Spencer Arms in Barnsley

Recent work night out. Excellent choice of food. Exceptional and friendly service. Good choice of draught beers. I wasn't impressed by the dessert choice , hence 4 stars. The portions of desserts could however be smaller from what I saw other members having.

Enjoyed a celebration meal with 10 friends. The food was fabulous and the service excellent. Always a buzzing atmosphere… all christmasy and magical. Perfect.

Excellent, if somewhat pricey, country pub. Excellent food and setting (recently voted South Yorkshire's poshest village). Nice fireplace, in winter. Lovely beer garden front and rear. Accept motorhome overnights free if you have a few pints and a meal. Cannon Hall museum and farm 10 mins walk away. Well worth a visit. 9/10 👍

Sunday lunch and we had all travelled quite some distance. It was extremely busy, and staff were busy but, could not have been more pleasant and helpful when they came to the table.

Lovely meal great service and very good prices

Another visit for lunch food and staff top notch

Not a place where one can dine peacefully as the conversations of others are audible to all. Food is reasonable if overpriced. Had mussels to start and received 6 - 7 small mussels in a sweet white wine and cream sauce. Tasted fine but at £9.50, the portion was small. Had farmers blonde battered haddock with chips, crushed peas and curry sauce. The batter was crisp but overcooked judging by it's very dark colour. Crushed peas are a hopeless concoction as they were neither tasty nor enjoyable, the curry sauce was standard fare at many chip shops, so not made on site. The chips were excellent.

Beautiful food and fantastic service.. The best Sunday dinner in the area

food very poor had chicken tasted like it had been cooked the day before very dry like it had been per cooked and keep warm for hours :( save your money and go to toby carvery ,. as its better food their

Really lovely lunch today, we ordered two different sandwiches to share, both with a tasty fresh salad and fries. We enjoyed everything. Beer was excellent. Staff friendly and efficient, we will definitely return and recommend to others.

Not one for Sunday lunch out but this was absolutely outstanding . 10 out of 10 without question . I would go as far as to say it’s the best Sunday dinner Iv ever had . Sorry mum . Keep up the high standards .

First visit to a well considered place to eat. The setting is very pleasant and the parking facilities were adequate. I ordered Mussels, with white wine cream sauce and toasted ciabatta bread. There were about 6 -7 mussels in a good serving of cream sauce, some pea shoots and 2 triangles of toasted ciabatta with pesto dressing. Overall it was good though the cream sauce was a bit sweet (have to say I am more used with eating mussels in garlic sauce). For the main course I ordered a medium farmers blonde battered haddock and chips with crushed peas and curry sauce. The chips were great, cannot fault them as they were hand cut and chunky. The haddock batter was crisp though rather heavy and much darker than I had anticipated. The haddock portion inside was rather small but was bolstered by the heavy batter encasing it. The crushed peas were a non-starter for me, not sure who thought it 'artistic' to crush garden peas but they were too sweet and, for me, unpleasant to eat both in taste and texture. The curry sauce was akin to many purchased from local chip shops, so nothing special about it, was nice though. The restaurant itself affords very little peace and privacy and it is nigh on impossible not to gain an understanding of other people's business, especially if sat on the next table (appreciate this says more about the diners than the establishment). Overall the experience was reasonable, though would not pick this as a must visit place to eat personally.

Food was OK. The service was extremely slow and the staff were not very friendly. I wouldn’t recommend eating there unless you want to spend two hours for lunch on a week day.

Stopped over at this pub in our motorhome. I do advise you phone them first and they will make provisions to accommodate you. Was made very welcome on arrival and enjoyed a first class sharing seafood platter. The food was fantastic and a great selection of well kept beers. The pub itself is very modernised and tidy. We sat outside on a beautiful September afternoon and enjoyed all the local people. Fantastic dog walk nearby to Cannon Hall Park and gardens. Highly recommend. 👍👌👍

Stopped over at this pub in our motorhome. I do advise you phone them first and they will make provisions to accommodate you. Was made very welcome on arrival and enjoyed a first class sharing seafood platter. The food was fantastic and a great selection of well kept beers. The pub itself is very modernised and tidy. We sat outside on a beautiful September afternoon and enjoyed all the local people. Fantastic dog walk nearby to Cannon Hall Park and gardens. Highly recommend. 👍👌👍

Excellent food excellent service lovely atmosphere.

Excellent food excellent service lovely atmosphere.

