the bill was £33. Not cheap, but given the quality of food proffered, I was happy to pay the bill. I will be back and will be telling my friends to give the place a whirl too! The Bear maybe on the up and up at last!

Mad Dog (Unverified), 12/01/09

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The Bear and Ragged Staff looks swanky enough inside (I believe it has been revamped in the last couple of years), but the food is pedestrian at best. The impression given is that you are eating food being served up by a chain rather than a plush pub restaurant.

This impression was underlined when the young waitress asked my wife if she would like her Chardonnay to be red or white...

Captain Jack Harkness (DI User), 15/04/08

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