Helen Browning's Royal Oak in Swindon

Had a wonderful three course set lunch here. Everything was delicious.

I love this place! The food is great, the rooms are super comfy and the people are exceptionally friendly and kind!

Excellent food, staff and service set in a beautiful location.

We had a meal there on a Monday night, the pub was nicely busy, food great with a wonderful selection on the menu, including spatzle (German pasta noodle) which delighted us. Lovely staff, very friendly - great evening in a traditional pub.

Really nice pub, good quality food and a friendly atmosphere. I didn't stay in the rooms so can't comment on that. Had a nice lit fireplace. Lots of information available about the local area available here too.

We had a meal at this restaurant on the 27th July 2024. Although the atmosphere was good with live music, the food was really poor. VERY small portions for high prices. A great shame. We won’t go back.

Wonderful lunch with friends. All our own meat and vegetables and the nicest service. Nice place with accommodation options and a shop.

Lovely place and beautiful people that run it. Very friendly and readily able to provide gluten free options for breakfast and dinner. The room was small but super clean which is most important for me. I would stay again. Thankyou

fantastic venue, staff and menu’s. food was gastronomical, for both carnivores and the other cabbages 😂

very good food using fresh seasonal veg

Nice pub with good food, staff are friendly and welcoming.

Lovely food, although rather overpriced for what it is. Good portion sizes. Think we were overcharged, so best to check your bill…….

We had an impromptu dinner at Helen Browning's Royal Oak on a Sunday driving by trying to find a place on route to get allergy safe food. The facilities are wonderful. We entered a garden and terrace with lovely flowers everywhere, an outdoor grill and oven for pizzas and the restaurant in itself was rustic chic. There is a farmers shop for organic and homemade and handmade produce, as well as vast fields of crops, farm animals grazing and more flower fields around. We enjoyed the interior with the creative paintings of pigs, farms, cars, cows and of course some witty slogans. The food was delicious and the waiter was very attentive about our allergy needs, wishes and tastes. We are absolutely grateful for that. So any dairy-protein allergens were excluded from our food and we had the best Piri Piri sauce ever with a pulled beef pizza, pork skewers with chips and salad plus some slaw. The crisps were super crunchy and I think, triple fried, to our delight. The salad was mixed from probably the garden itself behind the restaurant and the pork pieces on the skewer grilled to perfection with all the right spices. Again, the Piri Piri sauce is to die for and we got a second serving as my partner was stealing it for his pulled beef pizza which he thoroughly enjoyed and hovered away with it. On the menu were many vegan options, even for dessert and ice cream, which was equally a pleasant surprise. Thank you so much for saving our Sunday dinner!

Great place room spot on cozy the bed was comfy The pub had a good selection of local products the cider was excellent all enjoyed in a picturesque beer garden Breakfast was very nice with a good portion Staff where friendly and knowledgeable Overall fantastic place definitely going to come back

Our 2nd time here, rooms are good, plenty of room, good restaurant with very friendly staff and nice atmosphere, food great all local produce.

Lovely food. Lovely location. Friendly staff.

Stayed there for a couple of nights in Kate's Folly. We loved the hotel, the room, the staff (who were amazing), and the food in the restaurant attached to the pub. The bed was super comfortable, and the food and gifts in the farm shop were a real treat. we can't wait to go back!

Everything about this place is amazing. Absolutely magical gardens, comfy bedrooms, great food, beer and shop, beautiful attention to detail, outstanding staff. This is so much more than 'a pub with rooms'. We'll be coming back!

I had a great lunch here with my siblings. Friendly service. Two of us ordered the pork scallions, two others the pork skewers and my other brother had the mackerel. The food was excellent, top quality, great to be eating organic local produce

Wow, this pub/ restaurant was amazing. The grounds were lovely, the staff fantastic and the quality of the food was first class and at a very reasonable price. Would not hesitate to recommend.

A lovely friendly pub with good food and drink. I had chargrilled rump steak, fries and salad. Absolutely delicious. Nice pint of Arkell's Hoperation IPA. Lovely garden with BBQ cabin. Great on a summer's day!

Lovely location, great service, locally sourced fresh farm grown food and very friendly.

