The Royal Oak Inn in Chichester

Gorgeous country pub with really well-kept room. We were here for one night but could have stayed a week!

Wonderful meal, great atmosphere, loved it!

Great roast dinner and excellent service from Fletcher! Would recommend.

We loved staying at the Royal Oak! The staff were all so friendly and went above and beyond! The food was delicious and the gluten-free toast at breakfast was the best I have ever had! The Inn is so close to many beauty spots and so convenient. Thanks for a great stay!

A very pleasant stay. Nice cosy inn with good atmosphere. Staff very friendly and helpful. Room/bathroom spacious and well appointed with the usual extras. Decor a little tired in places but not a major issue. Breakfast good with plenty of nice options. Evening meal was ok but one dish didn't quite hit the mark - the fish stew was a bit overdone with tomato and not enough fishy taste and the saffron potatoes were undercooked by a long way. The poached pear for dessert was also very hard still ,which spoilt an otherwise nice dish.

The heating wouldn’t work upstairs and when I called through to the bar, no-one answered so it was a cold night in bed. Ironically, the heater that produced no heat, made a constant noise, which wasn’t conducive to a good nights sleep either. The cottage is in significant need of re-painting, bluntly, it looks scruffy. Very disappointing I’m afraid.

Another fantastic few days at the Royal Oak. Great service, comfortable room and tasty food. Wine a bit pricey but we live in France so get great wine at very reasonable prices. We’ve already booked for dinner before our return ferry, which is only 30 mins from the pub. Chichester is a great shopping centre and Goodwood is just in the doorstop too. A trip to Arundel was great too. I highly recommend this pub!

Charming pub in a lovely village location in excellent position for exploring the local area. Friendly staff, well appointed room with some well thought out facilities - one of which was a small jug of milk in the room fridge, which was a nice touch. Great selection for breakfast and dinner. A very pleasant stay!

The accommodation was great -we had the Flint Cottage, a stand alone one up, one down cottage. Comfortable bed, good shower and very peaceful. the bar area also characterful and attentive friendly staff. The restaurant was a disappointment. The service for dinner and breakfast was very slow in spite of there being few diners. The food was not up to the usual Butcombe standard. Some basic ingredients were missing from both dinner and breakfast menus on both days.

Recently stayed for a weekend break . Warm and welcoming staff ; nothing to much trouble . Beautiful surroundings, excellent food and ambient accommodation . Will definitely be returning 😊

Came here for the first time for a Sunday roast . Lovely meal although not cheap by pub standards. Meat was exceptional although veg was sparse. Friendly service and to top it all we were entertained by some excellent singers. We will come back

Lovely company and had a great evening. Also appreciated not being rushed out near to close. Special shoutout to Mads and Hamish for helping me out with my crossword!

Nice room and comfy bed. The food not so good. Over priced small portions not enough variety on the plate. Drinks overpriced. Breakfast disappointing very small portions more like a child’s portion no beans or mushrooms. Also service very slow.

Great food, very pleasant service , lovely ambience. We were left waiting for rather too long before I decided to go up to the bar and order drinks. This is the only negative!

On my way to the too of the trundle, or on my way down, I cannot possibly miss stopping here for a pint in this nice pub!

We were staying close by & the pub was in walking distance so decided to pop in for lunch. So glad that we did as the food was delicious, all home made. The only downside was the choice of puddings, but that was due to my our particular tastes. The staff were really welcoming & friendly. We sat outside after our food & watched the light aircraft flying over. Highly recommend stopping here if you're passing.

Stayed 4 nights in Mulberry cottage, great location, so quiet and cosy. Excellent quality bedding and toiletries. Plenty of tea, filter coffee and milk. The cottage was serviced regularly. Heating and very hot Water all worked well. The pub served us excellent breakfast and evening meals with live music on the Sunday night to accompany supper. Staff in the pub and cleaning the cottage were excellent and nothing was too much trouble. Would highly recommend staying again. Fab dog walks locally and very close to Chichester and the in the South Downs national park.

