The Bell Closed - St Edmundsbury

When we arrived, everything seemed fine initially, but then the food was served. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves—burnt dishes, undercooked items, and missing components made up a long list of complaints. Eventually, I was asked to have a private meeting with the manager, Nicki, to discuss our experience. She acknowledged the issues and agreed that we wouldn’t have to pay for the food, promising that her husband would call me shortly. When he did call, he accused me of "ranting at his wife and making her cry," which anyone who knows me would find hard to believe. He insisted he was coming to the restaurant and would take 45 minutes to get there for a one-on-one meeting. While I wouldn’t mind this, the other 11 guests were equally upset and wanted to meet him as well. When he arrived, he confronted me in front of everyone, repeating that I had made his wife cry. However, he refused to let her come and talk to me about it. He mentioned issues with previous chefs being bullied and said they had a new chef from Indeed, although I'm not sure why that was relevant. He claimed that missing items from our plates were due to us not including them on the spreadsheet we provided. So even though the festive menu listed "burger with fries, coleslaw, and pigs in blankets," we only received the burger and fries because we only typed "burger." He did offer us a free meal, which we declined after the treatment we received, and Richard also offered to refund our drinks bill, which we also turned down because, despite the terrible food, we had enjoyed our wine. I’ve always been a supporter of The Bell and considered it a great pub for drinks, but after this experience and the way we were treated, including the baseless accusations, I regret to say that we won’t be returning—especially since there are other places in Clare that provide better service without such issues.

I stopped by for lunch and ordered a sandwich that came with a choice of chips or crisps (Doritos). I chose the chips, and they were the best I've ever tasted—more like deep-fried potatoes! They were lightly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. While they weren't cheap, they were definitely worth it. The staff was friendly and pleasant as well.

We had a fantastic roast and the service was exceptional. Our group of 25 was looking for a place to enjoy a roast meal at the last minute, without a reservation. We called ahead, and they were incredibly accommodating, setting up an entire room for us on short notice. We all truly appreciated it, and the atmosphere was wonderful. It was a perfect way to wrap up the weekend; I highly recommend this place!

We were hoping to have lunch at an intriguing old pub, but unfortunately, it was closed. There was no notice or information to indicate that it was not open. What a disappointment!

Over the course of two hours, we were served by four different waitstaff, and there was a lack of coordination among them. Our order was taken three times by various staff members, indicating that they weren't communicating effectively. We kept having to reassure different people that we had already ordered! To make matters worse, it took 25 minutes for our drinks—just pints for our party of four—to arrive at the table. The Sunday Roast took a staggering 50 minutes from the time we ordered to when it finally arrived. The vegetarian dish was a mess, with pieces of meat mistakenly included on the plate. The presentation was abysmal, and everything was served cold, as if it had been hastily thrown together. The portion sizes were small, poorly presented, and not what was advertised on the menu, yet they were shockingly overpriced. The cuts of meat were tiny, the gravy was thin, and the waitress accidentally spilled a considerable amount of it onto my wife’s lap, which was far from impressive; all we received was a weak apology with no offer of compensation. Additionally, the staff appeared to lack a uniform, making it hard to distinguish them from customers. The young woman who introduced herself as the "manager" was even wearing slippers. To top it off, the menus were riddled with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, more than I could count. As much as I want to support local businesses, this is one place I will not return to. You can get better service, food, and atmosphere at a local burger van or a Wetherspoons.