Old Bell in West Berkshire

What lovely pub, Maria and her team we exceptional 10/10 would recommend

Lovely service and excellent atmosphere

Breakfast, crispy bacon, sausages, beans, mushrooms, and poached eggs. Freshly cooked. Cheerfully, waitress and cook.

Well priced food. Attentive and helpful staff. Especially the assistant manager who made sure we were looked after throughout our stay. Thanks for the good atmosphere and lovely food

The service from Reese was absolutely brilliant—attentive, friendly, and efficient. Any small issues were promptly addressed without hesitation or fuss, which made the whole experience feel seamless and stress-free. The Sunday roast was delicious, with all the traditional elements done well. However, the cauliflower cheese —it could have been a bit cheesier! Overall, a wonderful meal in a welcoming pub setting.

Lovely service from the lady maria I think was her name , the food was horrible I asked for mixed grilled the the meat was taste burned. Never again

Great experience at the old bell today, lovely roaring fire, great service and great food. James and Nelly were really thoughtful and kind and made the day for our 4 year old daughter, getting to choose the log to go on the fire!

Came here for a lovely meal yesterday. Food was great, service was fantastic. Shoutout to Reese and Steve, who were very attentive and welcoming! Would definitely recommend this pub, will be back soon!

Delicious meal, served by an attentive waitress called Reece. She made us feel very welcomed and checked by our table multiple times. Will come again!

The food was lovely but the service was diabolical, slow and ruined the visit for us. I will not be returning. We stood waiting to be seated and there was no one around, eventually someone came to show us to our table. Then our waitress came over and said 'oh I think I'm at the wrong table, I'll do your drinks order anyway' so we ordered drinks. We had to ask for food to be ordered because it was taking so long. Then after our mains I said, I asked for pudding menu in which we were informed the kitchen closed 45 minutes ago. We were not notified of that at any point and if the service didn't take so long we may have had time for pudding. It would have been nice to have been told the kitchen was closing so we could make a decision whether to put an order in. Overall, pretty poor.

Can’t fault anything at the old bell. Great restaurant, great staff, great atmosphere. Good was top tier and came out very fast. Can’t fault it in anyway. Compliments to all the staff!

Went for an evening family meal. Nobody to seat us at the service area so we chose a table. The waiter then came up 5 mins later and in an incredibly sarcastic manner made us feel horrendous for not waiting for a seat. Treated us like we had walked in and smashed up the place. Disgusting treatment, horrendous service. If it were my business he would have been sacked on the spot. If I could give it zero stars I would. Avoid.

Recently had the pleasure of spending an evening here while away for work, can’t rate the place high enough, food was superb, staff were friendly and attentive and the bar staff were exceptional, will definitely be returning soon

Early lunch weekday before 12, and got a sunny window table and great service

Maria was such a sweetheart, she’s definitely changed this place for the better

Fantastic food and the.team is great! Thank you for.a great Sunday roast! We will be back soon!

A hidden gem. They had some very interesting options on their specials. Me and my husband went for the salmon wellington from the specials menu, it was delicious and well made. The girls looking after us Kathleen and Niomi made our visit special.

Came here after seeing such good reviews and it was so worth it. Very generous Sunday roast portions. The staff are really lovely and looked after us. Quality food too. Will be back!

Delicious food, great service. I recommend

I recommend it 100%. Nice place, tasty food and very smiling service. Thank you all for a wonderful time.

I had a great meal with family today , my food came out very quickly. We was served by an attentive waitress Maria , Maria recommended some nice pudding s so I went for sticky toffee pudding it was fab , I would definitely return again .

I was there today . Very friendly staff nice place . 100% come back soon

First time for a while and the "pub" still has plenty of charm, though clearly part of the Green King empire. The food was good but there was quite a wait for two main dishes to arrive. Only two front of house staff at lunchtime left them rather stretched as it is a large venue! We did enjoy our meal and would return.

Kathleen was an excellent host from the moment we walked in. Thank you.

Emma & Steve provide a lovely relaxed and attentive atmosphere in which to eat and spend an evening

Really not great. Short staffed. Food basic. Shells on the prawns in a fish pie? Lots was just warm. Shame.

We arrived at the Old Bell, very weary after having travelled a long way, without a booking a table. With only a few minutes to spare before the kitchen finished cooking, James very kindly rushed an order through for us. We sat down, were served drinks immediately by James and within a very short time our meal of fish and chips appeared. The fish was the best fish we had tasted in a very long time, cooked to perfection. Thankyou very much to a very friendly James and the chef.

A solidly adequate pub next to premier inn. Excessively sign posted, priced according to how few alternatives there are around. You can't do more 4 out of 5 than this pub.

Great service, lovely atmosphere. Will be back

Great place. We had slow cooked beef roast and a duo of turkey and pork roast. All the food was lovely. Staff really friendly (James, Cameron and Eve) and we could take our furry friend in with us too. Most enjoyable. Weve been 4 times before and we just remembered why we always like too eat here. Thank you

Nice pub with very nice food. We stayed a few nights at the Premier Inn there and used the Bell every evening, sampling several meals, all good Brilliant staff with special mention for James and Kathleen who couldn't have been more friendly and helpful.

Firstly: went on a Sunday evening and there was only 3 other tables with customers so it wasn't busy. However the service was abysmal. So to take order, bring drinks, check if any more drinks or sauce required and had to go to the bar to pay as waited too long to have table cleared. That being said the chef was on form as the food was delicious. The Game Mixed Grill was a different treat to normal pub food and the Lamb Shank shepherd's pie was divine. The cooking staff took pub grub to a high standard. It was all let down by the miserable and inattentive service staff.

Stopped by on a whim. Greeted quickly, served promptly, food was excellent for a pub menu. Recommended. All staff were great. Our server Bel was very polite and attentive.

Great place very good to bring you’re family for a nice meal

What a shame, had high hopes from the friendly welcome from Kathleen? but my order was lost, after 25mins a young chap came out to apologise and I was offered another drink, food wouldn't be long. I hoped that missing the order chef would make sure food was good, unfortunately not, half of the (four) carrots chunks were green and not roasted as per menu, was told menu doesn't say roasted (it clearly does). Pie was full of fat and some of the chips were grey, left most of the food. Sauce pot chipped and grubby. This is probably a one off as all other reviews are great. Knocked the price of my coke off the bill, food was charged at full. Kathleen was lovely and a real credit to the place, everything else was a hot mess I'm afraid!

We had a nice experience with friends. Staff were attentive and we thoroughly enjoyed the nicely presented food. We would recommend.

Excellent pub with excellent customer service 👍

Poor. We arrived at 8.30 pm, the place was empty, and we were turned away from dining with poor excuses.

We ate the pork belly bites and pork terrine for starters very tasty We had mains from the lunch menu salmon and cheddar fish cake with poached egg very lovely and presented well Naomi and Kathleen were very helpful and professional

Good food, reasonable prices and good service by Leah & Ben

My husband and I visited for a light lunch, Scampi, chips and mushy peas and Halloumi and fries. The meals were were really nice cooked to perfection. The staff that looked after us James and Kathleen were very professional and attentive. Definitely going back.

Good value for an English pub. A lot of choices including specials. Friendly service. Higher quality than its competitors.

I really enjoyed my lunch at The Old Bell in Grazely. We were served by James who was very polite, helpful and made sure our visit was memorable. 😊

I was served by Naomi and she was very good! She gave great service and I will definitely be coming back :)

Really enjoyed our food. we were well looked after by our waitress Naomi. great value. Highly recommend the old bell

we had an excellent meal just recently and were served by a very kind young women, naomi. thanks very much for a delicious meal 🙏

Food and service was speedy. I had the steak and was cooked to perfection. Exceptional service by Naomi.

Great food and the server Naomi was very attentive.

Great food, lovely atmosphere. Service was excellent, our server Naomi was very attentive and made great recommendations.

Came here to celebrate our wedding anniversary and are very happy we did. Naomi looked after us well delivering speedy service and delicious food . Thanks we will be back!

This pub has a great atmosphere. My family had a lovely lunch , our server Naomi, recommended the Hake special which was delicious and perfeclty cooked . We will definitely be back.

Get the slow cooked pork and shut up, especially with one of their crisp lager's 💀😌 Cheers Naomi!

Great selection of food and drinks. Food came out quick and warm. Very delicious. Naomi served us and was very friendly, she made sure we were happy with our food. The place was clean and the atmosphere was great. We will definitely be back again!

Tom’s service was absolutely fantastic, and he’s a real credit to your staff.

Tom was a great server and went out of his way to make my experience great

Been here a few times and the staff are lovely! Naomi made us feel welcome and when we asked if she had any recommendations for wine, she picked out a great one! Will definitely be back

I visited this pub recently and it was an absolutely perfect meal. Everything was on point, the service, the food and the atmosphere. I have to give a special thank you to our waiter Thomas, he treated us very well! Will be coming again soon.

Great relaxing place, excellent service by Tom

A few of us went to dinner Really good food Service was good. Nothing in anyway negative to say about it.

Fabulous from the moment we arrived until we left. James made us feel most welcome. The food was wonderful and service from James and colleagues was fantastic. Will definitely be back.

We were very from a long journey and Kathleen was great asking the chefs to accommodate my partners lack of appetite for warm food. Much appreciated

We had lunch in this magical place in the English countryside. A wonderful place, the food was fantastic and the staff were great. Absolutely coming back 💯

Lovely place,very nice staff especially Mada and Naomie.

Sadly very disappointing. The service was extremely slow and at times staff didn’t know what they were doing. We waited 30 minutes to order our food. Then waited another 40 minutes for it to arrive, which only came once we reminded them of it. The food itself was poor. The manager was very apologetic and understanding of our unhappiness. But sadly cannot recommend.

Excellent service always and food really nice

The middle aged man working as a waiter was astonishingly rude. On arrival, he wouldn't stop tutting and shaking his head as I told him I didn't have a reservation. The passive aggressive speech was ridiculous. It's obvious that the man hates his job. Food was mediocre.

Went for lunch on a Monday afternoon. Food was great and came very fast. Naomi and Josh were great.

A lovely meal for 6 of us.all food delivered as ordered and well presented. Will come again.

Pretty poor tbh. I had the gluten free option of chipolatas followed by a mixed grill. The sausages tasted of cardboard and the steak was like shoe leather - despite me asking for rare. The gammon was about the only acceptable thing on the plate.

Kathleen really looked after us, nothing was too much trouble. Cheerful, attentive, friendly.

Our recent family visit to The Old Bell was fantastic. From the moment we walked in, Steve and Mada's warm and friendly service made us feel right at home. The menu offers a great variety, with something for everyone. Every dish was cooked to perfection, and the kids enjoyed their meals as much as we did. We ended our meal with desserts that were both delicious and beautifully presented. Overall, The Old Bell provided an excellent dining experience with delicious food and exceptional service. We look forward to returning and highly recommend it.

Gorgeous little pub in lovely rural surroundings! Arrived as part of a large group passing through for a wedding in the area. The friendly staff were happy to accomodate our booking and nothing was too much trouble. Delicious food, and a decent pint of Guinness as well! Special thanks to Madalina, James and Katheleen for their friendly and attentive service. Highly recommended. :)

Food was really nice, and the staff (Thomas and Mada that day) were really accommodating and friendly.

All staff were very friendly, excellent service, food good, toilets very clean

We weee served by James and he was amazing! He went above and beyond to cater for us and our small children, bringing them colouring. He’s a real credit to your team

Very good and quick service especially for a party of 15. Thank you we will be returning

Had a lovely afternoon in here with family. Will visit again. Staff are polite and friendly.

Lovely venue to come with your family

Lovely pub and exceptional food .We had the lamb rump yummy 🤤

Lovely staff (the waiters were young but very pleasant and efficient). Lady behind the bar was friendly. Food was delicious, good portion sizes. Deducted one star for atmosphere only because it was quiet. The restaurant itself was lovely.

A pretty average experience all round. We live locally and have been here a few times, the menu has changed recently and we can't comment on every dish. The food we have tried has been fine overall, but nothing special. Some dishes have been great, others clearly lacked seasoning or just fell down by using cheap ingredients. The service was fast but inaccurate, missing several items, or dishes arriving with items that we had asked to be removed. The atmosphere is good, it's a nice building with a decent range of drinks. Definitely give it a try, you might drop on a good day.

Lovely spot, sat out in the garden in the sunshine. Very nice but the food was more expensive than I would usually pay

Maria and the team were great, she was such a sweetheart…will definitely be returning

Shame it took so long to serve us when there was nobody there!

Excellent all around, service and food was excellent.

Had a great Sunday lunch. Love all the food and the guys service was above and beyond.

After reading all the positive reviews, I was really disappointed with my Bank Holiday experience. Arrived pre-booked and got put in a quiet empty corner and we're pretty much forgotten about. After going to the bar twice to remind them, we eventually got our food 45 minute after arriving. Burger and chicken were average at best, place lacked atmosphere and the service was poor. We were a table of two and the place was quiet!! Shame. There are better options locally.

Service was haphazard and very very slow. We were told there would be a 15 minute wait, which was acceptable. This turned out to be 90 minutes. The food was ok but the chips were cold and probably reheated, not fresh. We didn't wait for a dessert. Would not recommend this pub.

Went to the Old Bell a few weeks ago to visit a friend, the food was great and the waiters and waitresses were amazing the manager however seemed to be berating the staff members for insignificant things that they had no control over. After speaking to a friend who used to work there it seems this is very common. I will not be going back for this reason and I hope that manager is removed as soon as possible.

Excellent service and the food was lovely . Very polite staff and wonderful atmosphere. We will be back

We was a party of 9 celebrity my wife's birthday the staff was amazing very polite the food was lovely. We will be going back.

Thank you very much for accommodating our part last minute .Service was exceptional and the food really nice .We will be back

I ate at The Old Bell over two nights while staying next door during time away while I was studying on a course. The staff provided amazing customer service and the food was excellent (vegetarian options were great). Could not recommend enough.

Very rode would not let me order food

Fairly poor. We visit this pub regularly as it is very local to us. We are a large family of 6 so bring a lot of custom to the Old Bell. In all honestly we were pretty shocked by our recent booking. We came into the pub and were sat down by a gentleman called Mike. He was chatty which was lovely! He informed us that there was no Beef for any of the roast dinners this evening as they had a busy lunch service (understandable). Mike began to take our order, we asked if we could order a roast dinner, with the pork and turkey. He advised this won’t be possible, which I then advised him (myself having worked in a greene king pub previously, and working currently is a 5star luxury hotel) that if he was to put it through as a trio roast and give extra of either turkey or pork due to their no beef then it would work that way! Little frustrated that someone from a management team was clearly not up to date and confident enough with their own menu. Anyway, we went on to order starters, some chicken starters and some garlic bread to come out with the starters. All was good until the start began to arrive, 2 chicken dishes arrived, at which point he asked if we wanted garlic bread with our starters? And if so, he would get the chefs to plate it up. We said yes, as we had already advised this is what we wanted. 15 minutes later, 2 plates or garlic bread showed up, everyone else had finished starters so the timings just felt awfully wrong. Mains came out, two of the roasts were incorrectly plated, so had to be sent back. I had asked for a chicken starter to come as a main with a side of chips, I received my chicken and chips followed out 15 minutes later. It got to the stage where we had to send it back to the kitchen so many times and all food being brought in and out at such separated times that we decided to no longer have our main course, simply just pay and leave as we honestly were just fed up of the fact waiting and the complete mixture of times we were getting our food. Mike removed a couple of dishes from our bill, although appreciated, still unsatisfied with our visit and feel that something further should be done to prevent this from happening again in the future. In all honesty as a big family of 6 we are fairly put off from eating at the Old Bell again.

Amazing staff, really good food, really nice pub

Thank you very much for accommodating our part last minute .Service was exceptional and the food really nice .We will be back

I been there for family gathering and I really enjoyed the atmosphere. The food was amazing and the staff was really friendly. The service is amazing and quick. We definitely come back.

Having been going to the pub regularly for a number of years with a group of friends it is disappointing to have to write this review. The new Manager is clearly trying to put the pub out of business through their appalling attitude and the way she speaks to customers. I feel sorry for the staff that have to work for her. Unfortunately we have now decided to meet somewhere else.

Excellent service and food .Recommended for families as has variety of choices for children .Large garden