A real nice traditional real ale pub, good selection of beers available. Plenty of seating inside &…read moreout. No food available except for crisps & nuts. One of the few proper pubs left in the land. Frequent haunt of the St Cecilia Orchestra after rehearsals & events. Nice natural fire place with fire in the front parlour. On road parking only but massive car park 200m away. Will return .

Great selection of beers. Good atmosphere, watch out for special beer festival themed nights and…read morethe ledgendary Harrogate Brass Band!

Popped into this inn for a quick pint. Very nicely decorated, friendly staff. No food this time but…read morelooked a nice place to spend an evening eating & drinking. Will return at some point as often in area.

Great pub with fantastic food. Very pleasant on the eye, lovely decor, furnishings etc…read more Very relaxing and staff really friendly and pleasant.

The first of my reviews for the new year, my reviews having been delayed by being very busy with…read morelots of things. We ate dinner at the Royal Oak when in Ripon on our recent trip in the UK. The food was excellent. I had the roasted bell pork with parsnip puree, etc.; someone else had the dirty burger; another had fish and chips; I can't remember the 4th dish. We also had the brussels sprouts with chestnut cream. The the three mains were excellent- 5 stars for all; the belly pork was perfectly roasted, juicy with some crispiness on the edges, the parsnip puree and roasted veg were excellent. The sprouts were good but not outstanding (4 stars), and would have been better if cut up finely instead of left whole and mixed in the the cream as we had elsewhere the day before. We had several pints of excellent cask Timothy Taylor Landlord, well kept. Service was nice. The ambience and decor were very nice, updated but with old elements and a traditional feel. We would gladly eat here again next time in Ripon.

The quality of the food here was exceptional. The devilled lamb's kidneys were plentiful and…read moresucculent, the lamb burger raised no complaints and the beetroot gnocchi and crispy parmesan croquets were extremely moreish. Add to that a choice of real ales including 3 Timothy Taylors and you'd generally have a recipe for success. What let the place down massively on Easter Monday, however, was the service and waiting time. Having walked around the town centre quite comprehensively the Royal Oak was the only place visibly selling food a cut above pub grub so you'd think that that fact coupled with the bank holiday would mean a lot of trade for them. And you'd be right whilst we were there they had to turn away a party of ten due to having no free tables. Why then staff the dining area with a sole waitress (who clearly had her work cut out as well as being required to apologise for delays on a too regular basis) who was getting too little help from her colleagues in the bar area. The service times were not solely the fault of the front of house I suspect, they were long enough to indicate their orgin was in the kitchen. The maitre d' did, as we were finishing up, take a more active role and fell over himself to cater to a party of 5 (wrongly advising in the process that the full range of specials was available so hopefully for his sake no one ordered the Barnsley chop ). Clearly the issues detailed (which must have in large part contributed to us being undercharged by around £6) can be easily addressed and based on the quailty of the food I'd be prepared to return and see if things are better the second time around.

We popped in here after a freezing walk up to The Coldstones Cut (near Pately Bridge). There was…read moresnow right up to the top of my wellies and a bitter wind, so all we wanted was a hot meal. Sadly, it was after two and I have tried to lunch in Ripon in late afternoon before with little success. Living in Leeds, I have become unfortunately accustomed to being able to eat whenever I like so I was concerned to say the least. Happily the boyfriend used to work in Ripon and had embarked on a pie eating survey of the various pubs in the area. Apparently this one was the best. It was mid afternoon on a Monday so it was pretty empty, but they kindly did us some food and it was just what we were after. Of course the boyfriend chose the pie, but I went for lasagne and chips and garlic bread and a very decent salad with a proper dressing, not the handful of iceberg lettuce and over-large chunks of cucumber that often counts as a salad garnish. The portion was large, which I was delighted about. It's a bit off the usual market square area, but well worth the slight trek.

We stopped a in on a busy Christmas Eve afternoon expecting average pub grub and were pleasantly…read moresurprised to be greatest service and excellent food!! The staff were attentive and the Barnsley Chop and gammon were absolutely delicious. Highly recommend!!!

An ice cold beer, in the sun, with a view of the river... Need I say anymore? Well, yes apparently…read moreI do need to say more as there is a minimum number of characters.

On a nice visit to Ripon. A Rat weekend! Last night in the One Eyed Rat pub for a drink & today in…read moreThe River Rat for Sunday Lunch Before lunch we had a nice walk along the Ripon Canal, which is just across the toad from the The River Rat pub which sites on a small river. We booked a table on Saturday for 1pm Sunday in the conservatory. On arrival greeted nicely by a member of waiting staff & shown to our seats. We decided to both have the two course carvery. To start was chicken pate with warm bread, a nice good portion. Then followed a carvery meal of blue roast Beef, with all the trimmings. Blue Beef is not everyone's taste but was a different eating experience Should you not like it, then ask the chef to cook it further, don't complain that it's not cooked. Our meal was great & plentiful. The conservatory-was light but a tad warm where as the inside was darker with a small bar. Plenty of patrons during our meal. Barely no parking directly outside but a space can be found on the main road. My only point, young staff need training & constant reminders. Clean tables with a clean cloth & cleaning solution.

This was one of the worst experiences of my life. First of all we walked in and had to wait 15 mins…read moreto be seated. The staff walked past us without acknowledging us or asking us if we wanted a table. When we eventually did get a table, it took the water another 20 mins to come over and take our order. We wanted to order the Haddock (battered in beer) and chips, without the beer in the batter being non drinkers. The waiter said they couldn't arrange this after asking the chef. Next we wanted Haloumi chips, and again the waiter said they couldn't do this for us as "it took a long time to prepare". So after much deliberation, we eventually ordered fish pie on a menu not really catering for halal meat eaters. What ensued really pushed us to our limits. We waited close to an hour for our food. It was absolutely ridiculous. When the food eventually came, there was no apology or any empathy shown by the waiter. The food was very sub standard. The only thing I liked where the mozzarella chips. When we paid the bill, the waiter asked if everything was ok, at which point my partner and I voiced our concerns. The waiter became really rude and defensive. There was again no apology and a lot of excuse making. We walked out and heard this waiter mumble something from under this breath. I had to restrain my partner from going back in and having a word. I wouldn't even give this place 1 start, as even that's being too generous.