The Barley Mow - East Dorset

Dropped in for Saturday lunch, post piled up in porch, building felt cold unloved. Greeted by cheerful waitress who at least was bubbly. Owner ? took food order and nearly barked at us for asking about the thai dishes ingredients Food was actually really good tasty but service haphazard, dirty glasses cutlery having to be replaced. Won't return in a hurry

This is a lovely old thatched inn with lots of ancient timber beams inside. The host when we visited was quirky but friendly and helpful. Our overall experience was a tad Faulty Towers, though. Drinks were very good. My fish and chips was a good size although parts of the batter could have done with a tiny bit more cooking time. The fish itself was very large. My wife had squid as a main which she said was very good and her accompanying salad was t( best she's had in England in our two weeks of travel. Lots of tables available when we visited on a weekday night.

I used to go to the Barley Mow back in the 70’s and 80’s before it got converted. At that time it was a thriving, warm and welcoming place. Unfortunately, nowadays although the food is actually pretty ok for this type of restaurant with more variety than some other local ones, the atmosphere and friendliness is really poor. As others have mentioned it’s not that warm and we found that the service lacked any sort of customer care/friendliness. We almost felt like we were a nuisance just being there. Come on guys, this could be a super place if you started valuing your clients!!

We had not been for some time. And we’re always very happy with the food service and overall atmosphere. How disappointed we were when we arrived. The car park was completely empty on a Sunday early afternoon. Never seen that before here. Looked a little tired outside as well. What a shock when we went in. The place was empty and cold. It had lost its cosy atmosphere with no fires lite or heating on. We’ve just left a warm home.we do not want to pay money to sit in somewhere that’s not comfortable. As we went to leave one of the staff clearly mentioned to the owner we had decided to go because it’s cold. With this the owner laughed. Obviously providing value for money to their paying customers is not a priority to them. Whatever we do it has to be as good as home or better. Otherwise what’s the point. Can I recommend it. Absolutely not. It’s just a scruffy old pub now with a few tables.

Terrible experience. We were staying around the corner and thought the pub and its reviews looked good. We arrived on the 26 December and initially thought the pub was closed as the blinds at the front were still down. We went into the main part of the pub where all tables were laid out for lunch and there was one family eating. We had two dogs with us and therefore went around the bar into the area at the front of the pub. All the lights were out and there was an elderly man sitting in a wheelchair who had only one tooth who kept grinning at us. We had ordered our drinks at the other bar and so had no choice but to sit down. We sat down by the fireplace which was not lit even on a cold day and there was loads of rubbish in the inglenook cardboard boxes, general litter, crisp packets etc. The lights were not on and everything including the bar, seating areas, floors etc were filthy. We left after 5 minutes leaving our drinks. We then went to the other pub around the corner where everything was lovely and we got chatting to a local couple who confirmed our views. It is a lovely building from the outside but the outside was dire. Car park full of rubbish. Such a shame for what was I imagine a great pub in a lovely part of the county. We expected more from the lovey county of Dorset.