The Bat & Ball Freehouse in Waverley

All good, no problems with food or service.

This has to be up there as one of the most perfect pubs in the south of England. Setting, atmosphere (inside and outside), cleanliness, friendly and attentive staff, beer selection and great food, it's got it all. I really hope it doesn't get ruined soon. Thank you and well done for achieving pub perfection.

A family meal at this pub resulted in a thoroughly brilliant evening. Visiting our son, daughter in law and grand children from essex/ Suffolk border we decided to eat at the bat and Ball. The meal was excellent but the staff that looked after us went above and beyond, lovely personalities and so warm and welcoming, nothing was too much trouble. Excellent night out thank you to all staff alike. If you fancy a meal with real service give it a go!!!

Disappointing meal and menu choice has degraded since last visit & prices have dramatically increased (what's changed?) Waited half an hour for our meal. Sea Bass (well overcooked) - (two pieces & I'm pretty sure that one piece wasn't sea bass) - menu stated clams - received a plate of mussels with no explanation (half were not open - so had to ditch those). Samphire & sauce had no seasoning - very bland & not worth £24. The B&B was our go-to pub in the village for a nice meal - shame.

This an amazing find it is definitely of the beaten track which makes all the more interesting they are kid friendly and space for them to runaround the food excellent good selection of beers the service is quick and very friendly l definitely recommend the Bat and Ball

This is a genuine first visit review of a genuine last minute Mother's Day booking for 7 and a dog. Circumstance led to us needing to book a table for Mum at very short notice. After a dozen or so requests to other places The Bat and Ball were the only one to call me and politely provide an appropriate booking that included Mum's dog. On arrival it was busy but for the three following hours the staff, service and food were absolutely superb. Give this place a try, we will be returning, as it is rare to be so surprised when visiting a place.

Excellent country pub with a small but well executed menu and friendly, attentive staff. Highly recommended.

A great pub all around. A good selection of beers and ciders (check blackboard for the extra ones they have round the back!) A great seasonally changing menu, mostly stays the same, but the specifics change every 3 months or so. Occasionally one season will be a bit of a miss though. Highly recommend their chocolate brownies, burgers are good, but not as good as before COVID. The inside is reasonably large, with a fireplace etc for those cold days. There is a largeish covered outside area as well as a smallish beer garden with kids play area. They also host a few charity beer festivals through the year with live music.

This is an comfortable, dog friendly hotel in a lovely area of Sheffield. There are beautiful grounds and the staff were very helpful with good customer service. We have stayed here on numerous occasions and always had a good stay. The night that we stayed the hotel was very full and there was an issue with hot water. This was well communicated, and they did their best to resolve the situation. Even in a very difficult situation the staff were friendly, helpful and calm. There is a nice local pub (Thornbridge) and lovely walks in the old cemetery close by.

Beautiful pub .Great menu and great staff. Would definitely come again.

Excellent food and service, with a very friendly atmosphere. Really interesting choices of vegetarian food, much more than a lot of pubs.

Best pub in Farnham hands down. Really friendly, helpful staff, lovely atmosphere, warm (nice log fire in Winter), great outdoor area with events held in Summer. A true community pub, with open mic and quiz nights to gin and beer festivals. Food is generally very good with an excellent range of options well beyond standard pub grub. Solid, regularly rotating beer options, Sunday roast very good if not quite great (Bluebell pub in Dockenfield still holds the Best Roast title locally) but all in all you’d struggle to find a pub that ticks so many boxes and makes such efforts to please. Dog and child friendly too with a play area in a generously spaced pub garden. Hat tip to website and Insta accounts. Well done Bat & Ball - we salute you 🫡 🍻 🍲

The waiter was very accoommodating

Fab food and even better service, highest marks possible for amazing value for money.

We had lunch from the vegan & vegetarian menu. The food was beautifully presented and was absolutely spectacular! Full of creativity, flavour and subtlety. The staff were incredibly attentive, with the atmosphere of gentle conviviality topping off a superb visit. Congratulations to the kitchen, the bar staff and the waiting team. Outstanding!

Great pub. Three staff said a genuine hello as we arrived.

Friendly atmosphere, traditional pub feel

Good value and very flavoursome Christmas meal properly cooked. Would eat here again

Great food, great service and a great atmosphere!