I stayed in the Royal Oak for one night as I was travelling for business, I have not stayed in the area before so it was a random choice for me, but I was incredibly impressed! I have stayed in 5 star hotels that were not as nice. The attention to detail was incredible in the very spacious lovely room; a cafeteria, kettle, tea and hot chocolate, water and milk in the fridge in the room,. There was even a hot water bottle in the cupboard. Of course an iron and hairdryer and shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and hand cream. There was nothing at all I could have asked for that was not in the room. In addition, the staff were amazing and I only wish I would have arrived in time to have dinner in the pub as the menu looked amazing! This was well beyond my expectations.

I stayed in the Royal Oak for one night as I was travelling for business, I have not stayed in the area before so it was a random choice for me, but I was incredibly impressed! I have stayed in 5 star hotels that were not as nice. The attention to detail was incredible in the very spacious lovely room; a cafeteria, kettle, tea and hot chocolate, water and milk in the fridge in the room,. There was even a hot water bottle in the cupboard. Of course an iron and hairdryer and shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and hand cream. There was nothing at all I could have asked for that was not in the room. In addition, the staff were amazing and I only wish I would have arrived in time to have dinner in the pub as the menu looked amazing! This was well beyond my expectations.

Fantastic stay at The Royal Oak, East Lavant. The staff were very friendly&helpful. The food, ambience, cleanliness and surroundings are to a very high standard. BlackBerry cottage was great. Perfect setup for dogs. Area is exceptional. Highly recommend for a weekend away.

The food/service was poor, had to ask for a menu after a 20 minute wait, starters were just about ok. Fish and chips next, chips were very dry and obviously reheated a number of times, tatare sauce was awful, mushy peas were "stone cold" the fish was ok but was not cooked fresh. Nice pub, friendly staff, but wouldn't eat here again if it was free.

Disappointing second visit to this pub. Very expensive food and drinks. We came for Sunday lunch and paid £12.70 for a glass of white wine and £22.55 for a basic roast beef dinner (the beef was very chewy) and just about warm, no seasoning. We ordered a Singapore noodle and prawn salad for £15.95 which came out with 2 prawns cut in half and a small bowl more like a starter.

Lovely little pub with great food. Booked for a wedding locally and it didn't disappoint.

Cosy pub with lovely food and attentive service. We both had the hanger steak and it was cooked well. Our only gripe would be a slight lack of variety of protein options for the mains eg. Another fish option would be nice rather than just fish and chips, and perhaps lamb could replace the three beef options (steak, burger, pie). But that’s only a minor thing. Highly recommended.

Super delicious food, lovely and friendly staff, cozy atmosphere and good drinks list.

Very friendly team, particularly the guy running service on Weds night, everyone made a fuss out of Monty the dog! Food was lovely and served quickly. Lovely “residents garden” at the back which is actually a giant field and we even saw some deer this morning! Negatives would be WiFi non existent in the rooms, could barely send a WhatsApp and the mattresses are really soft which I found quite uncomfortable, however overall the lovely staff and service mean I would stay again if in the area

Our room was opposite the kitchens so there was the noise of extractor fans and glare of an outside light until late at night. Food service took a hit as the chefs were off ill, probably the same Covid like illness we had. The manager and bar staff made a valiant attempt to feed us, and we left satisfied.