We called in on a Saturday afternoon during a Ridgeway bike ride & we're delighted to sit & enjoy the Jazz trio Three bop, who were great! We just find the cost of drinks too much. £11 for a pint of larger & Orange juice. We ordered a bowl of chips costing £5, the bowl was tiny & only 3/4 full. It's only potatoes you could give larger portions especially at £5! Love your pub but prices over the top.

We stayed here for a night in June and it was definitely our sort of place. The room was excellent and the whole area and grounds just had a nice vibe. Late at night we could see the stars and it was completely silent. Plenty of parking spaces too which is a bonus! The bar served great locally produced food. We do love quirky place and this really fits the bill! To our delight there was pig racing on the following day - which we had no idea was even happening. The whole place was buzzing and the sun was out for a lovely day. We enjoyed it so much we booked again to come back late July!

Have been a few times over the years and only once had a really good meal (sausages and chips if you are wondering). This time we ordered off the main menu and - as we found previously - ordering anything else more sophisticated seems a step too far for the kitchen team and this time the service wasn't great as well. For the price point there are plenty of pubs, restaurants and cafes in and around the area serving much better food, they just don't market themselves as well. However, what you can't fault the Royal Oak on is ambience, quirky-ness and friendly vibes. It is a proper pub in that sense, just the food either needs to come up on quality to match the prices or drop the prices to reflect the food. We will be back again but we will stick with sausage and chips next time.

I am biased big time as it’s my local! Organic food cooked to perfection. The president of the Soil Association has her name on the door so there’s the clue! Wonderful staff who are always helpful and flexible. The food quality is off the scale fresh and good for you. Menu changes because it ain’t food service tosh. Taste the difference for real👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿

Great food and great service. What a nice place for lunch today.

This is a fantastic pub, great place to stop after visiting the white horse hill. Their IPA was fantastic, my only regret is not enjoying the barbeque which smelled amazing. Would love to come back and stay. Very nice people.

Service was great and the outside seating area looked really wonderful. We were disappointed with the inside food area as the atmosphere was dull (needed some music) and there were dead flies on the windowsill- didn’t have the cosy pub vibes that we expected. We ordered stone baked pizza and it was quite small, way too crispy and thin, and burnt on the crusts, along with the pork being very dry. Although, the chips were nice and the homemade aioli was delicious. Overall, we were disappointed with the food and inside environment, but can’t fault the service and uniqueness.

Just returned from a fabulous 2 night stay here. Three friends, walking part of the Ridgeway, this was our base each night. The staff were so welcoming (and helpful…providing lifts from and to our end and start points each day) and the food and rooms were lovely. The setting is beautiful, with a garden where we relaxed in the sun…it felt like being in France. A great breakfast and packed lunch provided too. Highly recommended.

We love this place. Farm trip is essential - learnt a lot from James. But overall fantastic hospitality and food.

15:00 sitting, last booking they would take. 5 in our party, 4 adults, 1 child. The child's food sausages, chips and carrots - so dry and not appealing to an 8 year old. Roasts - range from £24-£26. The potatoes were hard, gravy was so watery, carrots hard. This food had quite clearly been sat around for a while. If you're charging this much for a roast it should be the same at the end of service as at the beginning. The total bill £204 including drinks. Not one of us enjoyed our main meal. The Puddings however were spot on. Would not recommend or be going back.

Went hear too a car n bike show was a great little area

I ate here. Really nice unpretentious pub grub, with a good selection of beers. The local village is very nice too!

This is not just a great place to stay. It's somewhere you MUST stay! We stumbled across it by accident, but it is just wonderful. 5 hour power cut in the village last night but they seemed so chill and carried on as if nothing unusual was happening. Truly everyone we have encountered has been so friendly. The food is magnificent. The bedroom is perfect, and so comfortable. Highly, highly recommended

Fantastic place to stay, the rooms are perfect and clean. The pub is amazing, thanks to Tim and all his team, couldn’t have asked for more from them all, brilliant 🍺👍🏽

Absolutely amazing establishment , top tier customer service and the food!!! 😍😍 will definitely be returning frequently! ❤️

