The Macdonald Bear - West Oxfordshire

Really disappointing. Ordered a butternut squash salad and it arrived with no butternut squash and no seasonal veg literally just a small amount of leaves on the plate..They told me they had run out of butternut squash after me having to bring my plate to the bar confused about the lack of everything on the dish. I couldn’t change my dish at this point as the other orders had arrived so they said to change it for smoked salmon. But they have no smoked salmon either! Then give me 4 (cold) prawns instead. Waitors were very nice and apologetic and eventually gave the dish for free after speaking with them after the bill came. Overall **** food and was entirely ignored so not great service either.

Our room was excellent. Room 4 )The staff are very friendly. The restaurant food is good but not excellent. Top end prices for the quality. Bar prices top end also. Nice. Bar area with open fire. Hotel itself very well placed for a simple walk into Blenheim Palace. For a 2 night stay we really enjoyed it and we would be more than happy to return.

Booked in for the night Leak and potato soup £9.00 from a packet sent it back Prawn linguine greasy and over cooked Gateau like a mr Kipling Overall service good food 4/10 Wont be back The menu states all locally sourced and top chefs mmm don’t think so very disappointing and a shame Karl Barker [hidden email]

We had a hard time finding a place to eat as most restaurants were fully booked. This restaurant seemed promising since there were very few diners. However, our experience was disappointing. The service was extremely slow. We ordered four main courses and four desserts. Two of the main dishes (chicken) only came with one very small new potato each, a slice of undercooked carrot, and a small portion of kale. The portions were insufficient and left us hungry. The burger and pie meals were good and had adequate portions. It seemed like they had run out of new potatoes. The dessert choices were also limited as some options were already sold out. It's a pity because the hotel is unique and attractive.

During our stay at the main hotel, we decided to dine at the Macdonald Bear Restaurant on our second night. We both ordered the Lamb Shank, which was served on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes with tender stem broccoli, green beans, and carrots. The gravy was delicious and the meal itself was absolutely mouth-watering. The price of £28 per meal was worth it, although the drinks were quite expensive. A pint of Peroni cost £7:40, and a large glass of La Maglia Pinot was priced at £10:50. The staff at the restaurant were polite, efficient, and friendly, adding to our overall enjoyment of the meal. Thank you.