We booked the room for a one-night stay six months ahead as we were attending a wedding party nearby. However at 5pm the evening before our stay we were called by the hotel to inform us that there was a wedding booking on the day we were due to arrive and that the pub would be closed to the public from 3pm so we would be unable to dine there after that. So we arrived early (around 1pm) on the day to ensure we could eat. We were welcomed by a personable male member of staff and ordered our lunch, which was very good. We are then shown to our room, which was adequate for our needs. The staff began setting up for the wedding on site from about 3pm. We departed for our party at 5:30pm. On our return to the pub around 10:45pm we entered the bar to purchase a nightcap but were told by a female member of staff that the event was private and we could not be in the bar. We explained that we were staying overnight and that we just wanted to buy a drink. The staff said that as long as we took the drinks back to the room then she would allow it. We duly retired to our room feeling like pariahs. The wedding disco did not finish until 11:30pm so there was no chance of us sleeping until after that time. We were rudely awoken at 7:30am by the extremely noisy kitchen extractor fan system switching on as breakfast was being prepared. We entered the bar and sat down for breakfast at 9:15am. Clearly there were very few staff on duty as ten minutes elapsed before we were even given menus. While waiting we explained to the staff member behind the bar that we had been made to feel that we were an inconvenience the night before and that being called up the day before our stay to inform us of the wedding wasn’t good enough. The staff member said she would pass our concerns on to the manager. No member of management bothered to see us before we left nor were we offered a refund of any part of our pre-paid booking fee. We then waited for the waitress to take our breakfast order which took another fifteen minutes , and twenty five minutes later our breakfast finally arrived (55 minutes after we had sat down to table and ten minutes after the close of breakfast). We had to ask for cutlery, napkins and even butter for our toast and again were made to feel like an annoyance to the staff. There is no way that a guest should be made to feel this way and be denied access to the pub having booked so far in advance. Had we been notified when the wedding booking was taken that the pub would be out of bounds to us then we would probably have stayed elsewhere but clearly Butcombe didn’t want us to have that opportunity. Not impressed or recommended and we will not risk booking with you again as this is unacceptable.

Nice hotel with very pleasant staff

Had a lovely stay at the Royal Oak for a wedding party. The pub is lovely, the staff were friendly and helpful and we had a super time. The cottage we stayed in was clean, spacious and cosy.

Very nice lunch on Saturday 21 September, service was a bit slow but very friendly and food was delicious. The downside was that we only found out when we arrived that a wedding reception was being held there later in the day so only basic menu and no specials, would have been helpful to know about the function in advance.

Evening food great; room perfect; location great Breakfast not good…. Took ages to get a full English, which was not hot, toast was inedible so asked for bread, just not good….

Stayed there for one night, nice quiet country location , our room was comprised of a lounge with bedroom and bathroom up stairs which was clean comfortable and modern, staff were very friendly and helpful.

Short and sweet stay whilst visiting Goodwood. Welcoming team. Cosy, quiet room with far reaching farmland views to the rear. Comfy bed, large bathroom with lovely walk in shower. Hospitality tray, fresh milk and water in fridge. Being a Sunday late afternoon entertained for an hour or so by The Martians, presume a local group which were very good. Small garden to enjoy a couple of Butcombe pints. Dinner menu, limited but being Sunday understand these pubs are all about their roast lunches/dinner, not my cup of tea but salad I had was perfectly acceptable whilst my husband tucked into a generous plate of roast beef. The restaurant was busy with a birthday party and other guests so overall a nice atmosphere. Breakfast was very good with option to pick and choose. Parking was not an issue for us but guess it could be at really busy times. All in all, a good choice and always favour Butcombe establishments where we can.

Rural location, very comfortable! We will stay again.

We had a lovely birthday meal, food and service was very good

We have been to the Royal Oak over the years for a number of special occasions and it’s always been a perfect treat. Food and drinks are more expensive than elsewhere but have been better quality and worth the price. This time however the food and service was not as it has been previously

Charming pub in a lovely village location in excellent position for easy travel into Chichester. Friendly staff, well appointed room with more facilities than most hotels - especially pleased with the small jug of actual milk in a proper fridge!! Great selection for breakfast.

Great little spot, nice garden, good very nice however forgot one item on our dish but that was rectified once we told staff, food did take about an hour though for simple dishes, not sure if it was a slow day in the kitchen? Tasty when it did arrive!

Only popped in for a quick drink. Looks like a nice traditional country pub

Lovely comfortable room in a peaceful location.

Myself and my husband had a meal tonight, the food was amazing and the service great. Special thanks to Jemima, Maddy and Josh. Great place to visit

Served by Mike. Absolutely brilliant food and drink. Definitely be going back. Credit to Mike and the team. Highly recommend, worth the visit

Very expensive. Long time to serve the food. 9 pounds for a little glass of wine. Not somewhere I would recommend or go again.

