The Lamb Inn in West Oxfordshire

Have dined here on 3 previous occasions last year, really enjoyable for food and ambience.Found the food wholly underwhelming this time around. Could be an off night maybe but have heard similar from a few other locals recently. Would seem after much fanfare of opening in 2021 the pub seems to be solely trading on reputation and media PR.No specials offered, over priced drinks, sketchy service and badly cooked meals, over seasoned to go with a narrow selection on the menu. Asked for a rare t bone steak, got a medium and run of the mill sirloin with a salad that must have been dressed by someone whose sense of taste is wholly challenged.That said given some of the 'soho' type clientele this place unfortunately attracts (ear splitting cackles and empty platitudes from tight face lifts) I doubt they'd even notice this very obvious slip in standards. A pub where you go to spend to be seen to spend.

These boys just get how to do a country pub. A menu full of things you want to eat. Great wine and beer and the rooms are a step up From The Bell which is another cracker.

One of the best weekends away staying at The Lamb Inn. The room was perfect, cosy, clean and it was a touch to have the coffee machine and the bed was ridiculously cosy and comfy! We had dinner booked on the Friday at the pub and it was incredible, even had frogs legs and snails! Wowzer! The included breakfast was delicious and there was even a 'on the house' bloody mary station. Thank you for an epic stay, I will be recommending anyone wanting to have heavenly weekend in the beautiful Cotswolds to stay here - no doubt about it!

We booked a room for two nights as an early Valentine’s Day celebration.On arrival there was no welcome whatsoever, just a very lukewarm “are you staying with us?”. We were assigned room number 6. The room was small, but nicely decorated and the bathroom was also done to a nice standard. However the entire experience was let down by the decision to have the kitchen’s extractor fan right next to the bedroom’s window. Whenever the kitchen was operating our room would be filled with all the smells you would expect from a commercial kitchen…. We had garlic, fish, steak and general deep fried goods. At 12pm Friday night the room smelled like a fishmongers.Breakfast was included and in the pub’s bar. It was a really nice space send was perfect as a breakfast setting. However, the music playing was reminiscent of a funeral. One cooked breakfast came not as ordered and the other was potentially the driest bacon sandwich I’ve ever eaten, which is a shame because the bacon itself was really nice.We booked a table for dinner for the Saturday night a few weeks in advance. On entering the bar at our allotted time, we were advised that they had already given our table away. We were then shown into the bar area once more, to a table set for four people. The bar had your usual pub drinkers and a dog and was not an appropriate setting for a nice meal. There was a separate restaurant area but we never got to see it. At our table, we could immediately see an issue as they had squeezed tables in together so that it was genuinely impossible for people to get to the other side of the table to sit down without moving the tables ourselves; problematic when people are eating their meals and new costumers arrive or leave continuously.The menu was limited, but that is not necessary a bad thing but the lack of available beers or ciders seemed like a strange decision. You have to go through a process of questioning your waiter (who then turns to the bar for answers) as to what beers are available; why not just have them on the menu? We both had the cheeseburgers which were quite tasty and judged against the rest of the menu were good value.Upon finishing our meal we moved the tables to the left to enable us to get out only to be questioned by a waitress as to why we had done that. It was quite incredible that they did not seem to realise that the table arrangements were completely disfunctional. Inevitably the next costumers for the table we had blocked off wanted to sit down and therefore we had to get out, move the tables again, and stand in the middle of the bar whilst we waited for the card machine to appear. It never did, so we had to go and find it ourselves. Upon payment we were asked if we wanted to add a gratuity, a question that came across quite rude at that stage.We withdrew to our room to take in all the smells from the kitchen once more.Upon arrival for breakfast the following morning we were asked if we would like tea or coffee and, as the morning before, we requested two cappuccinos. The direct response from the member of staff was “it’s gonna cost you extra”. A slight standoff ensued whereby we explained that we had cappuccinos the previous morning and were not advised then that there would be a further cost. His response was “well, they should’ve charged you, but I wasn’t here”. I don't mind paying extra for something but you have to communicate what is included and what is not and be consistent. Again, you have breakfast menus, just put in there that tea and filter coffee are included only, problem solved.In summary there were two big issues that we experienced: One, the room should not be let out with the existing kitchen’s extractor arrangement. It doesn’t matter how pretty the room is, it is not enough to forgive the smell of smoked fish in the evening. Two, all staff conducted themselves as if it was their first day on the job with no prior training or experience. There were no visible senior members of staff which creates a unnerving environment. The whole operation lacked organisation, management and structure.

