The Monk's Retreat in Reading

Wow, worst ruddy service I’ve ever known. We’d gone with some friends and I’d ordered some drinks, but they took an HOUR to arrive. More fool me, in fairness, I don’t call them out until 40 minutes in (a friend had made a similar order and they were busy). However after I’d asked them where my drinks were…they took another twenty minutes. Shame. On. Them

This place improved quite a bit since it went under new management the building is clean and tidy no sticky tables!

The food was really nice. Didn't expect much for the price, but pleasantly surprised. Would recommend. Friendly service.

Popped in here after looking at property in the local area. Great food and drink for a very reasonable price. Good gin selection!

Very friendly good for sports they do a lovely burger classic cheese & bacon the wife loves the chicken & bacon salad. Would visit again

My partner and I visited the monks retrest and I couldn't of been more impressed about the service and food the boy behind the bar give us a nice warm welcome on our way in. we had the pie and a pint deal it's great value for what you get and the quality of it. The service provided was lovely and we will definitely come back for a family meal.

Came here at Christmas and it was amazing Thank you, 10/10 service and a great place to visit, the food was excellent and the service was amazing

Had a very good visit with grankids the staff are so friendly with us and making our grankids laugh. I would go baxk here again soon

Visted s well kept Nice place good food. Very friendly staff. Good covid restrictions in place. If you like sport this place is also perfect for you loads of tvs and seatinf. They do quiz on Thursdays which I enjoyed doing each week. If you want random flavoured gins there bound to have it they have a very large range on the bar. Clean tidy very nice atmosphere.

We visited monks and had a very nice visit we were served by a young man with short brown hair he waz very helpful and friendly

Well mentained food was very nice we felt welcome throughout our visit very good cocktail menu we will come back

Me and my partner visited over Christmas and had an amazing time. We would highly recommend and we will be visiting again in the new year

This pub has improved dramatically over the last 6 months. The team are very engaged and always with a smile on there face. The food quality is now very good and the prices are extremely reasonable. The atmosphere is very good and for all occasions. Gets busy for sport here and they do full table service. Great pub

ow. Just wow. Such amazing customer service, a big shout out to the absolutely lovely lady (amy) who sat us down and completely off her own back turned f1 on for our son on a different tv as he as upset because he couldn't see the one it was showing on inside. Seriously you couldn't ask for better, friendlier and more caring staff if you tried. Everyone was so lovely and genuinely friendly. I'm still sat in here and wrote this now because we felt so strongly about how fabulous all of this staff are.A massive thank you.Also the food prices and deals are brilliant - everywhere was clean and staff very nicely asked people to follow their social distancing policies when they were inadvertently breaking them.1000% will visit here again if we are ever back, and you guys are a massive credit to your company.THANK YOU SO MUCH!

What a great visit from start to finisb! Very good safety measures in place feel safe througout our visit. Nice and clean always see someone walking round cleaning. Lots of choice for drinks and food witch are both very good value for money lots of tv to watch sports (we were there to watch the rugby) you never have a empty glass because theres someone always around to get you a top up. I would return

We come here regulary and dont normally leave reviews but this time i had a fab visit to monks retreat just before we went in to the second wave of covid. All the staff members here have done a really good job at keeping us safe. We always have a good time at monks and will continue to do so. Food is delicious and well priced. Drinks are cheap (did i say 241 coocktails) food is always presented to a nice standard. We would like to say a big well done and keep up the hard work when you open again. Reguards Emma

Well what an awful experience this was from start to finish.for the last couple of weeks we've been coming here as a placem to drink and eat after shopping and previously enjoyed it ,so decided we'd choose this venue as the place to watch the rugby England V Italy and booked our table for this the previous weekend with the Irish member of staff who had superb customer skills. On an earlier arrival than expected due to the weather we thought we'd check in and watch both games instead. Not expecting to have a table for the whole time and this is when we were told they didn't even have one booked for 4:15 !! Now normally I would of expected an apology at this stage but no I was greated with attitude and rudeness as if I was lying. The Irish gentleman from the bar staff agreed there had been any error. We were given a table at the back and was expected to watch the game through other people's heads when there was an empty booth not in use until 7:15 pm but we were not allowed to sit there. I have never known staff to argue with customers so much and be so disrespectful. We felt persecuted all afternoon.we were spoken to like crap and asked to leave because we were not having it .. I'm a customer and have never experienced such awful treatment by staff who think they can say and do what like to paying customers.Goodbye Monks Retreat we found watching the game much more enjoyable at The Bugle, which had great atmosphere and a huge TV and much friendly staff !!!