Very inviting warm welcome and enjoyable food. Helpful service too. Most enjoyable, Thank-you

Great venue , the food was excellent , the service brilliant & professional even though it was very busy , well worth a visit & can’t wait to go back

Celebrated my 80th birthday with a lunch in the Baarn. Thoroughly enjoyed by all. Excellent food and service. Must mention Lisa who made it extra special. Thank you for a wonderful day.

Had a drink outside on a lovely, warm, sunny summer's afternoon.

Had an excellent lunch today. Really tasty food, well presented and great service. Highly recommend, we are coming back for Sunday lunch !

Dropped in on the off chance but despite being busy we were more than well looked after. I’ll definitely return.

Seems like a lovely pub. We only popped in for a drink but hope to be back for a meal at some point

Had a lovely meal here last week. What a really nice experience in a most attractive setting. We were warmly welcomed, four of us, food was great, three had the lambs liver and one the chicken risotto. Puddings- summer berry pudding and tiramisu were absolutely delicious. Definitely want to go back. There was live music on as well and the beer garden was full. Nice to see a village pub so well supported but I can see why.

We ate here last night as although we were in the area for a festival Lady D’s friends come from here! All the food was delicious but I have to say that my Beef Stroganoff was quite simply the best I have ever eaten! It was cooked with pieces of steak and it exceeded all expectations. Lady D had the Chicken and it too was superb. We will come again we just don’t know when we will be back!

Very disappointed with the food as it was cold but over cooked ? like the chicken had been pre cooked and the service was stocking service ....... would have been better going to Toby carvery and got better food

Really good food here don't miss out call in or book very well worth while

What a super pub/restaurant we was on holiday the staff so polite food spot on 3 course excellent value

Very nice modern village pub and restaurant

Came in Monday for lunch Gareth was amazing friendly and helpful couldnt of asked for better service.

Lovely place. Service good. We had heard lots about this place and all good. However we were very disappointed with the food. We had chicken burger. It was a big lump of chicken that looked like it was out of a pack of frozen chicken. The bun was very flakey and dry. The burger had very little bacon or cheese or tomato so it was hard work eating such a dry dish. Very disappointed. Maybe we just picked the wrong dish.

Literally the best meal me and my wife have ever had. we both had three courses all were incredible. The staff are so friendly and helpful and the service is second to none. We couldn't recommend the Spencer Arms highly enough

Great food & service, slightly too noisy, some soft furnishings gs may help reduce noisy chatter. Will def return,

Lovely beer garden loads of seating and gorgeous pub

Great food. We go here on a regular basis and haven't been disappointed. Would highly recommend

10 stars, incredible procure well handled by the expert kitchen

Fantastic food! The steak and ale pie is spectacular, North Americans missing their gravy and biscuit are in for a treat with the pastry. Excellent service, pleasant surrounds and the best food.

We ate here as a party of four (can’t believe it had been over 12 x years since our last visit) and it was absolutely brilliant. The service, the staff and the food simply couldn’t be faulted. I dad the steak pie - absolutely exquisite. Will NOT let it be so long before we go again.

The last time I went to the Spencer Arms it was smart, linen table cloths, buzzing, good value and well worth a visit. This return trip was very disappointing with tired and bland decor, no atmosphere, very expensive for the food served and a bit grubby looking. I understand that it has probably reinvented itself as a gastro pub but please, standards are important. The waiting staff were great, the food below average and all in all I doubt I will return.

Second visit to Spencer arms. Visited for Sunday lunch, very busy on arrival, lots of tables taken with diners and drinkers. It was a lovely sunny day so lots were outside enjoying the sunshine. Shown to our tble which was nice and in the main restaurant. Both decided on Sunday roast, 1 sirloin of beef(pink), & 1 roast of the day(lamb). Both meals arrived in due course, piping hot, huge Yorkshire pudding, accompanied with veg selection, cauliflower & broccoli cheese and extra jug of gravy. Delicious. Cannot fault any of it. Top marks to all the staff at Spencer arms for once again making our sunday lunch visit memorable. We will beback, for sure. Ps, make sure to book as its very popular. First visit to Spencer Arms, definitely not our last. Popped in for a late lunch, lovely ambience on entering. Shown to a lovely table in front of open fire. Nice menu, lots of choice. Opted for fish & chips and roasted cod loin. Both main courses were delicious, good portion size, all freshly cooked and well presented. No room for desserts. Service, ambience, food, atmosphere were all very relaxed. So good, we've booked again for Sunday lunch. Can't wait. Thanks for a memorable visit. Compliments to all staff at Spencer Arms. We've now returned for Sunday lunch, thankfully we booked as it was very busy yet had a nice atmosphere. Shown to our table and given menus and drinks request. Well it's got to be roast dinner. Opted for main course only, 1 roast beef( pink) 1 roast of the day ( gammon). Both meals arrived in due course. Lovely presented, tasted even better. See pictures. Can't find a fault with ambience, service, food quality. 5 stars to the team at Spencer Arms. We will definitely be returning.

