The Malt Shovel in North Warwickshire

Have been before and the food has always been lovely. We both ordered steak, onion rings and chips. Onion rings and chips on both meals were soggy. Tasted like they had been kept on a warming plate for a while. I asked for a well done steak. More fool me! It was burnt and rock hard. Two meals , two starters and two cokes £72. Really disappointed with the meal this time around. So much so, we won’t go again. It’s a real shame, because the food has previously been amazing.

The service was poor from the beginning. Waited 30 minutes to take the order. Waited 30 minutes to get the starter and one of them never came. Waited 45 minutes for the main. The food was inedible. Will not be returning.

We have been before and absolutely loved it, but this time I was really disappointed. We booked a table and when we arrived we got sat at essentially a plank of wood attached to the wall with two bar stools RIGHT next to the toilet door. This table is fine for just drinks or a light bite for lunch but it is not an evening meal table.

We visited The Malt Shovel in Hartshill on New Year’s Eve for a family meal. It’s a place we’ve enjoyed many times before, but unfortunately, our last two visits haven’t lived up to the high standards we’ve come to expect. This time, however, was particularly disappointing. While my 8oz rump steak pil pil was fine (though it didn’t arrive sizzling as described), and my son’s BBQ ribs were great, my wife and daughter both ordered the same dish: an 8oz fillet steak, cooked medium to well. My daughter’s steak was cooked perfectly, but my wife’s was rare. We politely raised the issue with our waitress, who assured us a fresh steak would be prepared. Unfortunately, what came back was overcooked on the outside and still rare inside—a clear sign the heat had simply been turned up to rush it. We raised the issue again, but by the time her plate returned (now overcooked and beyond well-done), the rest of us had finished eating. To make matters worse, when a young staff member came to ask how everything was, his response to my feedback was dismissive and came across as arrogant. He even raised his voice in the middle of a busy dining room, which was completely unprofessional. At the end of the meal, I mentioned these issues while paying the bill. The lady behind the bar offered to deduct 50% from my wife’s steak (£8), which felt like a token gesture and didn’t reflect the overall poor experience. We’ve decided we won’t be returning to The Malt Shovel. With rising prices across the board, it’s frustrating to see the quality of food and service declining. It’s a shame because this used to be one of our favourite places to eat. If anyone knows of restaurants in the area with consistently good food and service, we’d appreciate the recommendations.

Visited today (Boxing Day). We sat in the bar area for drinks. When another family arrived, we were asked if we were eating but were not. They asked us to leave the table and said we were welcome to stand at the bar because the table was booked although there was no reserved sign. After spending £100+ at the bar I can’t help but feel was poor bar/restaurant management.

Terrible welcome Regulars all crowded around the door couldn't get in and very ignorant and it stunk of cigarettes inside Booked a table got there and it was an outdoor table and no mention of this when booking which is brilliant in 65mph winds so she seated us in the bar which was horrendous like a club house Miserable staff and it felt very unwelcoming I Couldn't hear myself think and there was a blood stain on the seat next to us Most shocking place I've ever been too We paid £9 for two drinks (a coke and beer) and we left without eating

Another excellent meal and drinks at the Malt Shovel Hartshill. As usual plenty of home cooked menu options and some well kept beers. We received a warm and friendly welcome. A very friendly pub with activities and events throughout the season, highly recommended, good quality and good value.

Booked here at quite short notice for my wife's 60th birthday lunch. Lovely lady on the phone was very friendly and accommodating and managed to reserve a table for 12 (which turned, unexpectedly, into 13 people). Lovely pub/restaurant and great, friendly staff. The food was amazing and very wallet friendly too. The Cajun Steak is highly recommended. Will definitely be paying another visit.

Great food offer and we'll delivered cask ales.

Lovely lunch . Great tasting food. Big portions. Friendly staff …. What is not to like at this lovely pub

Always good food here, lots of it great value for money. Car park small,and narrow road.

What a really nice place to eat and have a drink the food was 10 Stars on point so much I could not eat it all and that’s saying something as I can eat. Prices was very reasonable I’m going to revisit this place in the summer. Excellent place to eat and drink

Was absolutely brilliant. Looked after a large party of us. Food was amazing. Staff went above and beyond.