I was really impressed last night by Stacy working on security. They were very helpful & friendly upon arrival to the venue & looked after us all throughout our visit. Stacy told jokes to guests who were waiting in the queue line to entertain us while we waited to gain entry. Once inside we received great table service from the team. When things started to kick off outside the bar in the street security Stacy was quick to warn everyone inside. Once it was time to leave Stacy attempted to protect all the guests who where leaving the establishment. Some people were setting off fireworks in the street & attacking people, Stacy managed to keep many of the guests safe from harm & stoped anyone dangerous from entering the bar or smoking areas. I applaud Stacy’s spirit & excellent rapport with customers. I thought they did a great job.

Nice atmosphere when the sports is on nice and quick service they gave us an option to use the app or order in person our server sandy was very nice. Very good balue for food and pleanty on the plate find it hard to finish it. We will go back though.

Nice food Good atmosphere very friendly staff great value for what you get kids loved it and we would return

Nice little town center pub. Lots of drink & food range. Nice atmosphere friendly staff. fast and efficient service

So my friend and i popped into the monks today for a quick and light lunch, the young bartender Sandy i believe her name was bent over backwards to help me and my friend with our dietary requirements, all staff brilliant and friendly and the meal was exquisite, I would highly recommend a visit, well done guys and thank you

Fui a ver un partido de fútbol con un par de compañeros, lo pasamos muy bien, servicio muy rápido, personal super amable y buen ambiente de gestión. Tuvimos la torre de cerveza de 8 pinta que es conveniente, una buena idea para ahorrar tiempo al personal y a nosotros. Lo recomiendo encarecidamente.

Very clean pub. Very fast service someone is at the table within a minute. Very safe with covid rules they have very good control. Nice managers and staff members.

Servicio rápido y amigable. Ahora es recibido en la puerta por alguien para rastrear y rastrear detalles que luego lo sentará en una mesa.Me quedé muy impresionado con lo rápido que fue el servicio de mesa para pedir bebidas.Hamburguesa triple barata y alegre, patatas fritas y una pinta para 7. 99

Fui al pub con algunos amigos para ver el fútbol y quedamos decepcionados con la experiencia. Las bebidas pedidas en la aplicación eran siempre incorrectas. Al pedir whisky, las bebidas no sabían como el whisky que habíamos pedido. Al volver a pedir el whisky en la aplicación, el whisky que habíamos estado bebiendo ya no estaba disponible, lo que nos hace pensar que se habían agotado antes y habían puesto whisky viejo. Esto sucedió con 3 pedidos diferentes. Además, a pesar de afirmar que los puntos de contacto se limpiaban cada 15 minutos, la mesa de al lado tenía 4 grupos diferentes de personas y no se limpió una vez.La aplicación también tuvo sus problemas ya que esperé media hora por una bebida que solo llegó después de que le pregunté a un miembro del personal. Un miembro del personal que supongo que era un gerente también discutió conmigo para decirme que ya había tomado la bebida que habían confundido con el pedido anterior. Cuando finalmente llegó la bebida, volvió a ser el whisky equivocado. No me impresionó.

L6ove this place! Gotta be the best in reading! I rate this place ad my best bar reading! Try and you wont be disapointed!

Servicio rápido a través de la aplicación, personal amable del bar que lo hace sentir bienvenido y un sistema unidireccional fácil de seguir. Daniel, quien me recibió en la puerta, en particular, es un faro de servicio al cliente en un mundo devastado por el miedo al coronavirus. ¿Visitará de nuevo?

Had an amazing time at the monks with a group of friends. Great deal on cocktails and tremendously friendly staff

The staff are very friendly you get a nice warm welcome on the door then shown to a table its a very clean reasonable priced pub for the location. Will visit again

Nice food. Good selection of drinks. Plenty of gins on the bar. Food/drinks reasonable priced Looks clean and tidy, staff always look busy keep the floor and tables clean.

