The George & Dragon, Rowde

Brilliantly presented food, excellent quality, great service very friendly atmosphere and not expensive.

The portions were very small, my Duck Shepherd's Pie was only a single layer of meat (less than 1 cm) top with 1cm layer of potato. It did not even fill the shallow dish. My 'caramelised' bananas were no such thing as they were sliced bananas in a caramel/toffee sauce. Most of my five fellow diners left hungry. My husband's scallops were burnt and £11 for three and 2 slices of black pudding! We also sat at a table with the seats 6" higher than the chairs on the opposite side of the table. Not very relaxing at all. Service was fine considering that we turned up on spec but very disappointing.

The food was wonderful and The George & Dragon, Rowde has a great atmosphere.

The George & Dragon, Rowde has a great friendly atmosphere, excellent food and excellent accomodation

The The George & Dragon restaurant was recommended to us by a friend. We booked Saturday dinner, and were looking forward to some special fish/seafood - supposed to be this restaurant's speciality. My husband's starter - fishcakes, were more potato than fish, and very bland. My baked figs with goats cheese and prosciutto was rather oily, but tasty. I ordered the special - sole fillets with scallops. For 20 pounds, I would have expected some effort being put into the presentation! The fish was pleasant, but I had to send the scallops back as they were still cold in the middle. Got them back with no apology, after clearly being blitzed in the microwave! Salad was just a bunch of lettuce on a plate with no dressing - had to ask for dressing, and was told it "already had oil on"! Dessert of bread pudding with chocolate/orange was sloppy, stodgy and not at all what I expected. Cost us 137 pounds for 3 - with only two starters, 1 dessert and a bottle of wine.

Living locally we have visited the G&D a number of times for Sunday lunch which is consistently of exceptional quality. Atmosphere is relaxed and informal whilst the food and wine would grace the most sophisticated of London eateries without being pretentious or over complex.

On the 6th of December 2008 the G&D hosted a party for 40 guests for my wifes 40th Birthday, organising a beautifully appointed and lighted (and heated!) marquee and providing us with a fabulous feast from their "bring me food" concept. Similar to Tapas in concept this involves providing great platters of various dishes for all three courses which can be passed around the table and shared.

Our chosen menu included Oysters, Salmon, marinated calimari, Anti Pasta, chicken parfait, scallop & black pudding brochettes, rare carpaccio of beef with celeriac, warm duck breast salad, roasted chicken, steamed sea bass, Eton mess, chocolate and raspberry fresh cream roulade and English cheeses. With all that food you may think you would be offered a mere mouthfull of each, but no the quantities were extermely generous and the quality and freshness was exceptional (as were the accompanying wines).

It is true to say that the G&D is higher priced than other local pub restaurants, but as the standard local menus consist mostly of three varieties of steak with a 1970's sauce option this would seem quite appropriate for the signifcantly better quality and choice.

I would thouroughly recommend a visit to anyone who enjoys something a little more special!

I do not know how The George and Dragon is recommended by the Michelin guide.....

Dinner service 10/09/08

My dover sole was complete with uncooked entails

The pin bones were also still intact and the fish was swimming in a oily butter.

My wife's assiette of fish was .... well not worth the money and the tuna looked grey - resembling canned tuna.

Very bad experience - no returning for us.

Mike and Monique, Wiltshire

visited with 3 others friendly welcome which was maintained throughout service, restaurant accommodation period rustic

only negative was toilets

food excellent i had crayfish salad which was fine, main course roasted monkfish which was done to perfection with generous portions; dessert was an always irresistable bread and butter pudding which did not disapoint.

two guests had the fixed price menu which was brilliant value,however the bill showed only one resulting in an overcharge of about £15 but there was no problem when this was pointed out. with 2 bottles of wine bill was a very acceptable £137

We recently ate at The George and Dragon based on positive reviews from other guides.

For a venue which charges such at this level (most starters from £8.50 & main courses about £16) we expected a better level of service & presentation than was actually delivered.

We skipped starter & chose mains of Monkfish in Parma ham & a lamb stew. The restaurant was completely empty apart from us & these arrived very promptly along with Fresh vegetables.

The lack of other customers meant there was no ambience in the restaurant (this at 8pm on a Saturday) & indeed there were virtually no customers in the bar either (driven away by high prices?).

Our drink & food orders were taken by the same gent who may have been a manager. He also served the meals to our table. I may be fussy, but I would prefer a little more presentation than that delivered by someone in scruffy jeans.

The Wine Selection seemed reasonable & also seemed to include a number of whites chosen to complement fish. Bottles started from £14 with most around £18- £24. I would have chosen a half-bottle of Sauvignon Blanc if this had not cost £14.

I stayed with the Butcombe Bitter - which I can recommend.

Puddings were all around £6 - but if you prefer cheese & biscuits , please note that you only get a choice of one cheese for that. If you wanted a selection of cheeses, that would be £8.50 which I felt was too steep.

I chose the sticky toffee pudding, which when it arrived also included walnuts which were not mentioned on the menu. That didn't worry me - but could be important for someone with an allergy or who doesn't like walnuts. My wife chose the selection of Chocolate roulades which looked attractive, but were unfortunately weren't cooked to out liking.

2 courses for 2 people including drinks came to £53.70.

You could easily spend £100 including wine.

I feel that the pub is over-priced for the region & does not deliver a level of service or occasion that would justify the pricing.

The George and Dragon in Rowde is a very busy restaurant at lunch time, which is when I visited.

Good and reasonably priced table de'hote, and a considerable array of fresh fish.

Haddock and fried egg and bacon was superb - so said my three chums, and my veal kidneys really pushed the right button.

No language problems, although a slight Wiltshire twang was

noticed from customers at the bar. First class!