Just had our work Christmas lunch here, party of 20 people, and it was amazing! Communication beforehand was excellent, staff were friendly and professional despite the difficulty of serving a large group. Lovely food and atmosphere, attention to detail. Thanks :)

Had a nice little Sunday roast. The vegetarian option was really good which most pubs don’t focus on. We enjoyed our pork Sunday roast as well with generous portions. My mate had the curry and said it was great. Super friendly staff so what’s not to like?

Absolutely gorgeous meal; great value and variety to suit all ages and tastes. Friendly and helpful front of house team. Thank you- will be back again soon! The Tidbury Family.

Just the best. Nothing else to say…

Really lovely place to eat. Tucked away down a quiet lane this lovely pub serves amazing food and the staff are super friendly

What a great find this was. We found the pub via the internet when we were looking for somewhere convenient for both sets of guests to drive to. We used the post code for the sat nav which actually took us to the end of an unmade track. There is a better way in to the car park albeit down a very narrow single track lane. It was well worth the journey. Staff were friendly. Food was excellent.

Beautiful pub tucked out of the way along bat and ball lane. Dog friendly, they even had a jar of treats on the bar. I'm glad we booked because it started to get very busy with lots of dog walkers and ramblers. We had Sunday roast. All opted for the rather expensive beef. It arrived very well presented but not very generous portions. Beef was quite tough and chewy and we ended up giving quite a lot to the dog,so she loved it! Red cabbage, carrot, broccoli, Yorkshire pudding were all good and the roast potatoes were particularly nice. Unfortunately, we all had one very large, extremely hard parsnip that was horrible. I would happily eat parsnips that were so charred and burnt that you could also use them to etch a charcoal painting. However, underdone parsnips have no place on my roast dinner. The manager gave us some smaller better cooked ones after we simply had to say something. Overall, a warm, friendly pub with efficient service and great atmosphere but for the price, the roast is a long way off.

Great pub tucked away. Lovely lay out and friendly staff. Thanks.

I've been there on a sunny and hot Sunday, so we could eat outside. Beautiful place and good food. Can't comment on the beers or wine selection as I don't drink alcohol 😅

Very quiet, bit of a maze to get to it so I guess you really must have reason to want to visit. Good menu with nice eclectic touches. Beer range pretty good. Dog friendly possibly water station but did not notice. So yes not a wasted journey.

One of the best pubs in the south of England

Lovely hidden away pub that does great food!

Great family meal out... Plus fab beers.

Tucked away behind residential housing, an attractive pub with good, reasonably priced food. Vegetarian and gluten free options available.

To many dogs in the place, not much variety on menu, arrived at 3 for Sunday lunch and food was nearly gone, roast potatoes were not nice at all. Service was ok.

Use to go hear every Sunday no booking . New manager turned us away !! NEVER BEEN BACK !

Great menu, friendly staff and lovely quiet setting. The kids have a tree house to play on and there’s a lovely beer garden and cosy tables inside too. The ‘dip’ burger with gravy was tasty!

In my opinion the last few negative reviews bear absolutely no relevance & do not reflect this place in any way. My extended family have had two birthday meals here in the last month (yes we are happy, returning customers!) & I must say, the food & service have been excellent on both occasions. They have a really adventurous, exciting, tempting & delicious menu catering for vegetarians/meat eaters, & allergy/gluten/dairy intolerances alike (very rare to find my whole family catered for so very well in that respect). No boring meat & two veg here! I particularly loved my bao bun starter with tempura prawn, pickles, chilli & katsu sauce. Yum 😋

Would have been happier with More dessert choices

Lovely food, excellent location and friendly staff.

Beautiful pub, very clean and well laid out with plenty of seating. Service is friendly and welcoming. Food though was subpar, very poor burger, portion sizes are far too small for what they are charging

Visited to attempt to get a nice dinner out. Started out with cold soup that was returned with a request to have a hot one. 30 seconds in the microwave was not an acceptable solution. Mains were mediocre at best. A plate of cold veg accompanied over-cooked and hard sausages. The staff really couldn't have cared less if they had tried, properly "we are better than you" attitude throughout the visit. This was once a great pub than has turned into a shadow of it's former self. This is why pins close. How are we supposed to want to return to get cruddy service and rubbish food, I can get that anywhere. Shan't bother going back here until it changes hands again.