Perfect first time visit! We stumbled across this pub after a walk and are so delighted we did. The staff were very welcoming and found us a spot to sit with our baby, young child and dog. The high chair was great, with safety straps, which kept our 8 month old seated happily. They have a games corner and we found a perfect game to keep our 3 year old entertained. Nice selection for vegetarians. I asked a member of staff for more details about the dishes and they all sounded delicious. I had a hard time choosing and I went with the member of staffs (I didn’t get her name) recommendation which I didn’t regret. Lovely pub, helpful staff and tasty food! We look forward to our next visit :)

I booked a table for 6 people on Mothers Day (10th March) with high hopes that the meal would be everything we expected for this establishment. The table was booked for 1215 as we had my 5 year old with us and we were served quickly. We ordered 4 roast beef, 1 lamb and 1 small lamb roast. The portions were all notably small, very little meat, the roast potatoes (I only had 1, everyone else only had 2) were soggy and not crispy as you'd expect. The cabbage was tough to eat and it arrived warm, not hot. We all noted that meals on the table next to ours were larger, the party arrived after us. Our desserts were served separately. Two arrived 15 minutes before my father in laws and my own. We both noted they were tepid in temperature and the custard was cold. We assune perhaps they'd been forgotten and handed to us after they'd been standing waiting as the restaurant filled and the waitress was busy serving. The roasts (5 plus my sons) and 4 glasses of wine, 6 non alcoholic beers and 3 alcoholic beers all came to £300. I've genuinely had better meals at the Toby Carvery. We were all pretty disappointed by the food and I'm only writing this now because I feel my mother's day treat was not what it should have been. On reflection, given the reputation of Helen Brownings, I was happy to pay the prices charged (£25pp for a good roast dinner) but it wasnt good and we should have voiced it at the time but we didn't want to cause a scene. Lesson learnt I suppose.

Very lovely pub and hotel! 90% of the food comes from their own organic farm and that's something you can definitely taste! Good place to stay for a few nights and breakfast included in the price of the room. Very lovely and helpful staff who will go to great lengths to be of service. The place is very close to the Ridgeway as well, which is highly recommended for anyone that's interested in a wonderfull stroll. Pop in, sleep in, have a bite and a pint or two and don't forget to check for any nice activities and special events. We'll definitely continue our visits there and we highly recommend this fantastic place!

What a lovely roast meal. All the elements of the meal were fresh and full of flavour. The service was genuine and good with the owner doing something I’m not used to at all; thanking me for coming . Yes, it was above average in price but I would much rather pay an extra £5 a head to enjoy the quality of food served today.

Very limited choice on menu. If you didn't like pork you would struggle. Complete mix up on starters. Pork belly chosen by 3 of the 4 of us @£25 per head. Was ok but not brilliant. Table of 4 with one bottle of wine a couple of Jack Daniels and coke, 2 starters, 2 bread and olives, 4 mains and 2 deserts ended with a bill of £240!!!!

Nestling in the lovely village of Bishopstone, just off the Ridgeway, you couldn't hope to find somewhere to eat and stay that's more welcoming and cosy than the Royal Oak. The rooms are very nicely designed, the showers excellent, and the beds comfortable. Nice touches like the Common Room (with tea, coffee, honesty bar, table football, comfy chairs and Hereford bull wheeled toy!), spare walking boot box and the Helen Browning farm shop all add to the experience. The bar and restaurant are really snug and rustic, and the food is tasty, healthy and satisfying. A good selection of ales plus local organic drinks and cocktails too. The coffee is great. It's a great place to eat, and the staff are all happy, well organised and helpful. Definitely a place to consider visiting, especially if you're walking the Ridgeway.

Arrived having reserved a table for lunch on a Saturday. Told where our table was located but not shown to it. No menus provided and no request for drinks taken. Went to the bar and ordered drinks and requested menus. Two other members of our party arrived and again no request for drinks taken. Asked whether we need to order food at the bar to get a staff member to come to take our order. Food was ok when it eventually arrived. We won’t be in a hurry to return.

Very tasty set menu. Lovely pub with friendly, attentive staff

Great room excellent service and brilliant ethics we hope to return.

Comfortable room, very friendly welcome, great food (local sourced meat especially). The 'Wallow' common room for overnight guests featuring free tea and coffee, honesty bar, squashy sofas and table football Lovely farm shop on site. Close to the Ridgeway for walking and running - there are even walking/Welly boots to borrow and a boot wash!

