The Old Lodge

I will first say the food is excellent. However I am a dog lover and understand that most pubs are now dog friendly but it seemed the night we went there for a quite dinner for a special occasion there were more dogs than people. The dinning area we were taken in soon filled up with people with dogs with the dog on the table next to us barking everytime someone entered the room and then for about five minutes after. This resulted in the four people on the table having to shout to hold any type of conversation. Please welcome people with dogs but have, especially dinning areas, dog friendly areas away from people who would like to eat in a dog free quite area.

My family and I have been here a couple of times for dinner. The first time we visited, the food was satisfying. Not particularly special ingredients (we had a platter to share. The pickles, charcuterie and camembert were obviously store bought and not local products), but satisfying. The first time we visited we also shared a portion of triple chocolate mousse cake, and it was very pleasant; light, creamy, decadent, fresh... But our second and third visits have been hugely disappointing. Our most recent visit: the wild mushroom risotto was extremely bland and boring. Virtually no flavour. The only flavoursome element were the actual mushrooms on top. The risotto itself was naked and yellow. I don't understand because previously we had ordered risotto here and it was glorious - obviously cooked in mushroom broth, drizzled with potent truffle oil and parmesan. What happened?? Why downgrade the dish?? The puddings are also now very dire. We ordered apple streudel and the honey cake. The streusel was dry and bland with tough pastry and store bought custard (gloopy and dull). The honey cake tasted almost completely of baking soda - it had no sweetness to it and almost tasted sour. It's a shame that the quality and flavour is so inconsistent. I personally will not eat here again.

Great venue to reconnect with family more local to this lovely venue than hubby and I. The more special as GWR didn't exactly play ball with running our required train to Stonehouse, necessitating a cab fare from Swindon to a garden centre outside Cirencester so my sister could pick us up. All was well though and we just made the booking on time. Lovely location and our table in the more modern part of the place meant good views for some. And un-busy enough so we could catch up easily. Great food selection, include veggie options. My sister is veggie anyway but hubby and I went veggie too and we all really enjoyed what we ate. As did the 2 'carnivores'. The staff were even kind enough to 'adapt' the dessert my sister and I chose, to have yoghurt with it rather than ice cream. Hopefully we can return some day.