I visited the Shoe Inn part way through a country stroll: about twelve miles through twenty five. We were might glad that we'd booked ahead because at 2pm on a Bank Holiday Monday afternoon, even a traditionally wet and dreary one, this place was heaving.
The staff didn't seem quite to have anticipated this and, with only two people on the bar, it took us quite a while to get our order in and, more importantly, to pick up our pints. So, to start with the most important thing, the Shoe Inn has a great range of things on tap - some nice local beers, as well as various visitors, and more unusual ones at that. Because it comes from my home town, I went for one from Wadworth, and it was a very nicely served pint. I could happily have tried a good few more, but was sadly limited by the looming miles ahead of me.
The food menu is lengthy, impressive, varied and seems to change a lot over time. Hungry, three of us went for the Venison Cheese burgers, and one for a Scallop / Chorizo creation. The food was great, filling and original. I also appreciated the local sourcing of many of the ingredients, and the occasional use of organics where possible.
Again, the only thing that let the food down was the service. After the lengthy wait to order, we waited half an hour before being told that one of the original dishes we'd ordered wasn't available. Then another fifteen minutes before the final choices arrived. I know that's not that long if you're having a leisurely, booze-filled pub lunch, but if you're keen to get back out (not to mention being starving), it did feel pretty long. And it meant that I didn't have time to try one of their fantastic-looking puddings, which is of course the real tragedy... read more