2nd stay here, and was just as great as the 1st. Excellent rooms, fantastic locally sourced food, super friendly staff.

Quite a limited menu, although the food was delicious (decent size portions too). Staff were friendly and attentive.

An expensive meal but poor quality. Nice restaurant , warm , cosy and friendly staff. Just not what I was expecting.

Lovely room, excellent location for walks in the beautiful Wiltshire countryside. The food was delicious and generously portioned. Oh and the service was absolutely fab.

Stop for a drink on a Saturday lunchtime and a bite to eat. Ordered drinks and a pizza drinks came straight away Pizza 40min later. If I hadn't paid I would have left. After chasing twice the miserable chef drop it on the table, we were outside. Not cooked properly under cooked at the base. Update: Went for Sunday Lunch 15th oct 2023 Sorry to say the beef was very chewy for me and my wife left most of it. Shame as the rest was great but will not risk it again

Great stay here highly recommend 🙂

Great shop with local suppliers.

Oddly there is a review here that says that because the room was on the street, it was noisy. I struggle to understand this as the 'High Street' is what would commonly be referred to as a quiet country lane, during my 3 nights here, I only heard two cars actually driving past. The food is plentiful, the staff is friendly. The venue can't help it, but the entire area is thick with mosquitoes.

Great service and excellent food...

We decided to meet up at the Royal Oak for dinner as our family was coming from 3 different directions - what an amazing find it was! The food was superb, all organic and fresh from the farm. The service was very attentive, and the Ginger ice cream was to die for! 😋 Will definitely be returning. Thanks for a wonderful evening

Went for dinner but found the menu very bland and not much of a choice, after hearing good things about the place gave it a try but won't go back as very over priced for the standard of food you receive. The carpark could do with a tidy up and weeding. Found better pubs near buy that was more welcoming and served better food.

My husband and I went there last year and decided to go back again. Our room was very nice especially as we took out dog this year. The food was excellent so very fresh and tasty. The staff are very welcoming and friendly. They will do anything for you if you need them for anything.

Fantastic pub for a Sunday roast, the roast beef was excellent and the outdoor space is great. Staff and owner very friendly. Good gluten free options and the mini roast for kids is substantial! The playhouse is popular too

Exceptional place to stay, room was very clean and spacious, we had an evening meal in the pub which was amazing and good value for the money 👌 Very helpful and friendly staff, I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a stopover in this area 😁😎

Once the parents in-law had arrived, we were looking for somewhere nice and up market to take them for a nice meal. On searching Trip Advisor we found this place, coming in with loads of good reviews we had to go and try it ourselves. Having a seven week old baby, at the time, we need to be able to have a table which allowed the pram to be close to the table but not block any other patrons. Firstly, we parked in the available car park (of which there is plenty of space) to then find we had to travel down some very steep stairs in order to get to the restaurant. Without realising it, or being told, there was another entry point which would have been far easier - this was used to exist once we had eaten. First encounter of the staff was they were great! Really welcoming and tried to help with the pram and coming down the steep steps. It wasnt overly busy, the pub, but the food seemed to come out slowly, making the staff really have to be on form with some difficult customers. After waiting over an hour for our food, having bread and olives to tied us over, the burgers finally arrived. They are larger than you would expect from other places, but this is shown in the pricing. All that being said the food was really good and we were impressed with how attentive the staff were with all the tables. There was only about 4 staff members on, covering circa 35 people, but with the delay in the food from the kitchen they dealt really well. The ale was good and there was a wide variety on offer, of which the American Pale Ale was recommended and a good choice. We would return here, be aware however, the limiting factors to this place are: 1. Quirky - not for everyone as it gives off 'Organic' feelings, 2. Location - not only the pub geographically but also the fact you have to go down to enter the restaurant, 3. Price - its not cheap to eat or drink in this establishment, 4. Time - You don't get the feeling things will ever be done quickly here as everything takes its time. So don't be in a rush when visiting.

