Blue Bell Earlswood in Solihull

came for remembrance of life 19 of us Excellent food waitress was amazing friendly atmosphere however the owner was rude ! won’t be returning

Have been a few times now over the last few months and whilst we enjoyed the food (typical pub grub) the atmosphere in here is far from welcoming. The owner - who I can only describe as a likeness to Miss Trunchbull, has been far from welcoming. Stands at the door, hands in pockets or with a pint looking like a bouncer - no welcoming and rudely asks what you’re there for. Witnessed on Friday evening moving a family to a different table 3 times due to the one they had sat at “being reserved for regulars”. Food is not cheap - average plate around £16 and when I say it’s typical pub grub, it’s greasy home made and leaves little to the imagination in terms of hygiene when you see the cleanliness of the place and the way a Sunday carvery is served. Place is in need of a total overhaul, the owners too! Other than that, it’s a huge shame as location is perfect on the canal. If you get past all of that, it’s nice sat on the canal in the summer for a drink - my opinion… keep walking to the Bulls Head for a lovely warm welcome and delicious meal.

The staff were so friendly and the bar staff knew their cider. I wish they sold their glasses as they were really pretty. I appreciated the opportunity to “try before you buy” on the new to me flavours of cider. The meal and drink were a nice end to a circular walk round the lakes and back.

Visited a couple of weeks ago having tried a few other places for food in the area, when we arrived at the Bluebell we were initially told that food was closed for the evening which was a disappointment but then the very kind landlord Alan made our food right there and then and it was absolutely top notch. Thank you for going above and beyond. Highly recommend the Blue bell cider house, we will be back.

Very pleasant couple of pints of Blonde Star. Lovely staff. Nice ham, egg and chips.

This is a down to earth local kind of pub, but is well liked for its honesty and good range of beers and good value foods.

Quality pub with great food and varied and decent selection of beers and ciders

Not the best place I've been for breakfast, doesn't look the best in hygiene, food was full of fat, and everything is fried.

The pub is described as a cider house, although they do have 6 ciders only one cannot be bought in a standard pub. They do sell more of both lager and beer so not really a cider house. We visited on a Monday evening and had a very warm welcome from the hostess, the chap behind the bar had no personality at all and did the bare minimum to do his job. The food was excellent and the portions were huge. We will probably not go again except perhaps to sit out and try more of the Black Rat on a sunny afternoon.

Called 2 hours into our trip to Cardiff Sunday lunch carvery was excellent well worth a visit, but book table as busy , always a good sign

The bluebell has always been our go to place for food for many years now, but last few times the food has been really poor, thought we would give it 1 more try today, wish we didn't bother, the lasagne was tasteless with lumpy pieces of meat, we won't be back which is a shame cause this place used to be so nice

We parked up our canal boat and enjoyed dinner at the Blue Bell Cider House. Very generous portions (3 x steak pies and one half chicken and chips) from their huge list of specials, their mains all reasonably priced. Dog friendly in the bar area and a member of staff came out and gave our dog a few treats.

Nice place to spend time with family and friends massive outside seating area and inside too no party to big orto small they have space

Carvery was OK. Apart from only choice of 3 veg. No roast potatoes no cauliflower (my favourite) only choice of 2 meats!! But cooked beautifully Disappointed for the price but enjoyed what was on my plate Although never been to a Carvery where you wasn't allowed to serve yourself??? Limited choices

Lovely old pub on the canal nice friendly place

Nice place in the summer sit outside by the canal. Only spoiled by one person who served our food

Really nice beer garden alongside the canal for a relaxing break during a walk.

Nice pub food and friendly staff. Perfect for lunch on the canal.

Great country pub on the Stratford canal. Excellent menu.

Well out the way , family run , food is good and filling, the weather wasn't on our side bit indoors was lovely. Run out of pork pies unfortunately, but otherwise. Lovely place to visit.

Charming and very delicious food

Very poor ordered meal well over cooked and quite expensive would not go again much better restaurants close by pub itself good for drinks avoid ordering food

Love it here. Great food without the fuss.

