Royal Oak Inn

Review summary

1. VM

   VicM

   Devon2 reviews

   4.0

   Dined on March 2, 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   A really enjoyable lunch. Good food and good service. All you can ask for from your local.
   

   Royal Oak InnResponded 1 day ago

   Dear VicM, Thank you for your kind words! We're delighted to hear you enjoyed your lunch with us. We look forward to welcoming you back soon. Best regards, The Royal Oak Inn Team
   

   Is this helpful?

2. A

   Alain

   Devon1 review

   3.0

   Dined on February 15, 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   The Inn is well placed within Exminster and has reasonable parking facilities. The menu isn't extensive but covers most tastes, and the food is well cooked and presented. Falling in line with other similar establishments like a Marsdens or Green King for example. The Inn was sparsley attended for a Saturday, customers numbering not much more than a handful on our visit. There is ample seating in more than one part of the Inn. Our visit was marred by the early close of the Bar, 21:00, and we were delivered with a kind of 'last orders' option. This was further compounded upon leaving, by the switching off of the outside lights before we had time to get to our car. Would we recommend the Royal Oak? If you're passing and you've exhausted all other options, it'll do.
   

   Royal Oak InnResponded 1 day ago

   Dear Alain, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We're pleased to hear you appreciated our location, parking facilities, and the quality of our food. We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the early bar closure and the outside lights being turned off prematurely. Your comments have been noted and will be addressed with our team to ensure a better experience for future guests. We hope you'll consider giving us another chance in the future. Best regards, The Royal Oak Inn Team
   

   Is this helpful?

3. J

   Jane

   Devon1 review

   5.0

   Dined on October 24, 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Lovely Halloween decorations, friendly staff, delicious food and a great quiz after we ate. We had a lovely evening and looking forward to coming back again.
   

   Is this helpful?

4. j

   julie

   Devon1 review

   4.0

   Dined on October 12, 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Visiting friends that moved to the area. On arrival it was very noisy as there was a christening party going on. Girl behind the bar was super helpful and made us feel very welcome. The party left just before our food arrived so was a bit more relaxed. Lovely food and a generous portion. Staff were lovely and friendly and will definitely call in again when in the area.
   

   Is this helpful?

5. C

   Chris

   Devon1 review

   5.0

   Dined on September 29, 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   I booked the table on word of mouth and we were all very pleased, food was lovely, the young lady that served our table was excellent, attentive but not overly and with a smile on her face. My wife and I used to run a pub and appreciate having a really pleasant experience whilst out with friends that we don't often see. The vocalist that was singing was a great addition to the afternoon, an ideal ambience for a Sunday afternoon. Well done to everyone at the oak. It was our first time in there and will definitely be back .
   

   Is this helpful?

6. a

   alice

   Devon1 review

   5.0

   Dined on September 4, 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Great burgers, great staff. Best pub in the village
   

   Is this helpful?

7. PC

   PeterC

   Devon1 review

   1.0

   Dined on March 24, 2024

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 1

   Food was awful, my beef was very tough and my wife's nut roast was still frozen in the middle.
   

   Is this helpful?

8. JP

   JemmaP

   Devon1 review

   1.0

   Dined on January 21, 2024

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   The pub is in a good location close to lovely walks and attractions, and the pub itself looked nice enough, had a decent pub garden (we didn’t use the garden as it was cold but it looked nice out the window), BUT that was where the niceness ended unfortunately. We’d booked a table for 12pm. When we arrived the pub was just opening so the staff were still putting out bar mats etc. there were two staff behind the bar, both of them completely ignored us for a good few minutes, rather than say “we’re just doing …. We’ll be with you in a minute” or acknowledge us in any way. We were eventually shown to our table “oh I think I put you over there somewhere” then she walked off. We weren’t told whether it was table service or order at the bar or anything, so we were left to figure that out for ourselves. Ordering the food was confusing because we were told the menu had the vegetarian option wrong, so I ordered what she and the chef said the alternative was, but then was later told actually the menu was right after all and I had to change back to that option. When the food arrived it was quite awful. Two of our party had paid the extra to have the two meats roast, there was one pitifully small slice of meat and there was an even smaller, dried up mouthful of another meat. The stuffing was powdery, the veg was not as advertised on the menu. We asked the waitress if the meat portion was right and she said yes and then walked off so that conversation didn’t go any further. The cauliflower cheese was raw cauliflower with mozzarella melted on top. It was just really really poor. Didn’t bother with pudding. I wish we’d complained more at the time but we had children with us and they were starving and the staff didn’t seem to care about anything anyway so it would, I expect been a waste of breath. We just won’t go again or recommend it to anyone else.
   

   Is this helpful?

9. WG

   WorkGroup

   Devon1 review

   3.0

   Dined on November 24, 2023

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   It was a shame that despite emailing about our open table booking and having it confirmed on the pubs own Facebook page that they still didn’t have a table for us when we arrived. There was 7 of us and we ended up having the tall bar stalls which isn’t ever great. Yes they managed to find a space but it was met with huffs, defensiveness and a bit of an awkward feeling when I had to prove said conversation. The food was awful for most. £7 for a piece of toast with one mushroom on. A bowl of chips that was half full. Nachos with no guacamole and orange sliced cheese not nice grated cheddar etc. the loaded chips was tiny. One girl proceeded to argue with us when a complaint was made about the toast not being up to standard. It’s the brewery’s fault not theirs and instead of refunding managed to charge twice. The plates were all cleared whilst some people were still eating which is terrible customer service and we were asked 6x about deserts as the kitchen was closing and he wanted to go home. Despite having ordered these along with our mains. I.e hurry up. Then a band came on (we didn’t go for this) but were sat right at the front as the only space. The noise was unbearable. Way too loud for such a small location and small crowd. We had to move ourselves out of the restaurant into the pub area just to hear ourselves think. Overall, what a shame. We won’t be returning and will choose a different establishment in the village.
   

   • 

   Is this helpful?

10. L

    Lindayloo

    Devon4 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on November 23, 2023

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 5

    Nice meal and land we benefitted from the add a drink for a £1 deal. Friendly atmospher. and. Wam and inviting pub
    

    Is this helpful?