Amazing food. The staff are outstanding especially Rachel. X

Yet again, the pub lived up to it's expectations, there were several of us to celebrate a great friends birthday, it was very full with diners, but we were allocated a table as pre booked. The food came out piping hot, very big plate full, value for money, we will certainly be returning soon, oh, and our waitress Rachael was amazing, as were all of the staff xx

Book a table for a family of 7 to find out on arrival that it hadn’t been booked

Was really good food good prices and huge portions

I was looking forward to a lovely Sunday beef dinner to enhance my daughter’s birthday celebration. Sadly this was ruined by the serving of cold, uncooked food. There was food missing from what was specified from on the menu. My mum had to send her gammon meal back for further cooking. Very disappointed. If they could not cater for a large group, why take the booking?

We came along for a Sunday roast with my mum and her partner Sunday just gone my mum is 84 years old …… first of all there’s no disabled parking and also no disabled toilets …. I’m pretty sure this is a requirement for any restaurant so why is there nothing for elderly and disabled people ??????

Came here for a baby shower,but not the first time here. Realy love it here friendly warm atmosphere and service fantastic. Never had a bad meal and portion sizes are immense. Also they accommodate for all dietary needs.

Part of a date night for the wife and myself, wanted a nice meal out, went online, tried to reserve a table at the smoking bull ,Attenborough reviews was exceptional, fully booked, came across the Malt Shovel, Hartshill, again 👍 the reviews was second to none, also it was the first time we ,have been there, unbelievable, hope to go again soon 👍

We visited the malt shovel today, the starters were lovely, bar staff extremely polite. But unfortunately the mains were not the same standard we ordered two stakes medium rare. One was ok at best and the other inedible and flavourless, When we told the waitress she removed and took back to the kitchen where the chef told us there was nothing wrong with the stake, and we was spoken to quite rudely by the young lady that had extremely filthy clothes on her to be working front of house in my opinion. We will not be visiting again 😊 Shame as it was our first visit, if the chef would have spoken to us face to face and resolved the issue in a better manor we probably would have tried it again. The waitress with the red hair needs teaching costumer service skills to lots of eye rolling… unnecessary 😊

Great food, good selection. Had to eat in the outside area nicely heated.

A group of 20 from work went. The gazebo outside all though it looked nice, the heaters in there are push button & kept going off so wasn't very warm. The food came to us over the carpark in the wind & rain one plate at a time. I had surf & turf & wanted my steak medium well, it came rare with all my dinner sitting in blood I sent it back twice, when it came back the 2nd time the steak was so tuff & my food still had some blood on it which put me off my meal so I left it, I took the steak for the dog, I told the waitress she just laughed so I said tell the boss that I'm not happy as my meal was ruined. I didn't even get an apology & went home hungry.

Staff friendly ,food average &service slow .

Experience started well then it went completely downhill. Waited over 25 minutes for someone to take our food order during this period all the staff seemed to have gone AWOL apart from a waiter delivering the food. In frustration went to bar to order after being told by a waitress there was No table service. Suddenly staff appeared taking orders from other tables. First meal arrived wrong 2nd meal delivered to wrong table was finally sorted after about 5 mins after complaining. There seemed to be plenty of staff but looked like they were over stretched or didn't know their defined roles !! if they have one!! I don't even think I could class it as controlled chaos. Safe to say I won't be returning.

Stopped in Hartshill on a canal holiday and made the climb up the hill to The Malt Shovel and very glad we are to have made that effort. The menu choice was varied and there were specials available. The food was hot, tasty and very generous. Staff were excellent. A good find which we would highly recommend 👍

Great pub, fabulous service but, for me, the food was definitely frozen first so lost flavour. Shame because the portions satisfy every appetite. I noticed a lot of steaks on the menu so guessing that's their preferred offering.

Absolutely beautiful meal, and the young man that served us was very helpful. Will definitely be back ❤️

Best pub in Nuneaton for food and drinks

I really did like the food and I would go back again. The portion sizes were absolutely hugh and straight away I thought I can’t eat all of that. I asked for a tub to take some home in and the bar staff were great. I did feel bad asking but didn’t want to waste any food. When I go again I will not be eating for a while first lol The inside was very small and I’m guessing that’s why they have a good outdoor space area. So overall, a lovely place to go and eat out.