Brilliant place been going there for years

Came here for lunch on Tuesday and found the food to be of a very poor standard. I ordered a veg lasagne with a side salad and garlic bread. At over sixteen pound it wasn't a cheap meal but it was inedible. The lasagne was a very small portion which didn't appear to have any bechamel sauce in leaving it very dry,with a miniscule amount of aubergine in it. The side salad was just a mound of old looking lettuce, and the garlic bread was indescribable, it was like fried bread with black bits of burned garlic on top The people on all the adjacent tables were all complaining about their food, with one man sending his all day breakfast back to be cooked properly . Everyone appeared to be leaving their food unfinished as I did. I would certainly advise people not to waste their money eating here but to go elsewhere Extremely poor value.

four of us went for lunch last week meals were really lovely, nice and hot. I had the pie which was so big and probably would of served two people. Staff were really friendly and service was good. Felt the puddings were slightly over priced for the amount served but overall lovely meal.

We came here Tuesday lunchtime for a meal and found the food to be of a very poor standard. I ordered the veg lasagne with a side salad and garlic bread. When it came there was a tiny portion of slop that was the lasagne, the salad was a mound of old lettuce and the garlic bread was the strangest garlic bread I have ever seen, it was like fried bread with burned black bits of garlic on top. The lasagne was inedible, it didn't appear to have any bechamel sauce in and was very dry with a tiny bit of aubergine chopped up in it. People on the adjacent tables were all complaining about there various meals, with one man sending his all day breakfast back to be cooked properly. Most people appeared to be leaving their food uneaten as we did. Not cheap and very very poor value

we visited on sunday 5th for sunday dinner as weve been many times before but not for a while , it was dissapointing and will not go again the staff behind serving were really miserable wasent the lovely bloke serving ,and the bricolie was like mashed brocolie she served me 2 tiny carrots so asked for more it was just really poor compared to when iv been before and not much meat , shame really because we all used to like it here but wont be returning !!

Pretty gardens. Food average, rather pricy. Wouldn't rush to go there again.

We are a walking group and arranged a group lunch for eighteen people to follow the walk. The staff were friendly and efficient and the food was excellent

Absolute mayhem. No one knew where we were seated. Empty tables where we were meant to sit. Staff didnt have a clue. Wont be going again in a hurry. Was for my sons Birthday n was an absolute disaster

Called on spec as we were in the area. Family members are colieac, vegan and veggie. The range was surprisingly big and good value. Would certainly visit again.

Popped in for a bite to eat and drink absolutely lovely sat in the garden overlooking the canal..

Lovely spot for a carvery or just a couple of pints

Lovely garden at the side of the canal with lots of tables making it ideal to sit out on a summer’s afternoon/ evening :)

Lovely food, one of my afternoon favourites

Great spacious place to visit. Good beer and top food

Great value at this down to earth pub in Henley in Arden

Great pub, lovely canalside beer garden. The Black Rat cider is excellent and the carvery on a Sunday is ace.

Great place. Beautiful countryside beer garden next to the canal. Food is homemade and decent portions for decent prices. Well worth a visit

One of the best points of Guinness around 👏 👌

Real little gem. Great atmosphere, service was excellent and the staff friendly. Food was of good quality. Cider is superb. If you like real cider, try black rat.

Nice canalside pub. Not very old fashioned in its style, though it's been around for a very long time. They no longer have a plastic kegs of dirty cider behind the bar, but it's still worth popping in. Black Rat cider is now on draught and is down to around 4% abv. A few reasonably good cask ales available, and cobs. I hear that the carvery is good.

A super welcoming pub, great food and atmosphere. Alan really went out of his way to look after us. Dave

Usually only have a drink which is excellent plenty of choice and reasonably priced. Decided to try food. Wednesday 28/05/2024 evening. Ordered Cod and Chips and Sirloin Steak and chips. Chips lukewarm at best both meals. Peas with Fish and Chips came with sweetcorn which I hate and it spoiled my meal. When I asked waitress why the mix she just took plate away and made no comment. Cod and Steak were good.

Great overnight stay for us in our campervan. Views of the canal, warm and friendly staff. A great choice of menu, had dinner and breakfast there. Very reasonably priced and very good sized portions. Loved it there

Lovely place to watch the world go by on the canal. Good choice of beers and ciders

Lovely cold glass of cider overlooking the waterway on a summer evening, what more could you want. Pork pies are amazing!

By chance we were there on Quiz night and had a really fun time joining in. Everyone was very welcoming.

Lovely lunch in sunshine today. Not too many still ciders which is a shame but great choice for drivers - not many places have non alcoholic Guinness. The food portions are huge. We had a baguette each that comes with salad and crisps -I couldn't finish mine. If we had realised would have gone for one baguette between us. Lady on next table thought we were greedy and had ordered two each!