To cut things short (kind of) I was asked for my ID, im 24 and have been frequenting The Monks for 6 years (I dont expect evey staff member to remember me) but my ID was hold onto a lot longer period than I would consider usual.The staff took my ID thinking it was fake, after showing the my credit card (which you need to be 18 or over to have and not being able to provide my birth certificate (like who carries that with them)) i thought this was bloody weird this had never happened to me before. If there was an issue of too many attendance id rather be told we have too many people please come back later rather than this confrontation that took place.I've never had a problem with the staff outside or inside before. This experience has put me off to come back to The Monks Retreat even though its general friendliness, accessibility and affordability is fantastic. Hopefully this inexperienced staff member can be educated or replaced by a more experienced staff member and i hope I can return my business back to usual.

It was my birthday and i had a great time! There was rules in place but they stil managed to make it fun and welcoming there was a person on the door that showed us to our table. We could still boogie in our seats. I will be back again next week for your uv night. Thank you so much. We was served by alex and stevie that was there name on the till hope it is right

Good food and service with a smile lots of covid restrictions so feel safe visiting but still maintaining the happy atmosphere

Didn't have to wait to enter, lots of hygiene procedures in place and friendly staff who explained how everything works. There is a reduced menu that you order on the app but there was plenty of choice. Cooked well, good size portions and arrived in decent time.

Very good selection of ale in reading town centre. Pub well presented and clean, team always happy to help and friendly

Hi .Tony was Amazing the last 2 nights we visited reading. So friendly. Welcoming and Amazing behind the bar making cocktails...he is a real asset to the pub .Thankyou Tony for making us feel so welcome .

Great service, great people behind the bar (especially Tony), very friendy and very accommodating. Even knew what a turbo shandy was! Used to go Back & Beyond, but Tony has made Monk's Retreat an absolute rival; great guy. Great music, later on in the night, as well.

Tony was an absolute great guy, was so nice to see a guy from up north, having lived there for a three years, bringing such a good characteristic to the bar. Bringing the friendliness down south I love it. Welcomed us so well!

Went with my mates one Monday, a load of us came in (students) soon realised they were closing. There wasn’t many staff but they worked as quick as they could serving us all. Came in on a Friday for some food was really good burger! Both times really friendly staff. Would so recommend.

So nice to be able to come into this pub and hopefully not bump into anybody that my boyfriend is seeing behind my back

Very good customer service. Ordered my food and received it freshly cooked within 5 minutes. Would highly recommend going here whether it's with family or for pres before a night out.

Google mislead me that this was a whetherspoons, and I didnt check inside ! All I wanted was two gin and tonics, but on receipt of the bill, realised it wasnt Whetherspoons!!Furthermore they didnt have the right glasses, serving in half pint tumblers with no garnish-extremely poor for £12.77!

We had a very good meal that was delivered very quickly.the food was of a very good standard nicely cooked .and the service was quick and very friendly. I would definitely visit this establishment again!

Lovely meal after shopping and then watched the football with a great craft beer the service was fantastic

Great pub. Staff were fantastic, very attentive and welcoming. Good choice of beers and lovely atmosphere. Will definitely return.

Had a great time with some friends watching the rugby. Nice food, relaxed and great selection of drinks. Will be coming back!

Popped into town after a hospital appointment and had the breakfast menu, it was the best looking breakfast I think I’ve seen, it also tasted the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve had plenty over the years!! Every single item on the plate was cooked perfectly and was of great quality. The price is amazing also for what you get, and the staff were so nice and friendly, it was honestly one of the nicest eating out experiences I’ve ever had.

Had a couple of drinks after shopping, one of our favourite places, Manager professional & friendly, will keep coming back

Had food here last week. Came very quickly and was hot and tasted lovely. Pub was very busy with good atmosphere

Went to watch the football it was a really great atmosphere food was lovely and didn’t have to go to the bar as the had table service Wow

Good beer, great prices and even better service. Staff are extremely friendly and helpful, would recommend

Family day out, stopped for a quick lunch and what can I say service was great, food was very nice, will be coming back here soon

The manager Danny was fantastic and he really helped us out and definitely made us feel welcomed is best trip I have had in long time

Came here for a quick bite to eat as was on lunch break and work next door in the courts office. Very quick food and it was lovely and hot and tasted delicious. Atmosphere nice also

Great value for food and drinks 🍹will be coming back soon especially for the 2-4-1 cocktails and also 2-4-1 desserts

Great pub with attentive staff & welcoming new manager. Called in for drinks after a day shopping. Will definitely return to try the food.