Very nicely furnished bedroom and large well finished bathroom. Very soft mattress which we found very confortable. High quality tea and coffee choices in the room. Breakfast on the first day - 'Eggs Royale' with smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce - was delicious. On the second morning the kitchen's extractor fan was being repaired so the choices were limited. We still had most of a full English, yet they offered to take breakfast cost off our bill. A fine gesture that wasn't necessary. The Dinner menu isn't fine dining but is certainly a cut above your average pub fayre. For example, their nicoise salad is made with hot smoked trout and a very good dressing. Lamb koftas were very tender and tasty. As a Butcombe Inn the beer in the pub was a favourite of mine and well kept. Staff were all welcoming friendly and attentive. Wine seemed a little expensive but the ones we had were good. The only criticism I'd have is the wi-fi and TV in the room. It wasn't possible to tune in to terrestrial channels to watch the news for example. Yet you can access Netflix and Prime TV. Wi-fi didn't work at all in the room we were in, but it was fine in the pub.

12 of us had a wonderful stay! The rooms were beautifully clean, well equipped and the pub food was excellent. All the staff were very friendly and helpful! Thank you. We will definitely come back!

Awesome pub and great food, had the burger which was very tasty. Josh and Erin were very attentive , made the evening The pub is really nice with a great atmosphere

Excellent service from Josh and Erin, very attentive. The gluten-free fish and chips was amazing, very crispy and tasty. Lovely atmosphere a lovely evening experience.

Great vibe, excellent service from the staff, the menu was very varied and the food we chose lovely. I recommend this great country pub highly.

We have enjoyed a number of excellent meals at the Royal Oak and hope to enjoy many more. I assume rooms means bedrooms? If you mean bar and restaurant, then I would give it four stars

We booked a table for seven people. They have a limited menu which I respect so everything is fresh. However, they had run out of three of the dishes so the choice was very limited. I ordered the last of the chicken which was desiccated. So I was offered a replacement dish, the choice now being extremely limited. I chose the vegetarian risotto which my friend had ordered and I tasted it and it was nice. They said it would be five minutes but you can’t cook risotto in five minutes. So what arrived was boiled rice with peas and no seasoning. All I had for dinner was chips and I’m sure the bill Was enormous. It was such an embarrassment because we wanted to treat our friends to a nice dinner and it could not have been a worse experience. The young woman who served us was very attentive and sorry, but the chef is a disaster.

Arrived a little early for lunch. No issue for staff though. Shown to table. We had pre ordered but staff didnt seem to know and went to check with kitchen. Was then advised fish and chips not available, even though we had pre-ordered, so a little disappointing. However, 2nd choice was very nice. Overall a very good experience.

First class Sunday lunch. Lovely to sit at the front of the pub watching the planes land at Goodwood.

Great food, excellent roast dinner, lovely staff. Will be back again

Cute pub with a nice garden, wasn't too busy for Sunday lunch which was nice. Beautiful countryside atmosphere, good service and lovely food.

Lovely friendly service, efficient and helpful. Food was delicious - definitely a cut above. Can't wait to go again.

The room was beautiful with a very soft bed (probably a little too soft but that's personal preference). Due to staff shortages, the kitchen wasn't open that night, but I was informed before my arrival and they arranged a booking at their sister hotel nearby for me. The only negative thing I would have to say, is that breakfast starting at 8am is a little too late for people needing to go to work. I was offered a breakfast tray of pastries and cereal to take away but that when you book expecting a full breakfast, this is not what you want. I was given a refund for the breakfast though.

Lovely country pub/hotel just outside Chichester with clean, peaceful rooms and a great pub restaurant.

Lovely pub with good food and the staff are very good. However service is painfully slow and it wasn’t a particularly busy Monday night, hence four stars not five. Also, no fish on menu for a few days and fish and chips at our local Butcombe is a speciality so a bit disappointing.

Lovely place and delightful staff.