Decided to head to a local pub for early family meal. Used to be best pub in area. No longer the case. Kids meal portion size ridiculously small . £8 for about 9 chips and 4 overcooked nuggets . Ordered MacNCheese.....burnt . Ironically asked if I would like to add a gratuity to the bill when paying , minimum 10%. Customers deserve better than this .

Only had drinks, but beer not great. Neither of myself and my wife will return. No idea about their food.

Great pub, amazing food with great kids menu, fast friendly service. Would give 10 stars if it were an option. We will be coming back.

I’m very disappointed to have to write this review. My friend and I drove over 40 minutes to get to this pub for lunch. We walked in at 2:05, the website says they stop serving lunch at 2:30. We kindly asked the waitress (who had her back turned to us.) if they were still serving lunch, to which she said yes. The moment the waitress turned around and looked at my friend and I she immediately said, “Actually, we are not. The kitchen is closed.” We were put off by this, but ordered a drink to be polite. The moment we sat down at our table another customer walked in and is served lunch immediately. My friend is a UK resident and I am visiting from abroad. We enjoy going to new pubs so we can recommend them to friends and family.

I’m very disappointed to have to write this review. My friend and I drove over 40 minutes to get to this pub for lunch. We walked in at 2:05, the website says they stop serving lunch at 2:30. We kindly asked the waitress (who had her back turned to us.) if they were still serving lunch, to which she said yes. The moment the waitress turned around and looked at my friend and I she immediately said, “Actually, we are not. The kitchen is closed.” We were put off by this, but ordered a drink to be polite. The moment we sat down at our table another customer walked in and is served lunch immediately. My friend is a UK resident and I am visiting from abroad. We enjoy going to new pubs so we can recommend them to friends and family.

Great food and friendly service 😀😀

Loved it.. Great chill out in the afternoon with positive vibe and people. Thank you!

Great venue and service, and great veggie and vegan food

This is a beautiful pub with a wonderful area outside. The staff were friendly. Unfortunately the food is absolutely appalling. The children’s burger was £10. It fell to pieces when bitten into & tasted utterly revolting. My son was very hungry & does not usually have ketchup. He put this on to disguise the taste but still couldn’t eat it. First time he has ever left a burger! The chips were hard & coated in a seasoning that reminded me of BBQ sauce. The menu is unappealing & expensive considering the standard. Such a shame. This pub could be fantastic with a good chef!

Lovely pub with great service and food. Four of us had lunch and every meal was excellent. The swordfish was particularly nice. The staff couldn’t have been nicer and more helpful.

Had a lovely afternoon/evening with my fiancé. Nice selection of beers (ales, lagers). Decided to order burger (BFC) and it wasn't disappointed - very tasty, with nice crispy chips. Definitely will be back here.

Warm welcome, great food and a taxing quiz

We've not been here for many years, and I can't imagine why. Its probably gone through many changes, and the latest management have nailed it. The menu is varied and unusual, so don't expect chicken and chips, and our group all agreed the food was delicious. The beers aren't bad either, and a good choice of wines. The young staff were all attentive and very helpful. Price guide ££. And there's pictures of my dog in the gents.😁

One of my favourite pubs in Farnham. Great for food many different ales.

Our favourite local pub. Nice garden, great menu and really nice drinks selection

A hidden away gem of a place for a delish meal and cocktails

Awkward to find, but friendly staff and tasty food.

Outstanding pud hidden away down a small lane. Great beer great food and friendly staff. Love it

Wonderful, welcoming pub with a bit of a medieval feel about it. Lovely atmosphere. Sunday roasts are delicious and the staff are magnificent - the three toddlers in our group were catered for perfectly. Nothing was too much trouble for the people serving us. Highly recommended!!

Excellent food! I've been here a couple of times recently. I'm a gluten for familiarity. But I picked two favourites, which I had both times, very easily!! Can definitely recommend the pork belly bites (starter/sharing) - generous, unxious and brilliant! As a main I can definitely recommend the Pork Belly with Black Pudding mash, greens and gorgeous gravy/sauce. Proper crackling on that, too!! Great range of beers. Really can't fault the place!!