Went for lunch while Xmas shopping with my family great food smiling staff lovely atmosphere will definitely visit again

I went in for a quick pint after some Xmas shopping and ended up stopping all afternoon. Tasty reasonably priced food and a good array of well kept beers to choose from. Great service and genuinely friendly staff. Thanks again. Rob.

Great sports bar, good atmosphere, service spot on with attentive staff. Will return again in the future

Had a great night here excellent food excellent service excellent staff we will be back thanks again for a wonderful evening

Almorzamos en Monks Retreat después de ir de compras de Navidad.

Visited with friends on a night out in Reading. The bar staff and service were great. Will visit again!

Came in for a few drinks before heading out to a preplanned event, Had a great night, staff all happy and smiley and drinks served quickly, see you again soon

The pub is lovely, we managed to get there early enough so that we had our own little booth to watch the football.

The food was very tasty but we left feeling hungry still, literally had 12 chips on our plate each. Burgers were delicious.

Ocupado día de compras navideñas en Reading con amigos y fue encantador venir aquí y tomar una copa para desconectar de la locura. También tuvimos los tableros de intercambio para 10. 49 por 5 platos, pensé que era una relación calidad-precio increíble y la comida era deliciosa. El personal fue muy servicial y amable, sin duda volveremos!

Popped in with my lady and you wouldn’t think it used to be a spoons. Great service, great food and apparently taken over by a new manager, good job I say. I’ll be returning soon.

Just shocking food, replaced hash browns with frozen and stale chips , guy brought out expecting us not to realise ... little blunt and not very Pleasant .... bar staff are well mannered :-) it’s like a watered down weatherspoons

This is one of the traditional British pub that u can find in a city as Reading. U can enjoy a good beer as drink and music.

Great lunch time deals and out in good time for my lunch break. will be back the next time i get to leave for lunch

There is a varied menu with lots of 'deals'. The prices are excellent and there is a good choice of ales. Welcoming staff

Lamentablemente, este pub, una vez un lugar popular en Reading, se ha dejado deteriorado en los últimos meses.

Came here with a group of people on the 17th August 2019. Great venue and great selection of drinks.staff always happy and accomodating. Thanks for your hospitality.

I went to the Monks with my mates for dinner, and the food was absolutely lovely! The staffs are very lovely, the people are very friendly and it makes me want to come more. The manager was a very gentle man and we really enjoyed our experience.

We came in for lunch , staff was welcoming, food was really come and came out quickly, very happy with our visit

Went in for evening meal which was amazing food came out quick and hot staff where great and the experience was brilliant will definately be going back

Since we first came to Monks it's become our weekly regular. Staff have changed alot but all are welcoming and very active workers. Especially Danny who saved me from a crackhead

Was shopping and popped in here for lunch as was close- very reasonable prices for lovely food and service was very good . We had cocktails and again very good value for money

Been here twice now and this place has been spot on both occasions. The food, the drinks, the service, and the atmosphere are second to none. Food pricing is crazy (in a good way)! Also I’m not a vegan, but have a vegan mate, and the selection of vegan food is brilliant.

I had a great evening here with a friend who is a local. I come from London.The staff were all very friendly helpful and efficient.Danny Lynch was especially friendly courteous and helpful and cheerful. The food was good and the Guinness great;the music was too loud for me but we enjoyed the football match shown on the many screens especially the Northern Ireland game. The décor is bright and clean and the price cheap for London rates. Good work staff..especially Danny..

Came in for the quiz last night and had a brilliant night. well run and lots of fun. Good drink prices and seems to be a lot going on here throughout the week.

The noise level was high as the TVs were showing international football, not a great big deal but it's definitely not a quiet place. My partner and I visited the Monks retreat this Saturday lunch time. We found a table and started to look through the menus(they were covered in someone else's food order) but after a wet wipe we carried on. My partner went to the bar and ordered. Food came to us in a nice timely manner. We had ordered starters and mains but this didn't matter as it all came to the table at the same time??! I had ordered sausage and mash but they had no mash so it was sausage and chips with gravy, not a problem until you started to eat it. It was probably the worst meal I had eaten in a very long time, the chip were undercooked, the peas had seen better days, the sausages were different tastes and textures so I can only presume they were a mixture of vegetarian/meat. Starters were either burnt (garlic bread) or soggy(breaded mushrooms). My partners meal was no better. He had ordered a burger but had to leave at least 50% as it was swimming in grease.

