King John Inn

The king John well what can I say ! A lovely warm welcome by all staff , which I can say they were all out standing, especially the young tall lad with glasses that served our table. The manger was also outstanding making sure everything was ok . The food was absolutely delicious and we all had our food served together no waiting around , I must say complement’s to the chef , Evan outside draws your attention, I recommend the king John to all my friends and family , well done to all for a lovely evening x 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Stopped for lunch at the King John during a walk from Win Green. Lovely food and great service from Jules. Good veggie options and can also highly recommend the mini doughnuts as a mini pudding. With a coffee gave us the information to get back up the hill ! .

An excellent stay here in the middle of a walking trip. The welcome was friendly and helpful, good selection of beers and great decor and furnishing inside. The bedroom was quiet, comfortable and fairly well equipped (apart from no milk or cups for hot drinks). A delicious and well above average (choice and quality) breakfast was served with a smile. Well done

A perfect stay in the country. Arrived Friday evening, didn’t want to leave on Sunday! We had two spacious and comfortable rooms above the pub. Although both evenings were busy, you could not hear the activity below. Plenty of choice on the menu for supper, and again at breakfast. Sensible wine list (not too pricey) along with friendly staff made this a perfect weekend retreat for me and my family. thank you.

Visited here first time and had a lovely evening/dinner! All staff super friendly and food was delicious. We were served by Charmaine who made the evening extra special, such an asset to the King John Inn! Will definitely see you again soon.

Superb place in the lovely village of Tollard Royal. Staff very pleasant, rooms clean and cosy. Evening meal and atmosphere on the Friday night was superb. The full English the following morning was the best I’ve ever had. Everything cooked to perfection and not greasy at all. Good value. Lots of nice walks in the area. Will definitely be back.

Excellent, comfortable Country Hotel. Fantastic staff and Phoebe particularly engaging from behind the bar to make sure every customer looked after. We went out to an event in the evening and came back for a lovely bottle of red and a cheeseboard. The bedroom was very comfortable and quiet. We checked out and found we had a flat tyre. Nick who wasn't working at the time, helped change the tyre and had all the equipment to do so. He refused my offer to give him something for his troubles. Before this kindness and generosity I would still have rated 5 star

Very disappointing - this attractive pub has long been a destination eaterie and carries a very good reputation but over the past months the food has got really very average despite carrying a high price point. Their asparagus and cheese soup has very little of either - we sent it back for the chef to taste and were told even he was embarrassed. The Sunday roast chicken came with the most tasteless Yorkshire pudding (why is even there with the chicken) and the bread sauce was cold - and later heated up to a stodgy mess. Staff tried to appease us - to be fait they knocked 20% off the bill and didn't charge us for the inedible soup - but it seems to be an increasing problem. For context we are regular and locals, this wasn't a one off.

We have been coming to The King John for years. Sadly now Butcombe have taken over, standards have gone down drastically. We have seen a huge change in the quality of food and sadly now it is all just very average. It was always outstanding and a real pleasure having this pub on our doorstep but now we are looking elsewhere. Last night my Husband and I went for supper and we came away actually saying unless it changes we won’t come back. We ordered our food only to be told that they had run out of mussels ( I was really looking forward to those) and the Pie which my husband wanted was also unavailable. I opted for two starters and my husband ended up with a burger. He was going to have steak but they had run out of mushrooms. We both ordered the artichoke soup with sourdough for our starters only to discover later that it was in fact cauliflower soup with brown Hovis shop bought bread. (Really?!) We weren’t told this before eating it and although it was fine I just feel that if either of us or anyone else in fact was allergic to cauliflower or brown bread they would have been in trouble. Brown shop bought bread is very different to sourdough. We were told later by the waitress that they ran out of artichokes and hadn’t made sourdough. The menu wasn’t changed which I think is a bit naughty. We were also told that apparently no produce order for the kitchen had been placed by the Manager for a while so stocks were low and so the chef was literally working with what he had left which is a tough call for him! We were informed that all the food is brought in pre prepared. Where’s the skill? Such a disappointment. Cooking is a passion of mine and I am an accomplished home cook so when I go out I want to be wowed and feel like I’m having a treat. I could have done a better job myself last night but instead we parted with over £100 for very poor food. The old loyal clientele of The King John (which we are) know what good food tastes like. They’re are willing to spend that little bit extra for quality food cooked by a proper skilled chef. Now it’s turned into a run of the mill pub with average pub grub not cooked that well. Such a shame. I hope this pub gets its act together soon.