From the moment we arrived we felt rushed into taking a seat and ordering drinks. I went to the bar to see what ales were available, the bar staff looked at me as if I shouldn't be looking to see what was available. That said the drinks we ordered were probably the best part of our meal ! We ordered Ribs from the specials and the Ceasar chicken burger, our meals were delivered to our table within approx 6-8 minutes which we thought was a bit too quick. The Ribs came with chunky chips and "slaw" which was absolutely disgusting, it was basically chopped little gem lettuce with shredded beetroot smothered in vinegar (un-edible), the chicken burger was not really a burger, this consisted of 3 small pieces of coated chicken in a bun served with skinny fries (kfc) could have done better. To top things off, the menu was changed during service and prices increased (chicken burger went up £1.00). We checked the menu for prices on receipt of the bill, but again we were made to feel that we were doing something wrong. When asked how our meal was I replied "it was ok" and made reference to the slaw, however on returning with our bill, nothing was addressed by the server. Unless there are significant changes, I would not recommend eating here.

Really enjoyed a lunch here. The chips were particularly good.

We ate here as a large group of 8 with kids and older people. The greeting was pretty poor and no smiles or warmth. We were seated quickly and drinks and food orders were taken quickly. It was Sunday so we mostly ordered roasts. With some kids meals. The roasts were very average and the pork was not well cooked at all. Sides were overpriced and the stuffing was terrible and very overpriced at £4 a portion. The kids beans were missed of the kids meals which was stressful. The actual pub is nice and the garden great with a play thing for the kids but the food was below average in my opinion.

Myself and my husband went here last night for a friends 50th birthday gathering . We both had the Bat burger . My words to describe this burger are : Yummy, lush , tasty, delightful ……. I could have eaten another one to be honest but I didn’t want to be a pig ! Will definitely be back to try some other things from the menu ( maybe when I’m a little less tipsy)….. great atmosphere too, and the food was delivered promptly despite it being extremely busy ! Well worth popping in for some decent grub and a drink ❤️

Nice pub. Good menu. Friendly staff. We visited in January. A bit dark. Slow Wi-Fi. Limited parking on a busy day

So disappointed. Came here in the Summer and the food was great, but wouldn’t go back now. Good service though, just a shame about the food.

Great food, beer and location. What more is needed?

Lovely little pub with a warm inviting atmosphere on a cold winter evening.. The staff are really welcoming, friendly and on the ball. Only part of the experience that was a little bit of a let down was the food that I would rate a 5/10. Would definitely revisit for drinks with friends.

Once we found it food and service provided was excellent

We just had a meal on Sunday for my mother’s birthdays and pippa served us and I have to say one of the best happy great personality and e to good at her job and a breath of fresh air to see these days I have to say , Food absolutely excellent and we will definitely be back . Well done guys keep it up 👍 Russell and family

I love this place, lovely staff good food. I come here with my client. I look after he is in an electric wheelchair they are very helpful. X

Lovely food. Very pretty building. Would highly recommend.

I read some earlier reviews and I wondered if we had booked at a different venue. The reception was friendly, all we experienced was smiles, helpfulness, we had 5 different dishes and enjoyed them all. The reason I did not click best meal ever is that maybe my favourite, ham/eggs or good old fish and chips were not on the menu. However, 2 of us expressed that we had the best mash ever. We enjoyed the atmosphere in the restaurant, staff ever so welcoming and friendly and food most enjoyable. We shall return. Do not fancy the narrow drive down the lane but that is a small complaint. Dog friendly also.

Working well with the covid rules. Felt safe !

We had a family Sunday lunch at this pub. The venue is lovely and scenic and the pub is dog friendly which is great. However the service is extremely poor. The roast we had was very good quality and the dessert was fine. The issue we had was that we were served by nearly 5 different people, most of whom looked extremely bored and not interested in serving at all. We asked about the different ales of which our server knew nothing about. We asked for tap water but got served bottled that seemed to be already opened. When we questioned it the waitress said that they might have filled it with tap water however we were being charged for bottled. This was later removed from our bill. The service was just very odd and disorganised, not sure we will visit again.