I have used the Malt over the years and had a lovely meal, service etc each time, but on our last visit, when we got there i just knew it wasnt to be. Firstly we was not booked in, i showed the confirmation text message i had received of the booking, they were then struggling to find us a table, because it had been booked out to another group, We were put onto a table and ordered , the starters came which were fine, but when they collected the dishes 30 seconds later the main meals were out, and it felt like we were being rushed to vacate the table we had, 2 of the main meals were awful , the melted Cheese was so hard and it had gone Brown with being over heated, we told 1 of the staff who did not really seemed bothered.

Well worth the visit. Food was excellent, service was efficient and quick. The 24oz burger was a challenge but was eaten as it was just too good to waste.

Steak was blue when asked for medium so it had to go back. The food was terribly bland and just tasted like cheep produce. This was the second bad meal we've had here in 6 months so we won't be going back again. The Molt is a shadow of its former self.

Booked a table for two and went in at 6pm on 5th Aug. My wife selected fish pie, chips & salad, I selected surf & turf. Drinks ordered were 1/2 Aspalls cider for my wife & a pint of twincoast fo me. The place was very busy for a Monday which is a very good show as to how the business is run. However, the twincoast must have got slightly seasick between coasts as it tasted a little bit like a dirty pipes taste so I tried another just in case they weren't moving much of that one in the hope it would be better, but it wasn't. There should have been tomato with my salad garnish, but none, however, they did put more scampi on than the menu instructed, so that offset it. The fish pie was nicely cooked around the edges, but frozen and raw in the centre, so that had to be re-microwaved. The staff were very efficient and helpful, it must be a very good place to be so rammed full on a Monday.

The food is very good and in big portions, we had a big party of 16, and no one said a bad thing about the food and even better food prices were brilliant. Parking was an issue but that's a good thing it means it's a great place

Meals are large, so go with a good appetite. Salmon in noodles superb.

Been coming here for quite a while, but visited today for a family birthday had cod and chips and the fish was absolutely vile! Actually felt sick whilst chewing it it, so couldn't eat my meal, complained to the barmaid and said its fine but take this meal off my bill, didnt want to make a massive fuss. When it came to paying they charged is for the meal I didn't eat saying I didn't complain when the waitress picked up the plates. Paid begrudgingly came home still feeling sick! Will never vist this place again which is a real shame because been sooo many times and always been top notch!

The malt shovel has been mine and my partners go to for a long time would always be our 1st choice when choosing somewhere to go for food. Unfortunately on this occasion when we attended we had our usual order which is the garlic steak, I asked for medium rare and unfortunately it was very much in between blue and rare I was very dissapointed with my visit on this occasion I believe there may be a new chef or a recently new chef an Unfortunately our stay was short and sweet were we would usually stay for a drink or 2 afterwards we was that dissapointed we just decided to leave.

Absolutely amazing place , friendly staff , excellent food , very large portions. Just an all round great atmosphere. Advice is to book early , it fills quickly and understandably so . Can't wait to return .

I was really looking forward to visiting after seeing photos on Google of previous patron's food, and it did not disappoint! I don't think I've ever had such beautiful chips with a pub meal, slightly crispy (but not too much) on the outside and unbelievably soft and fluffy on the inside. The steak & kidney pudding was beautiful too. I like a good portion and it was just right for me, not too little and not too much. Good value for money, something I've not said for along time when eating out. I will 100% be returning again soon!

Visited the malt shovel today 16/7/24 for our wedding anniversary meal I had a rack of ribs which was all fat & swimming in runny barbecue sauce couldn't eat my salad as it was soggy from the sauce & the chips were only warm. I complained & nothing was done about it needless to say we won't go there again complete waste of money. Thank you for ruining our wedding anniversary meal had to go elsewhere to eat as was still Hungary .

