Shepherd and Dog, Ipswich

I visited two Wednesday evening's running in May 2012.

As a Diamond Club member I cannot fault the value for money side of the meal although the drinks available via the Diamond club menu should be printed on the menu rather than having to ask.

Both times we chose the Carvery and that aspect of the meal was fine.

As someone else has pointed out the drinks ordered with the meal did not arrive until some ten minutes after we had started eating.

What was worse was the dessert did not arrive for some 15 minutes after ordering. We did ask the waitress about the delay and were told "I have chased them".

We took my Mother-in-Law here for Saturday lunch on 19th May 2012. We were greeted and seated within a few minutes of our arrival. At first sight everything looked quite encouraging, the restaurant was reasonably full and on looking at the menu the choice looked varied and interesting. However, we decided to go for the Carvery as my Mother-in-Law said that she had eaten here before and the Carvery was good. Before heading to the Carvery we were asked for our drinks choice. The choice that day was either Gammon, Turkey or Beef - I chose the Turkey, which was sliced off the breast and there was a generous portion. My husband and mother-in-law chose the Beef. The vegetables were also varied, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, ratatoullie and either mashed, boiled or roast potatoes.

On returning to our table our drinks had not arrived, and I had got well into my meal by the time they did arrive. We were not offered anything like additional water at the table. I had chosen a German wine, which tasted horrible. I suspect it was perhaps not one which was generally chosen and was sitting in the bottle. It just tasted wrong.

Whilst the meal was OK, the roast potatoes tasted burned and were not crispy. The vegetables were all on the 'crunchy' side, although I'm not adverse to that.

We followed the meal with dessert. I had a trifle, which for £4.95 was only mediocre and not particularly well presented. It came in a pot with the cream widged on the top and it was covered in ghastly hundreds and thousands (how naff!)

Three Carvery meals, one non-alcholic beer, one fruit juice and a 250ml glass of wine, one trifle and ice cream came to just over £43.00. The food was unremarkable, not particularly well-presented and the service was lacklustre, although the waitress was attentive but I think she was covering quite a lot of tables, so she was busy.

Having recently eaten at a Pizza Express, where we had two delicious mains, a beer and large glass of red, plus additional water (at no cost), and desserts plus coffee for just on £32.00, I would say that a visit to the Shepherd and Dog is not good value for money considering the ambience, service and quality of food (which was less than average). We will not be repeating this experience, which considering we were taking someone out to dinner, was disappointing to say the least.

We had a delicious meal and I'm saddened to have read such negative reviews, my husband and I had a lovely time. We eat out regularly and as we were visiting the area we decided on a carvery style roast meal for our tea. The Shepherd and Dog was easy to find, it had a great atmosphere inside (ambient lighting and stylish decor) despite being quiet - just gone 6pm on a Wednesday, though it soon filled up; which must say something for the quality of the food and service. We were warmly greeted and seated at a very nice table. The whole place was very clean and well laid out. Our waitress was informative and friendly. The quality of the carvery was excellent - we have been to some where the food had dried up to a crisp, but this was not the case. There was a good selection of roast meats (beef, turkey, pork etc) although they were thin slices! Also a good selection of several vegetables and new, roast and sliced potatoes - delicious. It was all very hot, inc. the plate. The gravy was tasty and there were the usual condiments - all very cleanly laid out. I can't comment on any other food as we were really full, so didn't have a desert. I did see two children’s meals, which looked very appetising too. I would not hesitate in revisiting the Shepherd and Dog and would certainly recommend to everyone.

I'll keep this brief.. not a good experience for the following reasons:

- Waiting: Expect to wait for a table (over an hour), then a waitress to take your order (20 mins), then the food (40+ mins). Expect to give up a large chunk of your sunday afternoon in this establishment and not in a good way. The only service which is quick is when they are taking your money!

- The staff are unhelpful, clearly stressed and frankly quite rude. The motto "the customer is always right" does not apply here - the waitress we had actually argued with us when we brought up an entirely justified issue.

Being treated like you're an inconvenience is unacceptable and therefore I will not be returning. Take my advice and go eat somewhere where you will be valued and looked after.

