The Good Pub Guide ›› Helyar Arms BA22 9JR

Helyar Arms

Pub Details

Address
Moor Lane
East Coker
Somerset
BA22 9JR
Telephone
(01935) 862332
Opening Times
Weekdays
11 - 3, 6 - 11
Sundays
12 - 11

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Helyar Arms, East Coker, Somerset, BA22 9JR – The Good Pub Guide
Pub Details | Good Pub Guide Recommended | Good Pub Guide Food | Awards | Good Pub Information |  Rating | Comments

Good Pub Guide Recommended

Neat village pub, comfortable big bar, well liked bar food, and fair range of drinks; attractive bedrooms

In a charming village, this partly 15th-c pub is a handsome and neatly kept place and enjoyed by our readers.There's a heavy beamed, spacious and comfortable turkey-carpeted bar carefully laid out to give a degree of intimacy to its various candlelit tables, soft lighting, a couple of high-backed settles, and squashy leather sofas in front of a warm log fire. Also, lots of hunting and other country pictures, brass and copper ware and daily papers to read. Steps lead up to a good-sized back high-raftered dining room with well spaced tables. Black Sheep, Butcombe Bitter and Wychwood Hobgoblin on handpump and several wines by the glass; piped music, board games, TV, and skittle alley. There are a few picnic-sets out on a neat lawn.

Good Pub Guide Food

Popular bar food cooked by the landlord includes sandwiches, ploughman's, soup, game terrine with sweet and sour red onions, home-smoked duck breast with beetroot and lentil salad, honey-glazed ham and free-range egg, beer-battered cod with home-made tartare sauce, smoked haddock and prawns with tagliatelle, belly of pork with sweet potato bubble and squeak and apple reduction, partridge with garlic potatoes, crispy bacon and cranberry bread sauce, daily specials, 28-day aged steaks, and puddings like vanilla pannacotta with rhubarb and warm lemon and ginger tart with clotted cream.

Bar food times: 12 - 2.30, 6.30 - 9.30 (9 Sun)

Awards

Good Pub Information

Dogs allowed in: Dogs Anywhere

Rating

  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
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Rating: 3/5 (353 votes cast)

Reader Comments

AndyFlo

Sunday 22 August 2010 6:16:36 pm

Visited this pub after reading reviews both on here and elsewhere on the internet (it allegedly won Dessert Of The Year 2010) but we couldn't have regretted it more.

On arrival, after managing to remove my hand from the sticky door handle, we noticed the place smelt like an old people's home and noticed the decor was VERY tired. We ordered some drinks at the bar, which was also sticky to the touch, and noticed our feet had stuck to the floor. We went to the reserved table, pulling out the chairs which were also sticky to the touch, and sat down to go through the menu. Some time later, we finally got served by a very disgruntled waiter, which turned out to be the manager, and were informed our selection would take 25mins, which was fine. 35mins later, food arrives and one plate (Mixed Grill) was stone cold, the others ranged from warm to red hot. We complained about the cold food and they heated it up under a grill for a few minutes. This made the plate red hot and the food just about warm enough to eat.

Some time after finishing the main, the table was cleared and we were given the pudding menu. 30mins later, our order was taken. 20mins later, some over-microwaved "sticky toffee pudding" was brought out which had a consistency similar to vulcanised rubber.

It had taken over 2hrs to get served just 2 courses. This was the last straw so we complained to the manager who had very little to say about the situation. After a period of him looking blankly at the table, he finally agreed to not charge us for the two puddings and said that they were "a little stretched" with the staffing levels. This was pure nonsense as the staff were just larking about in a staff area behind the bar.

In summary, this pub was very tired looking, EVERYTHING you touched from the floor to the chairs to the tables to the menus were sticky to the touch, the staff were unattentative and the food left little to be desired. I would NOT recommend this pub at all and STRONGLY suggest the Good Pub Guide returns to this restaurant on a quiet Saturday night to review again.

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