I know the over 60 menu is not expensive,but no need to serve meger portions, fish was so small and unappetizing over cooked, chunky frozen ships , best thing about it was the bit of lettuce and half a cherry tomato, feel sorry for the bar staff as they were quite pleasant

Lots on your plate worth the money

We have been here previously and went there yesterday evening 29/06/24 for my daughters birthday and, unfortunately, had a disappointing experience. While the service was generally good, an unexpected incident significantly impacted our meal.My son found a hair in his food (mixed meat grill). This is, of course, a major hygiene concern and completely unacceptable for any dining establishment. It was quite off-putting and definitely marred the overall experience for us all.I brought the issue to the attention of our server, who was apologetic and took the plate back immediately. Although they offered to replace the dish which my son declined and this was taken off our bill, the handling of the situation did not make me feel fully reassured about their commitment to hygiene.I understand that mistakes can happen, finding a hair in your food is a serious issue that overshadowed our meal. I hope management/staff take this feedback constructively to improve their hygiene practices. Unfortunately, I am hesitant to return unless I hear of significant improvements.

Great food...Great service 👏 highly recommended

My first time here I had blue cheese and walnuts on steak with salad onion rings and mushrooms my friend had spicy chili steak (not called that on menu) Steak cooked perfectly service fantastic. I will definitely return

Always great, fantastic food, generous portions

Best food I've ever had and staff is 💯👌

Got to be one of the best places to eat, I like the monster mixed grill myself. Everyone one is so friendly as well on the down side the car park is a bit small so you may need to plan your visit but you won't be disappointed. Went back in 2021 after the covid pandemic was dying down, still a great place to eat drink and just have a chin wag. The food prices have gone up a little but the food is still as good as it was before covid. Outside there are new seating areas. The front is now covered and the rear as a marquee and a pagoda with a electric roof.

Steak sandwich was just two slices of buttered bread, with a whole steak in the middle (steak not cut up and sandwich not cut in half) and a few onions and mushrooms on the side along with two onion rings. Side salad was also just a garnish on top of the steak... very hard to eat a whole steak in two slices of bread even after I cut it in half! Ended up having to leave the bread and just eat the steak with a knife and fork.

Excellent garlic steak and vegan mediteranean tart. Always excellent here and reasonable prices. Chefs a genious 😁

Wir waren dort auf Empfehlung Abendessen und haben das Ambiente und Essen sehr genossen. Sehr nette Bedienung. Gerne wieder.

We went to celebrate a birthday yesterday and had the Sunday roast. Value for money, very tasty, highly recommend.

We have been going to the Maltshovel for over 10 years my wife for the past 3 years has been having the delicious bbq chicken we were at the venue tonight and we’re advised the smothered bbq chicken is now a double breaded crispy bbq chicken what a complete disaster for the change of the menu it’s your basic bbq sauce poured over a pair of dry chicken breasts with tasteless cheese to match / come on why change a perfect dish that was selling to sell what you can get at any pub chain. If you want to save on costs and time due to the expansion of the outside areas you are making a big mistake just put up your price and serve quality like you have been doing for years on end . ( bring back the bbq oil sauce.

Lovely steak big portion of accompaniments definitely return !

Really worth a visit, best food I've had for ages.

Myself and my son and his wife had ordered steak from the menu all 3 meals were sent back as the steaks were not cooked properly, my son was actually raw, my onion rings were not cooked the inside was uncooked batter, my chips were cold. They just heated the steak up to cook it a bit more. We complained to a waitress nothing was done. They gave us a £9 discount of the bill which was over £80, needless to say we won't be going back

Great food, great service, will definitely return!

Great Pub ,Menu is Great Big Portions Parking is a nightmare around here.on OpenTable now, it is so easy to book if it isn't too busy. A great selection of drinks aswell.Had the 16oz rump steak pill pill lovely. Eyes too big though should of had the 8oz but cooked lovely and service was amazing by the young lady behind the bar .Deffo be back.

Definitely will go back food is Awesome and plenty of it , very friendly atmosphere, Thank you

Food was nice and there was good choice on the menu. Service was a little slow but perhaps they were aiming for a more relaxed approach.

great pub. fantastic food. good range of beers and menu had a good variety. cannot fault the service, no issues and always attentive. only minor issue would be the portion size!! now i love a good bit of grub but some of the portions for the steaks and mixed grills are so big. many people would struggle to eat the whole dish without it going cold!! Other than that I cannot fault the place and highly recommend anyone who loves excellent pub food

Little dissapointed with the food for the price chips overcooked and steak very grisly peas missing from one of the meals loved this place but not so sure would return

Great food and drink but the heating in the outside seating had to be switched on every 30 seconds. If it had been warmer we would definitely have stopped for longer.