The food was lovely and the staff are great

Our first visit to the Spencer’s Arms and we were blown away, the friendly staff and relaxed atmosphere to the amazing fresh home cooked Sunday lunch was well worth our drive. We could not fault anything. We will definitely return x

excellent lunch as always service and food spot on. we try different places but always compare to spencer arms which is with out doubt our favourite

Good food, good service and good atmosphere, can't say much more.

Had a date night here and the food was absolutely amazing. Both myself and my partner loved every course. Top quality ingredients, attentive staff, beautiful pub. Can't wait to come back!

Friendly service with good food in a bright and social environment. Staff are happy to help and the selection is good.

My Yorkshire puddings were absolutely gorgeous! Give my compliments to whichever back of house staff made them!

Lovely atmosphere in this pub, lots of twinkly low lights. Friendly staff really took to my little dog. I had the fish which was so light, flavoursome and delicate - with the gnocchi which was also quite light.

Relaxing friendly atmosphere where delicious food is available served by friendly staff. The restaurant is a lovely place to relax and enjoy the whole experience. Plenty of gluten free choices on offer including desserts. Prices are very fair for the high quality food on offer. Wish we lived nearer!! If we could give more than 5 stars we would. Enjoy!!!

Went to the Spencer's for the first time for dinner with my wife on the 26th March and was really impressed with the whole evening. The inside of the bar/restaurant is decorated brilliantly and the soft lighting was perfect for date night we were promptly shown to our table by the staff who were all really kind and professional and took our order quickly. Starters were tasty and my soup was so nice I burnt my mouth trying to eat it too quickly. The burger for my main was cooked well and the sauce and onions inside finished it off nicely. Dessert was my favourite the Bakewell tart served with cold ice cream which helped cool my mouth down after the soup. Overall an excellent experience and I loved how the staff weren't too over attentive and let us enjoy our meal which I always prefer than having people hovering around you whilst eating. Highly recommended by me.

Came up with friends on Friday for drinks food and music, wow, absolutely love this place. The staff are so attentive and nothing is any trouble, lived the food and Georgia singing is a treat. If Carlsberg did Fridays.

After having being a Land Lady for over 22 years I do like to support our local pubs when possible.Today my family & I called at the Spencer’s Arms Cawthorne for a cup of tea you would think in Yorkshire it would,nt be too much to ask.The middle aged women working behind the bar should,nt ever be allowed to work with the public in general,she was rude,confrontational & had no idea what manners are a person like her can ruin a pub single handed . When I asked to speak to the manger no one behind the bar seemed to know who this mysterious person was ,I was presented with some one who needed showing how to deal with a valid complaint .I was shocked & disgusted how low the standards dropped.This pub should be a professional restaurant with staff that’s been trained properly not just in turning up & doing the minimum that they can get away with because being pleasant, polite, helpful & good mannered costs nothing .If the staff are rude it doesn’t matter if the food & drinks are bad or good people won’t come back to be insulted the owner needs to get on top of his game.

Absolutely outstanding food and very pleasant staff

Met friends for dinner mid week. Lovely atmosphere on entering, nice table, good menu choice. Friendly attentive staff. Good food portion size. All freshly cooked and piping hot. Highly recommend steak pie & fish & chips. Will definitely return. Thanks for a lovely dining experience

Lovely greeting, nice reception area. Food was divine, staff were very kind, helpful and checked out food was ok. The steak is fantastic, one of the best we’ve had.

Absolutely delicious meal, party of 6, everyone loved the food they ordered. Stunning outdoor areas, roll on summer.

Amazing staff and food, steak was perfect, we’ll definitely be back soon.

Excellent all round..really enjoyed evening. My niece and her husband, up from London were impressed with choice,quality and prices compared with restaurants near their home

Had the 3 course Sunday lunch today. Beautiful food. Best Sunday roast out I have had in a long time. Great service and staff too. Good value for money.