Pub was good and we had a light lunch, which was nice, before we headed out for the day. I had a slight complaint that we were only offered the pub toilets in to change for a wedding we were attending. Even though it didn’t seem busy with guests. Toilets were small so my husband ended up getting changed in the car park. As did another couple who were attending Goodwood. Could have offered us a dirty room we wouldn’t have minded, as it was gone past check out time. Room was hot even with window open and noisy in the morning due to some sort of generator just outside. Great location though for attending Goodwood, I would have expected it to be busier. Okay stay, but wouldn’t stay again.

We booked lunch before going to Goodwood and said on the booking that we needed to be out by 13.20. We eventually left at about 13.45 and missed the first race. The pub was not busy, there was only one other table for lunch. The food was good, service indifferent. 4 youngsters chatting round the bar, we had to keep asking for things and told them that we needed to be quick. Starters came quickly, mains took for ages. Lots of dishes on the menu were off, no pie, no fish and chips. We've been coming for lunch for ages, if I was honest, I'm not sure we will bother again.

Great place to stay. Would have been perfect if the restaurant had been open on time for breakfast , frustrating when you have long journey ahead and then when order taken to wait another 20 minutes only to be told they do not have what you ordered.

This was a perfect relaxed location for our 5days in the area. The service was excellent, all the staff were very friendly and helpful. The pub has a great, buzzy, welcoming vibe. Food was great as was the beer and wine. It’s very dog friendly and well placed for long walks on the downs or beaches (25 mins by car). We will definitely be back . Kath, Andy & Roni

Stayed for one night the room was spacious and clean we had B&B but decided to have a evening meal. The evening meal and breakfast was very nice, A good place to stay if you plan to visit goodwood

Discovered the Royal Oak when looking for a last minute, dog friendly, stay over for a trip to West Sussex. Evening meal service was slow due to the sunshine leading to increased demand, but everything else was excellent. Happily recommend and will certainly return.

Friendly helpful staff at a nice little village pub. Food was fantastic!

We just love this pub! A hidden gem! Cozy and friendly atmosphere. Perfect for a family dinner or a get together with friends. The staff are so friendly and the selection of ales and craft beer was excellent. For the quality, the prices are very reasonable. A must visit for anyone in the area! We will be visiting again!

Excellent lunch as always - we had a mixture of salads, risotto, snacks and a burger (best ever). Quick service with a smile, despite seeming to be a little short staffed. Many thanks to Susie for a lovely lunch time experience. We will be back again soon.

Fab lunch after a long walk with friends. Staff were great and the food excellent.

Had a wonderful restful stay, easy access to great walks, staff went out of their way to help us and every meal was delicious.

We went for Sunday lunch and loved it! Susie, Maddie & Tania looked after us so we'll. Drinks, food and service were brilliant. Lovely location and even better hosts! Almost tempted to not recommend so we don't have to worry about not getting a table next time!

The staff are so friendly, welcoming and helpful. The food is delicious. The room was lovely, clean and bed comfy. Would recommend throughly enjoyed our stay.

Fantastic food, great beer and bucolic location.

New ownership sInce our last visit, but as good as ever. Friendly, unfussy pub ambience with new owners' craft beers. We enjoyed scotch egg starter, great fish and chips and fish tacos, kofta lamb. Generous portion sizes. Starter, mains, champagne, wine all for under £50 per head. Too windy to use outdoor terraces, but they are a nice option.

Beautiful quaint gastro pub in a quiet location . Rooms are beautifully decorated & presented. Great base for Goodwood . Food was delicious . Service was slow but staff very attentive & caring . Would definitely stay again .

The best Sunday lunches and a perfect pub atmosphere

Super attentive service. Was recommended by a friend and completed delivered on my visit. Food was excellent - the mini biscoff donuts are a must. Roast beef was celebrity and tender - 5 stars to the entire team front and back house. 👏👏👏

A lovely dog friendly pub and our meal was delicious

Great location for Goodwood and excellent service

Popped in on a dog walk, nice garden, pretty umbrellas. Calamari was delicious however we picked the starter of Vietnamese prawn salad as a main and received 3 prawns cut in half. Quite shocked at £15 per meal! We fed this back to the waitress however she just said she would feed it back. No further contact. Unfortunately won’t be back! Update to reply: Perhaps there was a miscommunication in the kitchen and we received a starter and were charged for the main? Could you confirm if 3 small prawns is the normal serving for that dish?