Topped off a lovely day with an amazing lunch at what has to be the best eatery in town! Food was beautiful, fantastic range suitable for all and exemplary service. Reasonable prices too so you just can’t go wrong. They now have a great outdoor covered area too so whatever the weather it’s definitely the place to go.

So so disappointed. Waited an hour and a half for food to find out we had been forgotten . We are all human and mistakes are made but it’s how it was dealt with. Poor waitress was sent to try and fob us off. Could not shoot the messenger. No compensation offered as we had paid up front . Food was then rushed out under cooked . No one came to check if all was ok . Not a happy customer.

When asked for our orders, we gave our orders.Then we were given the option of a source.I said yes. It turned out when the bill came the source was an extra cost. Of just under four pounds. I disputed this with the waiting staff. As me and the rest of the table Stated to the waiting staff that it was not made apparent to us that it was an extra cost for the source and that we would not avoided it if we had known. Also earlier on in the meal a brinks were taken away from us without asking if we had finished with them.I had not and there was still at least a mouthful left in the bottom line when it got taken away. This may seem a bit petty about the drinks, but with the extra cost of the cheese on top. Arctic staunching prices source. I feel that I should let your customers know on here about the drinker as well

Huge great lunch that we just couldnt finish, with the added bonus of Aspell's cider. The staff are really friendly and helpful. We will make this our regular haunt. Thank you.

Always a lovely meal and very attentive staff.

For those who love full plates ! You can't go wrong. In fact I would go as far as to say Too Large?... I ordered fish and chips BUT had to send it back as it was still FROZEN in the middle? The saff were very good and did not charge me for the meal. My wife's Tuna salad was over flowing with lettuce! and the use of tinned tuna? .... On the whole great staff,good atmosphere BUT need to be careful not to lose the quality. I speak with over 30 years catering experience...

Lovely food serve by pleasant staff

Great little pub / restaurant in a nice location with friendly atmosphere. However. Service was slow. I know they were busy though. Staff were very nice, polite and professional. Just not enough staff on shift at the time I think. I was disappointed with my meal. It was meant to be a vegetarian chili/sesame noodle dish with halloumi. What I got was a bowl with noodles, some vegetables and soggy halloumi swimming in a sea of some kind of soy sauce mixture. This was basically inedible. I filled up on the side portion of chips. Was not worth the £16 or so that I paid. Others in my group enjoyed large portions of steak and chips and so on. Clearly this is what the Malt Shovel does well. So really, a nice place, just in my case, shame about the food.

Didn't serve food at 8pm. Menu says food served daily from 12 until 9pm

A full meal by any standard first class service *****

Lovely restaurant tucked away in Hartshill. Lots of tables, good choice of foods and special prices for senior citizens. Met with friends and although the car park is small, there's plenty of road parking. Friendly staff, good service and tasty meals.

A very nice welcoming pub. The food was very nice & we will be back soon. value for money ,with the oap lunch & a nice selection.

Great place, brilliant food, nice staff, I will definitely go again.

Food was lovely and well presented.complements to the chef.we arrived about 2.35 and gagging for lunch.we were asked to go through to the resteraunt.from there i gather we were forgotten about as we waited about a quarter of an hour before someone came to take our order.it wasn't busy by the way,there was just one couple in the dining area.worth a return visit but I may take a little bell with me next time.

After receiving a recommendation I thought that the pub was lovely but we were very disappointed with the food. About 3 of us had things missing from our plates that was stated on the menu. In my case peas and an egg. Everybody's chips were well over cooked and the people that got pease said they were like bullets. You get big plates with plenty of food but I felt let down by the quality.