Went during a work trip, really nice atmosphere and our group really enjoyed the music being played by locals on the night we visited

Food and service best we have come across in a long time , friendly and welcoming staff , will be going again

Great pub. Decent beer and their Steak and Guinness pie is amazing

Brilliant easy going pub. Friendly locals and bikers blend together in a lovely canal side setting. Great ciders, many decent beers. And a Sunday roast that took me back to my childhood. Can't ask for much more than that. Thanks guys

I came here because visiting family, prebooked our table as it's very popular on Sundays. Carvery style sunday roast where you pay just before you get your food served at the hot plate. £6.50 for under 8 year olds, £11.50 for small plate and £15.50 for large plate. Bare in mind, during the busiest times, it can get very noisy. But the service was efficient but not as friendly as expected. The quality of the food is good and great value for money. Good choice of vegetables and condiments available. Traditional pub decor, quite simple. Would recommend it.

Service was good as a pit stop for any onward journey. Quiet area for a drink.

Large carvery was not much different from small. Ale was nice though. No atmosphere.

Lovely staff, great food, big portions, good value and a lovely setting next to the water

Excellent Food, great choice of Drinks. Great to reminisce. Worked & rode bikes there during the 70s

Food is brilliant here no matter the time of day and such great value for money. Proper food with proper portions for a proper price. Can’t go wrong

Great atmosphere, staff always very accommodating, great full English and Sunday carvery

Great country pub. Good choice of beers, ciders, and traditional reasonably priced food.

Superb little country style pub in Solihull. Excellent cider, and beers.

My favourite summer pub. Food cooked onthr premises ans nice friendly staff and locals. Went agsin in winter, nice, cosy and welcoming, with great festive decorations for Christmas

amazing food brilliant service. 10 out of 10

Could possibly do with a good lick of paint, but we went for their baguettes and a couple of drinks. Food was excellent as was the service and the bill was reasonable. Great location and a fantastic place, especially when the suns out and the outside seating can be used.

I forgot how amazing the cider here tastes, especially after a nice sunny walk! My friend had the carvery and whilst there I don't eat meat it did look amazing. The vegetables in particular (of course), the price is reasonable, and its a buffet so you can load up your plate as you wish. There is a veggie option too (though I didn't check whether the gravy was veggie or vegan). Homemade apple, mint, cranberry and horseradish sauces are available too. What a great pub!! Book ahead though, most tables were reserved!

My local from when I was 18 , I'm now 70 so that must say something , only had a drink but I know from the past the food is excellent.

Full of character and friendly staff, ran out of Guinness pie, but supplied a more expensive meal for the same price, so full marks. Look forward to returning

A friendly pub that is dog friendly. It was a great stopover for the motorhome with a flat carpark.

One of the best Brit Stops - a large local pub with really friendly, helpful staff. We both had ribeye steak cooked perfectly and enjoyed traditional desserts too. Road signs warned of flooding but we were able to get through though could only walk a small way along the canal path, will come back to walk further in the summer

Always good food. Never Disappointed here. Thank you

Service below rating What atmosphere Staff really rude for no apparent reason Wil not be going there any time soon

food excellent cider great bar very good 👍

Great Gluten Free options. Staff are very aware of allergies and kitchen cross contamination practices. Been twice recently and has not disappointed.

Staff very unfriendly and abrupt, food ok for pub food, will not be going there again, dont know if we caught them on a bad day

A pint of Black Rat and a cheese n Onion Cob. Can't beat it after a tough bike ride down the canal...and then the excellent menu and Carvery. Can't beat this pub for friendliness either.!

Sunday lunch is a must excellent value and friendly staff would recommend

A friendly country pub. Lots of locals and good service. Food slightly pricey.

Great Sunday carvery followed by a walk along the canal

Sunday carvery and dessert for three. Excellent value. Food was well cooked and there was plenty of meat on each plate . The staff were friendly , helpful and welcoming even though it was busy. This was our first visit and we’ll definitely be back. Plenty of parking too.

I had my daughters Christening party here for a light buffet . The owners, Alan & Pam went above and beyond to accommodate me even with it being a very busy Sunday serving carveries they let me use part of the pub to hold the function. . The pub is very traditional , the food was very good value and tasty. If you want a proper English pub in a lovely setting would highly recommend! Thanks so much for all your hard work .