This restaurant has all the regimentation of an army barracks, When you enter, the manager stands at the entrance, when he deems to look up at you from what he is doing he TELLS you to wait in the bar area, when asked if we could sit at a table as I had a disabled person with me he said he didn't know which table we would be sitting at so we had to sit in the bar. (there were empty restaurant tables clearly visible from the entrance). This clearly is a ploy to encourage you to spend more money while you wait to be called as you would have to finish your drinks or carry them to the restaurant when called. There were no clean tables in the bar area to sit at so we had to clear one of dessert dishes and glasses and as we sat down the manager came over and told me to move my car in the car park (It was not in a position causing any problem) as I guess it didn't fall into his regimentation. We moved the car and left. The whole experience gave the impression that the manager was doing you a favour to allow you to eat there. They definitely have no compassion for the disabled. I should have read the other reviews here before I went.

We went here during a break away, to celebrate my husband's 40th. The service was excellent, the waitress even advised how much longer our main course was going to be, and when our mixed grill arrived, we enjoyed every bit of it. Good presentation and tasty. We would throughly recommend this restuarant, and a shame to read of some of the bad reviews, which we could not understand.

Entered the establishment and was told to take a seat in the bar as my table was unavailable (table for 2), questioned this as there were clearly tables available but was informed that guest were bought into the restaurant in a timely manner to ensure a prompt and efficient service, this was not a problem and felt embarrassed i had doubted the way the restaurant was run. I ordered my drinks and sat down in the bar and was called through to my table 20 minutes later.

For started i had a black pudding fritter (would highly recommend), and a carvery for my main course. I had a healthy portion of turkey, beef and pork, which was carved by the pleasant chef. Broccoli was a little dry, but was informed more fresh stuff was on the way and was bought over to the table, the rest of the veg was lovely, (carrots with a bit of crunch, yummy!)

I felt i could barley manage a dessert, however was encouraged by our waitress to share one, we chose the Eton Mess, and glad we did, could have happily had one by my self.

I feel its a shame this restaurant has so many bad reviews as everyone around me seemed to be enjoying their meals, lovely atmosphere, shall be back again soon!

The older lady (possibly manageress) who is on the front desk is very miserable and unwelcoming -- it's like she's doing you a favour and is your customer. Carvery food not too bad though.

well, i just wish i had found this site before we went... dire, no other word for it. we booked a table for 7.30....not late you would think ?....waitress ( Jess more about her later )ordered meal at 7.45 it was 8. 25 before we got just 3 starters, 2 soup and one posh bead and tomato's. tomato's straight out of the fridge, cold ciabatta. soup was like dishwater, we challenged the manager about it being homemade and he said it was thin as nobody liked it when we had it thicker....LOL.

carvery....well we waited at the servery for 3 - 4 minutes before the so called chef came out ...no turkey left, just a few scraps of lamb and a small bit of fatty pork roll.... 'thats all we have left we will be finishing soon'... what sort of restaurant finishes serving and starts clearing the restaurant at 8.50 while your still TRYING to enjoy your night.

after a good moan they eventually brought out a joint of beef, probably were saving it for next days lunch. veggies were cold, dried out and very few of them, no mash left so they brought to the table what can only be described as 'smash'. had to ask for the manager 4 times before he came over...absolutely useless !!

going back to the waitress, Jess was superb, couldnt do enough to try and help us but due to the way it was managed even she couldnt make it better. ..i was going to say when you are there look out for her she really tries hard but on second thoughts...DONT GO...STAY AWAY until the 'greatbritishcarvry' company sorts it out or sells it to someone who cares.

one star is way over the top for this garbage

I went to the Shepherd & Dog with my family for my daughters 11th Birthday. There were nine of us but we were told there wasn't enough of us to pre book, but when we arrived it took half an hour to sort a table despite the restaurant being half empty. Then as 2 of us weren't having the carvery we then had to wait a further 1 hour 15 minuets for our food. The food was second rate, in fact the chain pubs do better food at half the cost. We complained to the manager about our disappointment, He was completely indifferent to us about the situation. His only offer to us was a desert for the birthday girl to take home. What a great gesture when we had 3 other children with us. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone.