Smugglers Inn in West Somerset

Went out for a meal with the Mrs for our anniversary tonight. The bloke that served us was very good. Very friendly and all round pleasant. Good service, fast food. 10/10

Not super impressed with the hospitality, food was good but steaks are pre-order only (but how would I know)?

Went for a Valentines meal to the 'Smugglers'. From outside the place looked shut, as it was in darkness. Eventually found the sliding door, and down the stairs to a cosy bar area. We were shown to our table. It was clean, near a makeshift bar, with view of the kitchen. But it was freezing, even the very helpful waitress had her padded coat on. we ate wearing our coats. The Food was nice, but i think overpriced, the pricing of the sauces was confusing, as each one is charged separately. Staff were friendly but a valentines meal was overshadowed by it being so cold and atmospheric. At least we went home to warm up after!!!

Sadly, plenty of room for improvement The location suited our needs and the staff came across as pleasant, but a large number of niggles prevents us from recommending this place to others. It might have been different if we’d seen more commitment to ensuring guests have a great stay (which can often turn things around), but even the few things we mentioned whilst there weren’t leapt on as opportunities to improve our experience. Our first impressions were mixed. Plenty of parking spaces were available when we visited in mid-December and we eventually figured out the route to the downstairs bar / restaurant – where we checked in. However, even allowing for some recent storm damage, the building exterior looks tatty and would benefit from some serious TLC. That’s also true of the accommodation entrance for both the Captain’s Suite and Commanders Cabin – comprising a rickety gate, an external decking staircase that was really slippery when wet and a pair of ill-fitting doors with challenging locks and handles. A simple continental-style breakfast was placed outside the room before 9am each day. Annoyingly the door-slamming and automatic entrance light shining into the bedroom woke us up prematurely on our first morning, when the hamper was delivered considerably earlier. The real let down is that there’s no table in the Captain’s Suite to eat it all from, so you end up perching everything on the footstool and side-table by the sofa hoping for the best. Crumbs went everywhere. Not ideal. Did we have a comfy and pleasant stay? No, not really. Nobody had checked that the central heating was working prior to our arrival, so the room was initially freezing. Even once the central heating was on, we still had to run to supplement it with the supplied convector heater for the rest of our stay (despite it not being that cold outside). Our first evening’s meal was also pretty mediocre (which seems to fly in the face of some other reviews), so we ate elsewhere for all other meals. The ‘king size’ bed was not king-sized and had a lumpy mattress that felt like it wanted to tip you out. The large-screen TV with satellite receiver didn’t work at any point during our three-night stay and we ended up going out on two evenings specifically to avoid the noise from the bar directly under us (one night being really loud, poorly sung karaoke). Whilst we can see that some effort has already been made and that much of what we’ve commented on has the potential to be improved in the future, the noise from the bar (and the beer garden) during opening hours is likely to be a permanent feature of any stay here. Overall we felt quite let down and didn’t feel our stay had been particularly good value for money. Hopefully the owner will seize on our mixed review as a rallying cry to improve this place with so much going for it!

A large party accomadated us easy rustic atmosphere.The food was amazing the triple good trips where to die for.The burgers where huge all freshly cooked,deserts where homemade, highly recommended .All at a reasonable price.

Service was exceptional, friendly staff and amazing food

We popped by here with our little boy for some early lunch as we are staying locally for a new year break and we absolutely loved it! Proper traditional pub vibes, the food is properly home-cooked food (generous portions!), good selection of drinks available and just a really nice friendly atmosphere all round. Highly recommend to all.

Pouring real ales with no sparkler on which made the beer flat. Nice pub and gardens though

My husband and I took my elderly father here as a treat for his birthday and we all had a Sunday Roast. 2x Beef and 1x Pork. It was the best Sunday roast we have all had in years! From start to finish the food was absolutely delicious. Also service was wonderful, they really look after us and my dad, made sure there was easy access, ramp and comfortable seating. 5 stars all round. Thank you to the chef who also helped my dad with the ramp. I am exceedingly grateful! Will be coming back for certain!

Beautiful place gorgeous food lovely service

Lovely pub and staff very friendly

Amazing food, with quick and friendly service. Food portions were very generous, highly recommend one of the burgers of the rack of ribs.

Stayed for three nights, left with the feeling it could be oh so much better. To say its a tired building is an understatement, we sat outside each morning with our breakfasts and looking up every window is rotten, its past needing a paint job. The staff are friendly, the breakfast is very good, the one evening meal I had was a disaster, one of the worst I've ever had the misfortune to be put before me. The room again could have been better but the real disaster was the bed, how they can charge £100 and more per night I don't know. Will not be back

We have stayed at the campsite adjacent. Went in for a drink. Staff acted like they couldn't be bothered. We are both disabled and were struggling to get ourselves and the dog out to the beer garden with a pint and a pot of tea with assistance whatsoever!! Its supposed to be dog friendly but all dog bowls were full of cig stumps and dirty water. In DIRE need of a shake up.

Tired in need of a make over Staff friendly and helpful. Beer choice limited but kept ok. food was good. Beer garden cluttered and junk needs to go tip. would visit if we come back would love to see it thriving.

Very good food nicely presented and friendly staff

Food and drinks were great. Staff very friendly

Great campsite. Excellent facilities. Beautiful location and right near the coast. If you are hiking or biking, there’s not much nearby in terms of groceries. The pub on the site is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Very nice walk into Minehead (but keep an eye on the high tides) Highly recommended!

After staying there for two nights, I have to say the owner really needs to work on his people skills. The room was lovely, location was ok, service I was not impressed, needless to say I will not stay there again.

Great service, Our waitresse was friendly and polite. nothing was to much. will go back again for sure.

DISASTER We were there on Sunday night after pre-booking 10 days previously. The barman greeted us by apologising for: NO draught beers/ciders available because the system had been down all day and the repairman was taking the night off, only one bottled lager and no bottled ales... AND the menu was limited to cod & chips or scampi & chips. Against our better judgement we decided to stay and make the most of a bad start (where were we going to go at that time on a Sunday night?). The only things special about their "special 'fish and chip' night" was the lack of any other meals, the fact that they were VERY basic, and VERY expensive compared to the two previous nights where we enjoyed meals at pubs with normal pub menus. There was plenty of time for the staff to contact us with a heads-up about both problems, and the barman alluded to this.

Stopped in after walking from Dunster, warm welcome and the food was delicious. Veggie and Exmoor Burgers, would have taken a photo if I wasn’t so hungry! Good beer too! Highly recommend.

Only stopped off for refreshment, wS friendly and warm.

Roast dinner great, Definitely needs TLC , entrance down steps at side is pretty awful & most unwelcoming. SHAME. staff (girls) were delightful . Was cold too & dingy.

We went for Burns night Great atmosphere Outstanding food Great service.