Shame salad been changed to just rocket .old salad was so better

Placed an order for food, sat waiting 45 minutes while people that came in 15-20 mins after us got theirs, to then be told they had forgot to put our order through, we had to leave very hungry as had an appointment elsewhere, if i could of left a zero rating i would have, waitress didnt care less and was miserable, will not be going back! Aweful atmosphere, dont waste your time 👎🏻

Excellent food excellent service excellent value!!!

meal booked for 7.30 arrived @ 7.00pm - ordered taken within minutes - drinks came within minutes - starters 45mins later - gambas pil pil - too much chilli unable to eat over powering - then my main course i settled for the basic fish chips and mushy peas - FISH BURNED -LIGHLTY BATTERED - SUGGESTS HOME COOKED - MORRISONS BETTER - THE CHEEKY CHEF???? HAD BURNED IT SO SERVED WITH BURNT SIDE TO THE PLATE TO EXPOSE THE UNDERSIDE THAT HAD STUCK TO THE TRAY AS OVEN COOKED - CHIPS COLD SAVING GRACE MUSHY PEAS. £65.00 IT COST - WONT GO THERE AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JENNY -

This place THE MALT SHOVEL was in my opinion one of the very best places to have Sunday Lunch....We travel around the 6 counties and this was one of the very best...in my opinion as a former businessman a suicide move So can I recommend you to The Millers Hotel Sibson excellent value and the Quordon Fox Quorn Leicestershire excellent such a shame....now we have found an alternative the M ILLERS HOTEL Sibson we will not be going back.....

Fantastic food. Large portions. The steak was cooked perfectly. The seasonal salad that came with it was lovely. Excellent service. Would highly recommend.

Lovely food and good service, staff very helpful

First time and won't be our last food was lovely especially the cheesecake 😋

Absolutely brilliant food and beer at reasonable (for the current financial climate) prices..

Steak was undercooked after asking for it to be well done and set back twice and still came out red in the middle. Chicken was u undercooked and my friends lasagne was very dry and the chips have been recooked.

Food was cool , served on cold plates, steak undercooked, staff seemed rushed. Normally a good place to eat but last 2 visits the standards seem to have slipped.

The staff and their service is exceptional, prompt efficient service by welcoming staff. Family booking in the restaurant located at rear of pub, comfortable clean area with decor to give the room some character. Quite a large menu choice so there's something for everyone, vegetarians/ vegans catered for too. The restaurant is family orientated so children welcome and catered for. The meals are plentiful, we all left with full bellies. Usual range of alcoholic and soft drinks available at the bar, food and drink orders are table service.

Disappointed. Naan bread had to go back to be reheated. Fillet steak was medium rare, not medium, as ordered. Grilled tomato had not seen a grill. ALL plates were cold, so food on plates also went cold quick. We were told we needed to be out by 18:30hrs, several times, which we knew when we booked. We didn't bother staying for dessert. We felt awkward, we came home. We left venue at 18:00hr. We were there literally there for 1 hour. Have you changed the chef? Not the usual standard. Coming off our list of favourite food venues.

Booked here for a birthday meal, but had to wait ten minutes or so for our table. It was very busy so this was understandable and my partner was pleased to find they had Old Speckled Hen as well as Doom Bar. Chose mushroom and brie wellington and my partner had pork. Although the menu said this was served with stuffing we had to ask for some. I was disappointed to find out the stuffing wasn't vegetarian and I also had to ask for a Yorkshire pudding. Like many pubs the Malt Shovel doesn't seem to understand that a Wellington is not the same as a pie and typically the vegetarian option was substantially smaller than the meat options. Roast spuds were barely browned, green beans were cooked until mushy and although the pie was scalding hot the plate and subsequently the rest of the meal was nearly cold. We waited a very long time for the dessert menus as by then a group of 11 had arrived, and gave up waiting for them to take the order and went to the bar to place it in the end. Clearly they need more staff at peak times. The pudding was delicious but the portion was a bit small and the ice cream was exceptionally cold.

Visited with family on the 12th December, food was fantastic way beyond any normal pub grub. Everything was fresh cooked which does mean it takes longer than in many other pubs, will be back

Good atmosphere, great service, great food

We booked our table at short notice and all our meals were absolutely amazing. We also ordered two apple and blackberry crumbles and these were also delicious. These were made with proper apple and blackberries and the crumble just finished them off. I would highly recommend and we will certainly be going again.

Lovely venue. Unfortunately not large enough to host the event. Wouldve stayed longer if a covered smoke area was available

Great atmosphere, great food, fast service and the staff are polite and efficient. A must visit if in Warwickshire.

Best pub food in town, huge portions.