The Royal Oak in Taunton Deane

I can't recommend this place highly enough if we lived anywhere near we would definitely return. The service was great, friendly staff and a lovely atmosphere it has an amazing beer garden and the food is amazing. Well done to all who work here is a credit to you all and shows how much care is taken.

On arrival we were greeted with a friendly welcome and drink and food order was taken quickly. Drinks arrived promptly. 25 minutes after ordering, food arrived at the table opposite us. They had ordered a few minutes after us and I figured as they were a table of 2 and we were a table of 4 it would not be much longer. Looking at the food served to them I thought it would be worth the wait, fantastic looking Yorkshire puddings and great looking beef. Another 20 minutes passed and the waitress noticed we still had not been served our food. She went back to the kitchen and finally brought out our food 45 minutes after we had ordered. We had ordered 2 adult roast pork, 1 kids roast pork and a Fish and Chips. I'll start with the positives, our eldest son said the fish and chips were good albeit the piece of haddock was pretty small. The vegetables on the roast dinner were very good, perfectly cooked (al-dente) and well seasoned. Unfortunately the positives stop there, the roast potatoes had no colour at all and were really hard, it was difficult to taste the small amount of pork on the plate, it was 3 small slices, sliced so incredibly thinly. The adult Yorkshire puddings were thin, dry and crispy and honestly tasted like a pre made frozen variety and had no resemblance to what we saw on the table opposite. The Yorkshire pudding on our youngest son's plate was homemade, but really dense and doughy and it was inedible. The gravy was very watery and lacked any flavour. We decided to skip dessert and stopped for doughnuts at Rumwell farm shop on the way home which helped brighten up a fairly miserable experience.

We popped into this lovely place on our way home from Cornwall. Lovely food nicely presented

Quality Sunday roast with the family with lots of choices.Delicious food and most helpful staff in a nice dining area.

Ordered the ploughman’s unfortunately it came with warmed sliced bread. A fresh crusty wedge of bread should be on a ploughman’s.

My mum and I are in the area on holiday, and were travelling from far away. Despite almost missing the food serving time, they stayed open for us to allow us to eat, made sure our dogs had water, and even gave us a pot of piccalilli to take home when my mum mentioned how much she liked it. Can’t fault them. Service amazing, food incredible, and a lovely atmosphere. Thank you!

First time to drop in but we will be back ,love the clean open feel to this revamped pub, food menu looks great and needs to be tried next time, lovely outside covered seating area .Very peaceful location .

Great roast, great flavours, I will be eating there again

Dropped in this evening for an early dinner. Hadn’t booked but as it was early there was plenty of space. We haven’t been here for years but as it has been renovated under new ownership we thought we would give it a go. We were glad we did - the food was very good, fresh and hot, and the service was friendly and attentive. I had one of the best Lemon Possets I have ever had! By the time we left the place was good and busy and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. We will return!

Great service, beautifully redecorated, extremely clean, and excellent choice of wine, food, especially sweets. The waitress was charming, both my sister , my mother and I will return.thoroughly recommend. Thanks

Warm friendly place with accomodating staff and great food

Excellent service, food, ambience and price. Can t fault it.

Really great food and excellent service. Good range of dishes for vegetarian and meat eaters.

Good Sunday lunch served. Better than carvery with people overloading their plates. Very polite and courteous waitresses. Good Guinness!

Friendly welcome, menu very sparse, young waitress didn’t have a clue what to do, another’s hair all over the place & the other picked her nose right in front of us, a little over priced for the steak dishes & mixed grill, but what we did have was lovely

Since it re-opened (used to be The Orchard), the pub has improved so much. We went with a group of 13 for lunch on Saturday and the food and service were fantastic. Fish and chips were exceptionally good and the prices were reasonable given the quality. The staff were friendly and the newly opened up bar is a much nicer place to be if you just want to, say, watch the rugby. The Royal Oak is a great asset to the community and I look forward to the newly refurbished garden in the summer.

Went there with my wife and two friends. We had pre booked online about 3 weeks prior but when we arrived there was no record of our booking . It wasn't a problem as the waitress found us a table . Service was quick and staff were very friendly. Food that we had was really nice, and hot as well . Atmosphere felt very welcoming and the area we sat at was lovely and warm as close to the fire . All in all had a great experience and we all enjoyed it very much , we will definitely recommend this place and will be eating there again.

Excellent lunch menu and the food the four of us chose was exceptional. Good heated plates and hot freshly prepared meals. The pub had been recently refurbished and opened about 4 months ago. The decoration was simple and gave a fresh, light but homely feel to the pub and restaurant. The loos were clean and spotless (about how many hostels can you say that?) Staff were very friendly, helpful and attentive (one of us gluten intolerant - no problem at all). We live 45 minutes away and wanted to visit the area on another mission and stopped there. We will be back in the future. Many thanks

The Sunday roast dinner was amazing only criticism roast potatoes were very very hard and to crispy, staff were fantastic lovely atmosphere

Just had a very tasty lunch here. Cumberland sausage. Service was excellent but maybe in busy times it will be very noisy as the tables are very close together. Apart from that all good.