There’s always a bit of a lukewarm welcome from restaurant staff. It’s almost like they’re surprised/disappointed that you actually have a reservation. Unless you’re a regular - and then the welcome is over the top enthusiastic. Witnessed the on and off switch a dozen times during the evening. Anyway - decor is beautiful and the ambiance is really cosy. Menu choices are good and the food was superb. Well presented and good portion size, cooked to perfection. It’s highly recommended for the food - just don’t take the tepid welcome or lukewarm serving attention personally. You just need to go more often !

Beautiful country pub/restaurant. Food was beautiful, service excellent. Can't fault & will be back.

Very nice pub, efficient service, tasty food. Steaks are on the pricey side. Dogs are welcome inside. Sizeable parking. The outside seating area all decorated with small lights makes it look like a fairy tale.

Lovely pub, in a beautiful village set near cannon hall country house. Food and ale are delicious. Staff are friendly and attentive, and very busy lot of the time. Good atmosphere, highly recommend a visit if you are in the area. Grilled steak sandwich and a pint was exactly what i needed after a 6 mile walk through the hills and woods of the surrounding countryside.

I’ve reviewed Spencer Arms twice in the past, some years back. My experience then was average, things haven’t improved at all. The latest visit was for Sunday lunch. With a booking for 2:30pm you’d think the food would be cooked recently. The roast chicken we had was dry and overcooked, which along with the vegetables had obviously been cooked and plated some time ago and lukewarm at best. This place charges a premium as compared to other nearby gastro pubs and really doesn’t warrant the extra cost. Try the Dunkirk and the Wortley Arms if you’re planning a Sunday lunch in this price bracket.

We visited the restaurant one night during the week which was nice at it was fairly quite with a cosy atmosphere. As we were celebrating an anniversary we started with wine and dishes off the bits and bobs section of the menu, deciding on the curried vegetable crisps, chicken wings with blue cheese dip and olives which were all nice to nibble on. The waiter was attentive and I was pleased to see different Gluten Free options to choose from, that are clearly marked on the menu. Our starters, mains and desserts were all presented nicely and tasted great! The steak I had for my main was cooked perfectly how I wanted it. Thanks for a great evening.

Great food, friendly staff and excellent service. Went on a Sunday evening , menu was varied and reasonably priced

Couldn't have asked for any better. Can't wait to go again.

We celebrated a 95th birthday party in The Barn a private room with its own bar. The venue is beautifully decorated and a lovely warm atmosphere is created. The 25 guests pre selected a 3 course meal which was served on time and everyone praised how good the food was. The staff were both courteous efficient and very helpful. We had an amazing evening and I could not recommend this venue for a private function highly enough.

Went for a family meal today Sunday fantastic had the best sausage I've ever had service good beers good every one enjoyed there meal & sweet highly recommended

7 of us just had set menu sunday lunch great meal ruined by rock hard veg

Brilliant food, only down fall was being stared at by owners of the restaurant all night with there friends all down to the looks of me and my family, trying to make us feel small in the restaurant environment which lead us to leave earlier than we planned however brilliant bar staff and excellent cooks only down fall is the owners and owners friend being so arrogant and nosey

Had lunch just after Christmas, we were in one of the side rooms which was a little cold. Our party had fish and chips, liver and a burger. If you have a healthy appetite the order the large fish and chips as even this isn’t huge. Liver was excellent, cooked very well.

The food and service improve every visit, which are frequent. Such a warm ambience as well; so lucky to have this wonderful pub with amazing staff on our doorstep.

My wife and I had a superb meal here tonight. It's been a while since we ate here. Our last experience wasn't good? Something has changed? The service, food, and ambience were all first class. We will definitely be back.

The service was terrible, considering it was an al a Carte menu, no one asked us how we enjoyed the meal, the waitress forgot our drinks, and we had to ask, we were forgot about all together, rate the food out of 10!possibley 7, staff need to be sorted out, better service at wetherspoons

Just ate again at the Spensers and it was a hit and miss affair. Setting superb as always, as was the welcome. The two pies that were ordered were OK, but my burger was very bland, tasteless even. I would've complained but seeing as none of the several people who attended our table asked how our meals were we just paid the pricey £65 bill and left. Disappointing.

We booked a while ago to make sure our large group (13) could be accommodated. We were asked to submit a pre-order which was fine as we were a large group on Boxing Day. We had fantastic meals and great service. We were sat in a nice spot along the back and had plenty of room. The staff were attentive and friendly and had good attention to detail. Would heartily recommend.