We went for breakfast, it was really quiet so can't say what the regulars are like. We took the dog and there were plenty of bowls and an outdoor tap. Loads of parasols. The food was nice but the smell coming from the kitchen was divine!!! We could have stayed for lunch aswell 😆 service was lovely really welcoming

One of the best pubs we've stopped at so far with Britstops, great selection of beers and ciders, beautiful location, but the best by far were the staff working the bar and the locals sitting at it. Super friendly, engaging, and patient with us. We had a fantastic night!

I was sitting under the canal bridge along the towpath of the Stratford canal getting out of the rain when I thought, I wonder where a pub is. Only this one and less than 50m away with solid reviews. The mad dash was made. Good friendly atmosphere when I got in, had to have a cider of course. Nice too! I’d walked from Birmingham to here, about 25km or so, so I was looking for good food. Certainly not disappointed, I had the Ultimate Burger. Chilli, Jalapeños and double burger. Chips and salad made for a huge meal, I didn’t share! Friendly staff, not bad prices and good food Beat that!

1st time there nice looking establishment can tell its a locals pub didn't try the food so can't comment on that but the bartender was very welcoming and the one I spoke to outside she was lovely as well. Would go there again when the weather is good and busier. Definitely would recommend people to go there if looking for a good countryside pub. My friend who took me had been there before and really enjoyed herself.

The service was brilliant Nice friendly pub and staff Fantastic food. Would highly recommend.

We made our way here from search for sites, a place to stop over en route home to Cornwall on a busy bank holiday. We sat outside and watched the canal. Staff were all polite. We were starving. Looking at the menu on the table did not fire me with enthusiasm but then we saw a specials menu, way more choice, perhaps too much for a small kitchen? We both chose belly pork with cider gravy, mash and mixed veg, but changed mash for chips. Sadly the food was a huge disappointment but we were starving and no other options having had a few drinks in the sunshine. One piece of bell pork was big but fat unrendered, pale and wobbly, mine was small, pink at one end and overdone at the other. The chips were not homemade and smelt of overused oil, the veg was a frozen medley f diced carrots, peas, a few chopped beans and the odd broad bean, the gravy was watery and had never seen any cider. We were so disappointed as this is my husbands forte at home and usually a real treat, and it cost £15 so we were expecting much better standards. Staff did not do a check back. I left all my veg, gravy and the end of my pork. Bar staff did say the kitchen was nothing to do with the pub so maybe it’s been contracted out from the original home made food? Pukka pies on the menu too…..We then sat in the bar by the TV and listened to an elderly drunk couple row and swear for 40 minutes before driving off!! No, we won’t go back despite the location and generous option to stay over in the car park.

It is absolutely fantastic on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Might be ok on the other days as well, but I'm not there then. Ha Ha

On this occasion we had the hot pork sandwich with salad, coleslaw and crisps. Very tasty and good value. There is a very good selection of daily specials which seem reasonably priced. The standard menu items however have been available for some time especially the 50+ menu. Don't get me wrong, we have tried most of them over the years and they have always been good. Just think it may time to offer something new. As always staff are all friendly and courteous. Well done 👍

Yesterday we were there enjoying the Food and drinks well priced great atmosphere friendly staff

We had English breakfast here. I had high hopes based on the reviews. What a disappointment. Probably one of the worst I've ever had. Tough overcooked bacon, dry overcooked scrambled egg, cheap sausage. Even the mushrooms were shrivelled and tough. But what topped it was the tomatoes. Just tinned tomatoes again heated and presumably stirred until they were just a disgusting puree. Even tea for two didn't come in a pot, just mugs brought to the table then spilled. It isn't as though the staff were busy with other customers, we were the only ones in. But they dud seem preoccupied with preparing food for later. One to avoid unless you just want a beer or cider.

Visited last Sunday for the carvery. Unlike some other pubs I've visited, the food was well cooked, nicely presented by friendly staff and proved to be very good value.

What an absolute delight it was to discover the Blue Bell. Friendly staff, wonderful food (all fresh cooked) and in a charmingly characteristic old building set next to the Stratford-upon-Avon canal. Well worth a visit.

Friendly staff, one of the best carvery have ever tasted, lovely place, situated by the canal, would recommend to family and friends.

Great pub. Lots of choice of ciders especially love the cheddar valley and the Food is excellent. Will definitely be returning.

Good to honest country pub... Bit tired needs a make over but nice to relax next to canal

Wonderful Sunday Dinner, Great price, very busy. Need to book a table. Great outdoor garden overlooking the canal.

Microwaved food was a disappointment.

As always, a gem. Full vegan menu plus normal menu. Cheddar valley a joy. Staff friendly and professional.