We just had a lovely afternoon tea here and it was just 👌😋😊 .. very nice, cosy seating outside, super warm and attentive staff 😁 Definitely worth a visit if you're around the area Thank you very much !🙂

I have a soft spot for the Royal Oak. I used to stay there many years ago on my regular walking trips in the area and it's nice to see that the pub has lost none of its atmosphere, despite its huge success and exponential growth as a business. It still has welcoming real fires and is still dog-friendly. Staying overnight is now sadly way out of my league and eating there also is very expensive. I had a side order of chips for £4, but if the main courses had included some options at £12 or (preferably) under, instead of averaging £18 - £20, I'd gladly have spent a bit more for something comforting, substantial and warm at the end of a long walk. Great to see the pub doing so well though, and I certainly intend to continue to visit for many years to come.

Beautiful, quirky, unfussy yet classic...thank you!

Helen Browning's Royal Oak is run by wonderful people. Everyone was welcoming and friendly, we felt well looked after during our 2 night stay. The evening meal was really enjoyable and our room was warm and cosy.

Superb. Proper pub. Five star hospitality, seasonal local beers, log fires and tremendous food. Truly authentic. One of my absolute favourite pubs in the UK. Hadn’t been for best part of 10 years but was just as good as I remember! Chapeau! Won’t leave it as long next time! Thank you!

Absolutely brilliant. Great food. Really fabulous service. So good to feel the food is locally and ethically sourced. Relaxed and friendly environment, would certainly go again.

Great food and friendly staff. The sharing platters are great with variety and lots of food.

Delightful pub. Very good food. Lovely atmosphere. Would highly recommend.

We came (back) here for fireworks night, with food and drink on offer to accompany the show. We had a lovely evening and the kids enjoyed the fireworks. The food was good, a choice of pizza, pull pork and hotdogs. We had some of each and it was nice, the only issue was they had underestimate how many people would show up and, because we didn't arrive super early had to wait about 45 mins for our food, this meant that I missed a lot of the fireworks while queuing, luckily the kids still got to enjoy it, and when the food did arrive it was good. 4 stars if it wasn't for that. But the staff worked their socks off, I really felt for them given the fact they probably had 4x the amount of people they were expecting!

Absolutely brilliant. Once you actually find it, very poorly signposted, you are in for a treat. Don't expect your usual pub grub, this is something way, way superior. Best pork belly I have EVER had, and I am the pork belly King. Just amazing flavours and such a clever mix of ingredients, well done chef. I will definitely come back. 10/10. :-)

Splendid impromptu afternoon visit with a friend. A quirky, fun and cosy establishment with knowledgeable and friendly staff and an excellent locally sourced menu. Well kept ales. We'll be back!

Very nice meal, staff were excellent.

We visited on a recommendation of a friend, and we were not disappointed. The service was really friendly and professional. Our server Max was knowledgeable, polite with a super sense of humour. The food was delicious and good sized portions.

Wonderful village pub serving and supporting great organic produce.

Love, love, love this place. Tim, Helen and the team are so down to earth. You feel very welcome like being part of the family. Food, drinks, service, staff, Tim, Helen and even other customers and not forgetting the overall setting, means the bar is set very high. Your hard work and dedication is very appreciated 👏, thank-you!

Lovely place to eat or stay in. Lovely wood fire baked pizza with fresh ingredients from their farm. Nice Ales available too if you are a beer person. Ample free parking. Definitely worth a visit.

A lovely spot for a quick drink, a leisurely lunch or why not stay the night.

This was our second stay at the Royal Oak in as many months. Location is perfect for walkers being only 15 mins off the Ridgeway. The rooms are great and the beds extremely comfortable. They offer a great breakfast with decent coffee, pastries and cooked options. We also enjoyed our meal in the evening. We will definitely stay again and highly recommend as a Ridgeway stopover.

Quirky, just a little bit different and at the same time one of the very best Sunday lunches I have experienced for many years. The Staff are attentive and the food is positively delicious; oh and save some room for a trip around the desserts - simply too good to miss.

Late Sunday lunch, lovely food and friendly attentive service.

Unique setting and interesting concept mixing farm produce with restaurant, farm shop, picnics & visits. Service very friendly. On tap cloudy cider (not Thatchers!!!) very good. Pork rillette starter good - minor detail maybe less sugar in the onion chutney. Beef tajine good and plentiful - minor detail maybe a little more liquid and work on the spices giving a little more lift. Ice cream very creamy. I'd definitely go back and maybe sit in the garden and have a fire backed pizza.