Travelling from London, my wife and I had a super overnight visit to the Royal Oak this weekend after I had been there on a number of occasions with work at Goodwood Festival of Speed. Our room was very comfortable with views over the tranquil residents garden at the back. There was plenty of hot water in the power shower with Bramley bathroom products, the bed was super comfy and it is a very quiet location. We had dinner in the evening and the food and drink was very tasty, i had a special of local stone-bass. If I was to share some minor feedback, the service was a bit slow even though the restaurant was very quiet, and the Trout nicoise was a bit tight on actual trout. Otherwise the staff were super friendly and easily accommodated any food allergies. I would love to have seen some more local fish dishes on the menu. We also had a delicious breakfast from a comprehensive menu in the morning on the front terrace in the glorious sunshine before our drive back home. The pub is an easy 15min drive to the coast, estuaries and coastal walks around Chichester Harbour and an easy 5mins to Goodwood.

The last time I visited was in 2021 and the food was supreme. This time the risotto was huge and bland and the after eight dessert was virtually inedible it was so synthetic. Was also a little saddened by the waitress saying the car park was for customers when I asked if I could leave my car overnight. Having spent almost £100 between two of us I hoped we’d have fallen into that category!! Ah well. You live and learn.

I hate writing a poor review, but it was such a disappointing experience I feel I needed to let others know. The Royal Oak has a fantastic reputation locally and over the years we have enjoyed some really special food. Because of this we thought it the ideal place to meet a chef friend and his family for Sunday lunch. He drove 2 hours to meet us, and it was a pretty embarrassing experience. The Roast Beef my husband ordered was grey and non descript, the whole plate looked beige with soggy veg and potatoes . I ordered a rare steak, which came so overcooked I couldn’t even chew it and it hadn’t been seasoned and certainly didn’t have any of the garlic butter advertised. Our friend’s daughter ordered the children’s chicken strips, which had spent far too long in the fryer and were very dark and difficult to cut. All in all it was such an awkward and inedible lunch. When I mentioned the steak and chicken problems, they offered us a free drink, which we didn’t need or want. I was really surprised they didn’t offer to take the steak off the bill. It was £28 and I ate one mouthful!!! I had ordered the last one (we had a 12pm table), but they did offer to find a different cut and re do it, but we had a cricket match to get to and didn’t have the time. All in all unsatisfactory and appalling that they still charged us the full bill. Not impressed at all.

We were a group of 2 families visiting on the bank holiday. Nice pub and good seating areas. Service was very slow, there seemed to be a problem in the kitchen. Food portions were extremely meagre and the price was high by most standards. What little food was served was nice enough. An extra portion of fries we ordered never arrived. We gave up on pudding as we were promised another long wait. Maybe we came on a bad day, but even so portion sizes and prices need review.

We made a nostalgic visit to the Royal Oak at East Lavant, where my husband and I had met on our first date 49 years ago! We received a warm welcome from the staff and enjoyed a beautifully cooked seasonal lunch. The service was thoughtful, friendly and efficient. The pub is not in our area, but we have vowed not to leave it too long before we make a return visit.

Visiting The Royal Oak was amazing. Such a beautiful place to sit and relax with friends. The Manager was really helpful and the staff were all friendly. I’ll be back soon for lunch with the family.

We had a lovely dinner at the pub. Food quality was good, service was friendly and price point was competitive. We had the Butcombe Wednesday discount which saved us a fair bit. Parking is convenient.

Beautiful old inn, excellent food and very comfortable annexe rooms

Been coming here for a few decades, I have never been disappointed. For me it's a specail occasion place where I know I can pick anything from the menu and find it delicious even things I would never attempt elsewhere. The chef is a true talent and the staff attentive but not over the top. Save up and treat yourself you are worth this opportunity.