I first visited this pub with a friend one lunchtime when we dropped in for a late lunch. That time we had two very well cooked tasty meals which were very good value delivered in a timely manner. Looking for somewhere for a Saturday morning breakfast, I remembered my lunch here and so we popped in to see what breakfast would be like. Close your eyes and you could be in a pub run by one of their competitors; yes there are people in there drinking alcohol at 10am - not something I would do personally, but each to his own. Our table was a little sticky but not overly so. The breakfast menu was short and sweet. I ordered a Traditional and a Veggie breakfast. Both were nicely cooked and presented, perfectly acceptable so no complaints. Clearly this pub has a bit of an image problem and has consistency issues in terms of food and service. Fortunately for me, this has not been my experience the twice I have visited.

Good food, good beer and cheap prices lots of TVs so could watch the football with ease and they have a lot of drink offers on shots and cocktails what more can you ask for

great foo with good veggie & vegan options, funny and hardworking staff, decent music and they take requests !!

My son and i go here often and he enjoys playing on the machine before he eats his dinner,i drink soda water.

Came in for a girls night out, what can I say great atmosphere, cheap drinks I mean 2-4-1 cocktails all day and night, got to love that. I will be back 👌

Great place to watch sports. Friendly staff and love the tabke service. Will be back for more football and to try the food

This place is convenient and comfy for a quick chat or to watch sport in a private booth. I’ve never been in the evening, but the service during the day is friendly and it’s always clean and tidy. It’s not a Wetherspoon’s any more, so diners used to that company’s structured weekly menu will have to cope with something different, like Korean Chicken Nachos, which is flavour & texture revelation.

Want ed a quick brekkie while in Reading and walked by the Monks and thought I would give it a try , haven't been in for years and was pleasantly surprised. It has been refurbished and looks really nice, with old photos of Reading on the walls, which I always love looking at. Even though its a pub I didn't feel out of place being a woman on my own and this was down to the really friendly and welcoming staff. I ordered the budget brekkie and wasn't expecting what I got, especially for the price, it was really well presented and cooked lovely, will be back for the full brekkie. The bar staff were talkative and good fun, thank you Eoin and Cameron and thank you Ritchie for my brekkie. If you want a good place to eat in nice surroundings and you are on a budget this is the place for you and I will be returning soon, thanks guys

Have you stopped cleaning lines as standards are disgraceful for the last 18 months. This used to be my most frequented pub in Reading. Service is good, but the beer is truly disgraceful. I'll even buy the line cleaner if you'd use it?

I went to monks retreat today for a few quite drinks, I’ve been coming to monks for a few years and always felt like it was a great atmosphere! But today was different I ordered beef pie and had to wait over 30 minutes for it to be brought to my table. There was only one person serving at the bar and they said that the manager wasn’t helping. In the end the chef from the kitchen brought out the food that I order and he was so polite and apologetic. His name was Luke he seemed so wonderful

Sports pub should give you a clue. Good value for money. Our group of 4 ordered on a Sunday night. The table was sticky- this is a sports bar. The staff were polite and did their best to be helpful. When asked for a dark beer it had them a little confused. Might have been our accents:) each of us order a different meal and they all turned up together. The food was good and a good size meal for each of us. I had the Yorkshire wrap that was a Sunday special with the 2 pound desert. Expect noise and sticky tables but enjoy a meal and watch your sports.

A great enjoyable pub in the city centre. I liked being there and thanks for the ice cold super drinks.

Poped to town just for the quiz with my parents. Had a good time all round even had gluten free dishes so dad could eat with us. The cocktails are a bargain and the staff where better bigg thanks to Owen for hosting a good quiz will be back again

Popped in with a few friends. Had some food which was very well presented and came fast, few drinks after and staff where friendly and enjoying their work

Classico pub sportivo situato in pieno centro a Reading ,molto caratteristico e funzionale con parecchi televisori per guardare le partite della premier e non solo.

The bar itself is OK, it is a lot bigger inside than it would appear, the drinks options are also OK, and that's the only non-negative comments I have.

What more could you ask for? Good music, great selection of rums, and no ridiculous ID scanning policy on the door.