Woodstock Social Club in West Oxfordshire

We ordered takeaway online. The food was delicious. It was fresh and portioned very well. You can get sausage instead of cod.

It isn’t that often I visit The Windmill, but I know the place well enough to know something is very different. There was a different aura in the air today. I didn’t recognise any of the staff members, and whilst they seemed like a large family, they were all unique and discombobulated in their own ways. I must start with some high praise - we were greeted very kindly by a lovely tall Irish lady with a beaming smile. Whilst very busy, she was also very accompanying and allowed us to buy a few of their home-made pint glasses (which she said she wasn’t supposed to do). Hats off to her for the hospitality. Sadly things took a slight turn for the worse whilst we were seated. It was only myself and my partner ordering some pub grub, however, after a brief conversation with the waiter it was quickly apparent that some kind of knowledge barrier prevented us from ordering exactly what we wanted. I have a suspicion this older gentleman was a distinguished chef from years gone by, because there wasn’t a single word I understood in his recommendations. Embarrassingly, we decided to opt for a few beers at the bar before ordering food instead. I must admit, that was a saving grace, for their homemade beer ‘Hawkstone’ was divine. The bartender was full of dry wit which added to a great atmosphere amongst the other guests. He has that familiar family friendly humour, like you wouldn’t be surprised to see him on TV! Not only was the beer exceptional in quality, the slight intoxication seemed to clear up some of the brain fog I was experiencing earlier, since the waiter suddenly seemed to made a lot more sense! So, we finally ordered our meal and enjoyed some local produce - again, simply divine. Despite the great tastes and atmosphere, I couldn’t help but feel the service was jeopardised by the initial language barrier. As such, I did ask the waiter if we could remove our service charge. I should add, this was a new waiter at the time, a dreary English chap who wasn’t impressed with our request. Whilst his thorough and detailed lecture around why a service charge holds such an important role in the overarching finance of the food industry, I tried to hold my ground and get this removed from the bill. It was only after we realised my partner had been asleep for 8 minutes that we sped things up, paid the bill with a 50/50 compromise on the service charge, and got ourselves out of there. All in all, I’d recommend the establishment because, despite some teething problems and unorthodox scenarios, the people are genuine and the food/drink is exceptional. Just keep an eye out for those tractors (given the rural area) - a young man with curly blonde hair had completely blocked my car in so we had to wait half an hour to leave!

Nice little pub, choice of 8 on draught. Came in just after 9 and the barman said they are closing soon. Nice log fire is always a win.

Never again! Our starters were average, the ‘butterfly prawn’ was mostly bread crumb and very little prawn and extremely dry. The chicken Shashlick was cooked to almost sawdust, dry and tough and inedible. Why do you get a punnet of salad? It is neither in keeping or in this case edible.

I had a fantastic experience at Costa Coffee thanks to the excellent service from Marija! She was incredibly friendly, attentive, and made sure everything was perfect. My coffee was delicious, and the atmosphere was welcoming. Marija's warm attitude really stood out, making my visit even more enjoyable. Highly recommend this location for great coffee and outstanding customer service!