Unfortunately our food today was not up to the usual standard. We had the roast beef dinner, it was luke warm, vegetables appeared to have been kept warm for hours, one yorkshire pudding was burnt . Mushroom starters were tasteless. It was a busy boxing day but should have been better.

The place was let down by a rude and curt restaurant manager. We have just moved to the area and were looking forward to this place being our local, for both eating out and drinking with family and friends. However, we were shooed away from a table by her, even though there was no 'reserve' sign on the table we sat at. We were not to know. I am currently in the catering business and her way is not a good way to treat the customer. We will choose somewhere else, more friendly.

lovely pub, decorated very nicely for Christmas. good sized car park in a very nice village. very busy when we arrived. Enjoyed the Christmas menu, a few more sprouts would have been appreciated, only 3 on the plate. Very nice Christmas pudding, light and very fruity. overall a very nice meal.

A lovely meal, the atmosphere was wonderful, service was quick, professional and extremely attentive. We both ordered the rib eye steak, rare and medium rare, both cooked to perfection and full of flavour, exceptional piece of meat. Even though it was busy we were well taken care of. We will definitely be back.

I so enjoy coming away from a Christmas Dinner feeling full. Sadly this was not the case. I ordered the fish cake as starters. This was delicious and the portion good. As I don’t eat meat I ordered the goats cheese flan. This arrived with one carrot which had been marinated in a very strong tasting vinaigrette sauce. No other vegetables or potatoes. The rest of my friends had ordered the turkey with all the trimmings and their plates were over flowing. They looked at my plate with amusement!!! And my bill was £27 for two courses 😡 I was not amused. I appreciate the restaurant was busy but the service was mediocre and we waited quite a while between the two courses. I won’t be revisiting as there are plenty other restaurants in the Barnsley area offering a much better deal.

This place never disappoints. We come every year for the festive menu and this year was no exception. The fishcake with curried onions and katsu sauce was superb. The actual Christmas turkey roast dinner was cooked to perfection - vegetables just right, more than enough...

Good varied mix of different types of starters depending on your taste and appetite. I had the pie for main and it was great comfort food. Hope to return here in the very near future

Been before and was really good. Yesterday (Wed 22/11/23) 11 people celebrating an 80th birthday ( not all ) food was good ( I had a steak cooked to my liking, spot on) The issue was with my partners meal. The duck was tough and the fat not rendered properly, so it spoilt her lunch out, and she doesn’t like complaining. We have always enjoyed it at Spencer’s before but not this time, sadly.

My husband and I went Thursday for the steak deal. What a wonderful lunch fabulous atmosphere extremely clean and welcoming pub. Very attentive service. The steak was cooked to perfection, plenty of lovely chips and garnish. The wine was perfectly chilled. Open fire so cosy,...

Our first visit here, excellent food, service and a lovely atmosphere. Would happily return.

Found this Spencer Arms by chance. What a result. Lovely atmosphere entering, very busy for a wednesday lunch. Shown to our table next to open fire, which was lovely on a chilly autumn day. Good selection of meals on the menu, opted for large fish...

Great Sunday lunch. Good quality food and lots of it but not too much. However, service a bit hit and miss. Ignored for quite a long period of time and then asked several times in quick succession about dessert having asked for 10 minutes to...

Service was brilliant from the minute we walked in the door, food was tasty hot and well presented. Would definitely recommend to this place for food and drink thoroughly enjoyed it.

Came for lunch with friends on a busy Friday. Speedy and efficient service. Easy car parking , tastyfood and all good value for money.

Met our friends at The Spencer Arms for lunch. They were impressed with the pub atmosphere and decor. Excellent service and delicious food. Thank you.

Four of us had Sunday Lunch recently at the Spencer Arms. Got to say, (we all said similar) it was one of the best Sunday Lunches we’ve had. Well cooked and flavoured meat as were the veggies. Great service too . The place was packed...

excellent food friendly and helpful staff very nice atmosphere one of our favourite places to visit

This place is just outstanding, food is fantastic, service included , thanks for a lovely meal

Fantastic evening last night at the Spencer Arms. The Thursday night steak deal is truly amazing. Dined with a group of 8 friends who all ordered their meals with different variations. Each one was absolutely perfect!!! The staff were incredibly efficient and friendly. Can’t wait...

We used the Barrn for a family party and had zn enjoyable time. .

Great Sunday roast with nice service, would recommend a visit.

Visited for Sunday lunch early October. The place itself is lovely - nice bar area, bright main dining room and lovely outside area. So the food - skipped the starters and went for 3 different mains. 2 were ok - I had the roast beef...