After booking for a party of 15. I have to say this was the worst roast i have ever had eating out. Potatoes like rocks veg to crack your teeth on. Yorkshires to dry your insides out and meat which we are still chewing 2 days later. Wouldnt recommend booking for a roast. And was also very expensive for what looked like a childs portion.

The worst roast I’ve ever had. Dry roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding. 1 cabbage leaf, 1 carrot, 1parsnip, 2 brocolie. £4 for cauliflower cheese…. Which had 2 florets in, no cheese just watery white sauce. Thin tiny amount of gravy. Massively over priced! Really disappointed. Would not recommend and will never return. Friendly staff.

First visit since the renovations and new ownership. What a transformation - best the pub has been for many years. Great welcome, service was excellent, food very good and staff very helpful with checking for gluten and lactose free items and suggesting alternatives for one of our party. Definitely will return - so great to have the pub back in action!

A real transformation, plenty of staff, the food is excellent, and service first class.

Busy pub, nicely done up, great service and lovely food. Best of luck to Tom and the Royal Oak Team.

Just amazing, had a roast today and it was so tasty. So glad to see the pub open again.

Wow.. called in at lunch today to see what is was like after the renovation.. thought I’d have a quick beer and leave .. 3hrs later and fab lunch! Made so welcome.. great atmosphere.

Seems like a nice place. We only drank. Needs some work on the accoustis!! Very noisy.

Great pub! Absolutely delicious Sunday carvery and welcoming staff.

Seems a nice friendly pub! Good beer on the bar, nice beer garden

Hi your site said pub opened today. So walked over and it was all shut!

Excellent Carvery ,friendly staff 👍

Lovely country pub, friendly landlord and staff, great bunch of locals, reasonably priced drinks, and dog friendly. There's a lovely beer garden too for when the weather improves but there is a good sized undercover patio area.

My husband and I found the staff very welcoming and polite, The owner/chef was equally nice, and the Sunday carvery certainly filled us up! It was delicious. Thank you. Whoops sorry didn't have room for a pud.

Good food. Staff very welcoming. Parking off road.

Sunday Lunch was 10/10. We had another Sunday Lunch Family At The Orchard Inn. Recommend. The Staff v/helpful.

Great food, friendly welcoming staff and open at a decent times.

Lovely meal here, plus all the staff are lovely and professional, a very dog friendly pub

Visited today (29/05/2022) for the first time. We decided on the carvery and were very impressed, food cooked wonderfully and very tasty. Then had a dessert of the strawberry sundae, wow, so good! Having had bariatric surgery I can only eat a small amount and they were happy for me to have a small plate carvery and also happy for us to share a dessert. Lovely staff and a very friendly welcome. Would definitely recommend and will be visiting again very soon.

Friendly local pub on a main road.

Excellent carvery and great service!

I can highly recommend The Orchard. I'd never been here before but my employer held our work Xmas do here. We had a curry which was excellent, played skittles and pool and enjoyed the friendly atmosphere, I'll be back with my family 👍

Top notch service professionally managed.

We came today for a wake,what a lovely welcoming pub on a sad very wet day.zThe pub opened for us .zThe staff were lovely and professional ,the food so good.

Friendly, cozy, prices seem reasonable nice outdoor area. Yep would go back 👍👍

Very good carvery, problem with veggie roast quickly resolved, attentive service.

Such a lovely pub. Amazing staff

Friendly staff for our visit. Nice beer garden at the rear that catches the evening sun beautifully. Large sheltered area in the beer garden too which might be handy for a post lock down beer with a friend when it's a little damp out.

Carvery meals were lovely but dessert menu uninspiring .

Gorgeous! Steaks were amazing,and the breaded brie was woohoo tasty

Great pub, close to Taunton, they offer a great selection of drinks and the food was amazing. Welcoming staff and very polite, we would definitely go back.

Friendly, generous portions, relaxed atmosphere

Great ham egg and chips 👍. Fantastic service. Wide selection of drinks 🍺🍻🥂🍷. Will definitely be coming back 👌

Bad experience waited 1 hour for scampi and chips gave up and left. How long does it take to cook that!

Lovely food, helpful staff, very reasonably priced.

Very nice food and was happy to accommodate our relatively large group of 13 people with one days notice. The carvery is good.

Great service and food, best to book in advance

This was recommended to me so took my family. It was cold in the restaurant, the order was wrong, starters and main courses were mixed up and my young son's pizza was still frozen (!) In the middle. Not cheap either - and nothing deducted for all in inconvenience.

