The Monk's Retreat in Reading

OMG.... what a nightmare of an evening. Ordered food for 6 people, including puddings and a side dish with the smothered Rump. All sorted and waiting patiently for our food to arrive.Eventually it arrived up and waiter didn't know which steak was cooked med /rare and well done. Had a little hissing fit when asked.... side dish of onion rings arrived..... only 2 on the plate. When asked the waiter apparently they ran out. Asked for a refund and the waiter stormed off. We also had one meal missing.Long story short I had to queue at the bar to query and eventually got a refund for missing meal, my cold meal, pudding and some other bits.Good luck if you go there this Easter weekend!We deserved a whole refund and a voucher to return for a free meal to apologise for the very bad customer service.

This is an ideal place to be if one is sports-minded and enjoys watching a match on the telly. There are many screens in this place, so one is not likely to miss a goal or a try.If one wants a more quie, atmosphere, the area downstairs was less crowded. I don't know if this is always the case.The burger choices are really nice. I decided to try the vegan burger and it was really nice. I recommend the vegan burger and I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did.The members of staff who took our order was really friendly and enthusiastic. He stated that he had only started to work there, but he appeared to be extremely confident and knew the menu. One has to order upstairs and there was not an overly long wait for the food to arrive.

Nice simple, good value pub food. Sensible veggie options.Staff really pleasant.My only very minor grumble was we asked for food recommendations, but the guy has only been there a few weeks, so had not tried much of the food yet. But on the plus side, it was honest of him. I'd rather he said that than BS.Nice to see Hogs Back TEA :-)

Really enjoyed an evening out here recently, staff on point, served fairly quickly. Guards stationed by the door were lovely and polite. Good atmosphere all round.

Ordered drinks on the app that never arrived - the barman said the money would be refunded to my card. Refund never came through. Have emailed to ask them to look into it - not even had a reply.

Decent pub in the centre of Reading close to the rail station. Good range of ales and lagers. Also varied food menu. Loads of screens showing latest sports.

Has the feel of a small local pub but it is actually quite large and right in the center of Reading and near the station. Perfect for meeting friends who don't live locally and have to get the train in.

Prices dramatically up and range of beers dramatically down. A whole bank of the ales were just for display, with no actual beer in the pipes. The music ... though daytime... was far too loud for comfortable conversation. Very disappointing.

It’s sad to say that a nicely renovated Pub looses based on the food quality. We‘ve had a broad choice of classic Pub food and none was particularly appealing. The burger looked like from a 99p place and the others weren’t winning on taste, texture and presentation either. This is no rocket science - get your quality in order and this will be a Pub well worth to recommend. Especially with the competition so close by. We decided to leave and get our next drinks elsewhere. I cannot say that the staff was unfriendly. Both ordering and serving was as you would expect.

I've been today to serve a great breakfast like usual but I'm disappointed to say that the staff told me that they don't have products , ingredients for breakfast, it's ridiculous ...and the pub inside almost empty, with nobody to serve a beer at least. It's one of my favourite pubs and for first time I'm disappointed, I hope next time to be everything sorted out.