Fabulous hotel and pub. Great food. Fantastic staff. Wonderful location. We stayed a couple of nights with our Golden Retriever. Really excellent. Thank you.

On arrival our room was cold, no heating would work. We mentioned to a member of staff who immediately went to check, came back and said it was sorted. On return to the room there was still no heating. We were moved to another room. The evening roast dinner was just ok. Breakfast was diabolical. There were charred remains of ? what on our plates and all the food tasted of charring. The breakfast menu was poor and took ages to come. I would have expected fruit juice and tea/coffee to be included in breakfast but was charged separately. It would have been much nicer to have a buffet including cereals, fruit, hot food, toast etc. The staff who dealt with us were very nice.

Beautiful pub with very welcoming staff. We have been for a few meals here before and never been disappointed. However, our recent Sunday lunch was extremely disappointing and sadly, some of it inedible. We went late - around 2.30pm. The food was virtually cold, although the beef was tender and the gravy would have been excellent had it been hot - the potatoes had been roasted a long long time before and then most likely have been left in a hot place; this meant they were now “baked” and it was impossible to cut through them. In the end, I went for the uncouth option and subtly picked them up and ate them as I was hungry, but fortunately I don’t have dentures! The Yorkshire Pudding was totally dry and crispy, like a British popadum, but at least you could eat it. Restaurants always say, oh, if there’s a problem, you must complain at the time, but when you are with guests and friends, you don’t want to make a scene - well, we certainly wouldn’t anyway; I think it’s rude and embarrassing. Possibly I’ve spent too much time in Japan. Afterwards, our friends texted us to say how awful the food was, so the whole thing ended up being really awkward. In a nutshell, I think if a pub can’t have the chef able to continually cook throughout the lunch period, they should either offer a cheaper version for later bookings so that customers understand it’s good value but not freshly cooked, or have a much more limited period of lunchtime. There are many more absolutely gorgeous pubs in this area of West Sussex and this was probably the worst Sunday Lunch we have had in a very long time and it’s on the more expensive side, too. However, the staff were absolutely lovely; friendly, attentive and efficient. Sorry but we don’t want others to have this rather embarrassing experience if they are taking friends and family out for Sunday lunch. If you must choose this pub - and it is very beautiful - aim to get a booking around 12pm ish when hopefully the food will be fresh or otherwise, probably just choose elsewhere.

We have been ti the Royal Oak on many occasions. Sadly this will be the last. We ordered soup with toasted bread but it came with rancid butter. When we told the staff about there was no apology or attempt to put matters right. On paying at the end I was given a grudging apology that we didn't like the butter. It was just in date but had clearly been stored badly and had gone rancid

Lovely welcome at this beautiful pub. Good range of drinks and delicious food. Would have liked to see a slightly wider range of vegetarian options, but what I had was very tasty.

First time to visit the Royal Oak. Parking available. Lovely entrance and vibe once inside. We were given free seating option, which was nice. The staff were polite and attentive. Food, whilst slightly delayed, totally realised why, once served. Absolutely superb. My steak and ale pie totally delicious. Tried a taste of the venison faggots, also delightful. Overall, I couldn't recommend the place more highly.

Went for dinner on Valentines Night. Real effort had been put into presentation of tables and the staff where very attentive whilst leaving us time . The food was tasty and served timely . We throughly enjoyed our evening and would recommend if you do not know about this hidden jem it’s worth a visit . Oh dog friendly as well .

Stayed last night Great service and ambience great food !! Rooms especially my room number 1 lovely appearance however paper thin walls kept awake by the guest in room 2 snoring all night - I’d stay again however not in the garden rooms !! Home now and off to bed to catch up on sleep - The young lady I told this morning at breakfast thought it was very funny !!

Great lunch, a proper pub with dining. Susie and Katie (front of house) were charming. Fabulous food too - scotch egg, venison faggots, mussels particularly good. Do try the mini doughnuts. Will be back soon

Only dropped in for a drink after a run up the Trundle. Really nice place and planning to go back for food.