Good menu, well cooked and friendly staff

Absolutely love this place always friendly and the food well you just cannot fault it x

Friendly atmosphere, warm welcome come, lovely food

Excellent food quick service and friendly staff and even brought out a bowl of water for our little doggie .

Great friendly staff. Food was delicious we had our dog with us and they made her comfortable and a bowl of water. Portion sizes were perfect thank you.

Great food and nice guest ales.

A very friendly pub with excellent food.

Lovely meal, great service, lovely Friendly staff can't wait to go again

Lovely fresh food and lovely staff 😁

Sunday cavery is brilliant and the staff were very friendly and helpful

Friendly pub. Open fire in the winter, and a small beer garden to sit out in in the summer.

Lovely weather so made use of the lovely garden, beautiful cherry tree in full blossom, such a nice relaxing atmosphere... worth a visit if you are passing! Great food too!

Decided to try this pub today.first impression was clean comfortable and cosy.staff extremely friendly and polite. Decided to have lunch here which did not disappoint. Popping hot.well cooked.delicious. Well done with the food chef. Went outside to view the beer garden this was relaxing with plenty of seating and tables.garden kept in lovely order.definatly going back again

Great food, served piping hot, with good portion size and fast service by cheerful, friendly staff.

Food nothing to get excited about and the best they could offer my daughter who is vegan (for a Christmas meal) was a sandwich!!

Lovely meal friendly and efficient staff

Really nice Christmas dinner - hot and tasty !!

Excellent carvery. Worth a visit.

Very disappointing, we've eaten there many times but after tonight I think we'll be looking for somewhere else to eat. One meal was served almost cold and the two other meals tasted like a sauce from a jar.

Top class food, lovely atmosphere and fab staff :-)

Wasn't there for very long, ordered a coffee which was good, they had stopped serving food so they didn't offer us any menu or a second coffee. Was there around 2:15 And the staff made it very obvious that they wanted to close earlier than 3pm and when we left at 2:45 we could hear the sounds of joy that we had left as we closed the door. Not very impressed that we weren't made to feel very welcome but I can understand to a degree. Probably won't return but I doubt they care in the slightest.

Lovely little pub and restaurant. Most of all it had a great atmosphere and the locals were so friendly.

Great carvery. Meat fantastic. Friendly staff.

Great food service and atmosphere

Somersets Narnia. Your might of driven past this pub 100 times like me and thought... I wonder. Well today that wonder turned into the great expectation and more. Just nipped in for a pint, but the atmosphere, lay out and the food are all exceptional (yes I did have a nosey at other peoples food). The guys behind the bar let our little dog in and gave him some snacks and water. The atmosphere is proper cosy, with a beer garden that beats any around locally. Patio heaters loads of comfy seats. Can honestly say.... my new favourite pub.

Great meal and service was of good quality keep it up

Great place, great food and great service and a lovely atmosphere. Highly recommended the carvery.

Lovely venue, really friendly staff. Fabulous portion of meet on the carvery, lovely roasties and parsnips, only disappointment was the limited veg, only carrots, cabbage and cauliflower would have been nice to have some mashed suede, red cabbage, creamed leeks or something.

Good food in a pub that is now really a restaurant. Generous portions and well cooked tasty food. One gripe which is the same everywhere now. The outside space is now only really suited to smokers as the smoking area is included making it a smelly smokey no go zone for non smokers.

Very good food.. pleasant staff and atmosphere.

Really good quality-price pub. Would defo recommend the sunday roast, specially the nut roast.

Lovely food, lovely staff, lovely place, well recommended.

Went for a birthday dinner, staff friendly, food delicious and two nice real ales on tap. Just watch out for the mobile speed trap which might be nearby, it's a 30mph zone.

Quite quiet, quite smart, with an awning for outside seating, but not much atmosphere. Nice chips

Lovely staff, great service. Food was good pub grub, presented well and tasty.

Very nice staff, amazing food, loads of atmosphere and cozy fire to sit around

We booked a table for a large party for the Sunday carvery. The food was fantastic but the service was average/ poor. The waiting staff seemed ill prepared for our party size, despite having prebooked weeks before and were, at times, rude and stand offish. I understand the pressures of a busy Sunday lunch service so will put it down to that and would return, but not as part of a large booking.

We had a great meal with great service.

Found on website it most certainly kept to all expectations. Delightful place, easy to find, friendly staff and excellent service. Having left uk some 14 years ago, one of the best Sunday lunches/carvery I have had and gotta mention the superb french coffee, promise I won't reveal the secret but thanks for the tip. We will recommend and be back. Bet the garden would be great in summer, especially with a bit of sun

Been to this pub twice for Sunday lunch with my family. Cosy, clean, friendly staff, delicious meal and generous portion. Love it.

Great service from entering fantastic food with lamb carvery. Would recommend to everyone.

Made very welcome on arrival by landlord, friendly staff,wonderful carvery.