Very good food but slow service dog friendly not the best for kids but it's good for people over the age of 18

Lovely boozer, great food and attentive staff. A win all round

This covers both my last two experiences. Food was 'ok', but nothing like the great 'pub grub with attitude' that they used to serve up. Service was 'ok' but nothing like the happy smiley genuinely helpful approach that used to be part of what made this pub great. Beer, as always, very good but I didn't go for the beer. Atmosphere - there wasn't one. If it wasn't for the fact that I have loads of brilliant experiences with this pub of old, I'd simply chalk it up to "just another pub where no one is that bothered...but it's not terrible". Instead, I am genuinely disappointed. I've given it enough goes now to draw a line and say "I won't be going back, I can get dull and disappointing anywhere.."

Good selection of ales at competitive prices. Popular restaurant with out of the ordinary menu choices.

Loved the whole experience once we'd found it. There was 9 of us and we all had an assortment of starters and main meals and the food was fantastic. Service was really great a lovely waitress new but nevertheless chatty organised listened and was very attentive to our needs. It was very busy and it's obvious why, would love to go back again.

Busted with me wife and two of our kids. I had the chicken and ham pie (my all time favourite) but was hugely disappointing. Serves in a bowl with a puff pastry lid (brown high to be fair is how they advertise it) but the filling was bland and tasteless and the lid was over cooked and chewy. Chips were oily as were those that accompanied my wife’s burger and my kids food. You know it’s not right when you leave and you still have that oily taste in your mouth for a couple of hours afterwards. Ate here in the summer (had goat curry) and it was much better than this visit

Good pub food and a good selection of beer. There were 2 traditional ciders but even more would be appreciated.

Why 5 stars. Well because it's a tucked away English pub with character and those are getting rarer. Friendly good service with really good ales and comforting food. My son, wife and grandson have just moved nearby, so I'm hoping to visit often.

Great pub. Really nice Sunday menu. Would highly recommend the roast beef baguette with gravy bath.

Disappointed with the food. Sausages were hard and obviously not cooked fresh. Cold burger too. Not somewhere I would revisit for sure. Staff pleasant enough.

Good beer, good food and a great play area for the kids. Perfect

Slow service, mediocre food, shocking experience at payment, overall dreadful customer service Seemed it was table service for most tables, but we had to collect a menu to select dessert and then go in to pay. On asking to pay I had the card machine...

Great place to go with kids . Food is great with multiple choices. So lucky to have moved in the neighbourhood

Beautiful little pub tucked away! Big garden and the food was excellent 👌 very polite staff would definitely visit again.

Excellent menu, service, beer and wine selection. Large garden with a children’s play area. Thoroughly enjoyable on a sunny day 😎

Great Sunday roast, just a little hard to get to in the car

Lunch with son and grandchildren. Lots of choice, extensive menu. Well cooked and tasty. We had sea bass, chicken burger, tasting tray, kids sausages and mash.

I’ve had drinks in their garden lots of time. Yesterday I ate there for the first time and it was really good! Great, fresh, modern pub food!

Ten of us had a very pleasant lunch sitting outside under a large canopy. The food was very good and the service pleasant and efficient. Indoor seating is obviously present also in this pub. The entrance road is narrow and only for a single car....

We thought we would try the bat and ball after it was recommended by a friend, however our experience was very poor. The young girl who served us bless her was clearly ill trained, as she placed a wooden plate at an angle on an ash tray and clearly hadn’t been trained or lectured on how to properly serve. The food was very average and my partners burger wasn't cooked as asked. Ultimately average food and below standard service. Low chance we will be returning.

A real hidden gem. Down a winding road, at the bottom of a single track is this incredible pub. The food was great, the selection of drinks vast and the scene idyllic.

Haven’t been in for a couple months but ate here last night. The new menu is wide ranging making it difficult to choose, which is a nice problem. I had the Caesar Salad (very tasty, gorgeous chicken, full of healthy stuff) but have to confess,...

This my local, a walk away. Always good beer, early Friday evening seemed very much a family outing.

We visited today, believing The B&Ball was going to be our new haunt. Today, was not at all, a good experience. We were first told that the roast beef was only cooked one way and we did not have a choice, for our request for...