After some great previous visits, what a letdown. Poor service, had to get our own cutlery and water from the bar. No senior staff present despite it being a busy Saturday and lacklustre main courses.

Definitely one of the best pubs in the country and certainly my favorite. The food here is incredible, the atmosphere is very inviting, the people are friendly, and the service is top notch. Love it!

The staff were very kind and friendly. The food was excellent. We had the Welsh rarebit (epic!) pizzas, kidney and a lot of wine. Highly recommend this establishment

Ahh what a lovely pub! 😍 We had originally booked in for their sister pub The Bell Inn. Due circumstances out of their control we were upgraded to The Lamb Inn. The staff at The Lamb were so friendly and accommodating. It was 5 star service and we really enjoyed the food. We stayed in room 5 which is the Superior Double. I highly recommend this room with its gorgeous beamed ceilings, window seat, beautiful roll top bath in the bedroom and huge ensuite shower.Please note I have uploaded photos from booking.com as the photos I took did not do the room justice.

Having read some of the glowing reports for this establishment and based on the experience we had I was beginning to wonder whether my wife and I had stayed at the same Lamb Inn referred to.Yes the room was tastefully furnished, the bed and bed linen of a high quality and both room and bathroom impeccably clean.We booked dinner the night before our arrival so understandably times to eat were limited we were offered either 6 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. we chose the latter giving us time for sight seeing and to have a drink in the bar before eating. We were finally asked to go through to the almost empty restaurant at ten minutes to ten and offered a table for two where I was perched on a window sill looking down at my wife on the opposite side of the table. We moved. By now we were past hungry and not interested in the menu, my wife chose an unremarkable piece of chicken with green beans and I a cheeseburger which differed little from a MacDonald's apart from costing considerably more and twenty times longer to arrive. Laughably at the end of the meal we were offered a card to fill in to offer advice as how the Lamb Inn could improve.Things could only get better at breakfast, sadly not. We helped our selves to cereal and croissants and took a seat at a table, all was consumed before we were offered tea, coffee or shown the hot breakfast menu. From this menu I chose poached eggs without coriander, it arrived with coriander. No sauces or even salt and pepper were offered, after requesting the latter and it finally arrived, the eggs were just lukewarm.From our table we were able to gaze up at a photograph of an emaciated body of a naked male laying in a field of crocuses. I have no idea of it's artistic merit but we did wonder whether it may have been a past guest who had past away whilst waiting to be fed.We do not lay any blame at the feet of the young waitress who served us in the restaurant the evening before, but despite our obvious dissatisfaction with the way we were treated no one offered any apology and it appeared that there was no one was in overall charge.

Sunday lunch with friends. All 4 of us commented that our meals were not as hot as they could have been, and one thought their Yorkshire Pudding was undercooked. Explanation given was that they were "quite buttery", whatever that means. When told it was also cold there was basically a shrug of shoulders from the waitress, with a comment that it would be passed on to the kitchen. Whilst the food was OK it was not hot enough, but not so cold as to complain. Unusually, the best part of the meals were the desserts - very nice. As this has been recently named as 'The Pub of the Year' in The Times/Sunday Times, I personally expected better. The presence of Aesop Hand Wash in the toilets does not, on its own, merit this as a Pub of the Year. Oh, and they let dogs in as well, which is a sign of the times I guess, but not a good thing in my opinion. The 'Canine pound' is far too powerful for Landlords to ignore, but it does little for those who desire a dog-free environment when eating.