Excellent food and service in lovely surroundings.

Amazing lunch, beautiful location and very friendly staff

Fate was clearly on my side when I ended up at this pub by accident! Thinking I was booking at somewhere entirely different, sat nav brought us to this hidden gem. Nestled discretly to one side of the main road through Bishopston, the atmosphere, environment, clientele, staff, quality of food, presentation of food (and the list goes on) provided one of the best Sunday lunch experiences that I've ever had. I can't wait to go back, to eat, maybe try one of their picnics, or even organic farm outings...

Fantastic place to stop for lunch during a walk/bike ride along the Ridgeway. Excellent food, good beer and friendly service. A must!

Great place and good food with enormous portions!. Really enjoyed the visit. Staff very helpful & It also has rooms to let if you want to stay.

Fabulous food in a lovely quirky pub. Lovely staff.

Love this place so relaxed, food a bit pricey though.

We stayed for two nights as part of a wedding celebration. The accomodation was extremely comfortable with imaginative decor. The organic food was always very tasty. The staff at all levels were extremely obliging and friendly; in particular Tim, who runs the hotel, was generous with his time. The children in the party were treated to a Landover safari to meet the pigs and see the farm. A memorable few days. Thanks

I rocked up a little worse for wear having just fallen off my push bike coming off the Ridgeway path. My arm covered in blood looked a bit horror story and their team just jumped into action like a well oiled machine. Sat me down, got me a glass of water and the medical box. Took a look at the damage that I couldn't see, screwed up their faces a bit, cleaned and bandaged me up and then packed me off to A&E. I got back around 21.30hrs, they had sorted a lovely room with a floaty bed that I gladly crawled into. Stunning service with real care about my needs. Thanks Tim, Emily (best bandager-upper ever!) and your team.

Took the family for a Sunday Roast, got to be one of the best roast dinners I've had in a pub / restaurant setting. Bar is a nice setting, along with a load of outdoor seating. Sunday roast menu is great, food is extremely flavorsome and you can tell its based on quality produce.

Here we are at last; the epicentre of organic, quality beef and pork. The pub is Shabby chic the food fantastic

Lovely location and a cool organic shop as well as wood fire pizza oven/servery.

Fabulous place ,staying there now. the atmosphere is personal and of the highest standards with all the staff genuinely proud of their standards, and the food ( and beer) is of the highest standards, this place is a hidden gem , so highly recommended.

We went out for a birthday meal, it all started well, although there wasn't any lemonade, coke, or soda water, infact the waitress didn't even know what soda water was! After there was an extremely long wait for the main course, when we finished eating and I have ti say the rump steak was over cooked and tough and inappropriate cutlery was given for the lobster and nowhere to put the shell, when we had finished we then waited for 30 minutes for our plates to be cleared and this was only after we asked for the table to be cleared, when the table was cleared we were told our service was slow because of an accident everyone arrived at the same time, so our service suffered the apology was not heart felt and we felt as if we were an inconvenience, we were offered our desserts for free but we weren't interested in that we just wanted good service we gave our dessert order they then came back and told me that they didn't have what we choose, if our order had been taken earlier we may have had the correct dessert, we spent nearly £200 so expected better service and food, very disappointed I had a response from the owner Tim on trip advisor I've had 14 years learning to make to this place a reliable, fun and sensible venture, because we like looking after people like you, and I have clearly absolutely failed. Your gang of four has had an average of 40 years each to learn grammar and spelling. If I had known of your semi-illiteracy, I'd have suggested we left your plates for an additional half hour. Four reviews from one single table on the night that a massive accident on the M4 sent nearly 60 people to our doors at the same time. I'd love to review you in your jobs. Why do we bother? TF As you can see not terribly apologetic!

Beautiful surroundings, great service. Food not as good as expected. Pork secretos chewy, burger lacked flavour, sharing platter meagre.

Amazing stay, lovely staff - a relaxed atmosphere and good food. Rooms are decorated really well. We intend to go back with our friends and stay.

Lovely 'super salad' with salmon. Great friendly service.