Absolutely awful , bad atmosphere , the cook was constantly shouting at members of staff , freezing cold had to have a blower heater for the elder members , 3 meals were not edible , sent back , dirty crockery and glass ware filthy , shame as this was a family birthday of 14 people which we had booked week prior , so this was no surprise to them we were arriving ! ! One good thing the member of staff serving us was great friendly welcoming young lad seemed embarrassed . Shame as it’s a beautiful old 16th century pub ( hall and woodhouse ) will not be returning .
Gail W
Terrible experience. We were staying around the corner and thought the pub and its reviews looked good. We arrived on the 26 December and initially thought the pub was closed as the blinds at the front were still down. We went into the main part of the pub where all tables were laid out for lunch and there was one family eating. We had two dogs with us and therefore went around the bar into the area at the front of the pub. All the lights were out and there was an elderly man sitting in a wheelchair who had only one tooth who kept grinning at us. We had ordered our drinks at the other bar and so had no choice but to sit down. We sat down by the fireplace which was not lit even on a cold day and there was loads of rubbish in the inglenook - cardboard boxes, general litter, crisp packets etc. The lights were not on and everything including the bar, seating areas, floors etc were filthy. We left after 5 minutes leaving our drinks. We then went to the other pub around the corner where everything was lovely and we got chatting to a local couple who confirmed our views. It is a lovely building from the outside but the outside was dire. Car park full of rubbish. Such a shame for what was I imagine a great pub in a lovely part of the county. We expected more from the lovey county of Dorset.
AndyF2001
Needing a table for 7 at short notice the Barley Mow were able to accommodate for Sunday Lunch and having seen a couple of recent reviews we were a little nervous. We ended up being pleasantly surprised, the food and service were both great with no complaints from any of our party, served with a smile and piping hot, which is not always the case for Sunday lunch, Roast Potatoes getting a shout out! Everyone then also had desert, a great choice and again all consumed with gusto! The pub's in a great location and has a lovely garden, so definitely planning another visit when we have longer, warming sunny days.
FellowTraveler459348
Came for a family birthday meal. Dull atmosphere, we were the only people there. No starters on the menu. Went for the roast beef, which came overcooked and with plain boiled basic veg. Accompaniments looked congealed like they had been sat there for hours. I don’t write reviews but this was so bad I wouldn’t want anyone else wasting their money or evening. We won’t return.
Clive B
My wife & I are now in our late eighties and used to walk there from Colehill village at least twice a week, then cycle and now by car. The present staff and licensee are always very welcome when we book lunches for us and our great grandchildren, about 10 usually at least, sometimes 12 or more. 100% every time! Not one complaint.
Getaway62336654567
Just awful! We went out for dinner and decided on a country pub. The Barley Mow pub offered chinese dishes, alongside traditional pub food. Our family went and we were hugely disappointed. Firstly, I never took my coat off as it was too cold. Chinese mix platter starter, nothing to write home about and expensive for what you get. Three chinese main meals ordered, very bland and inedible. Never had such terrible food. The lady waiting on us, shouted from the bar - everything OK? Great attentive customer service!! Clearly it wasn't, we couldn't eat the dishes. When I commented no, the waitress never came over to find out any information and went into the kitchen. When my husband came to pay and complained, he was told we don't get complaints! We didn't eat, no apology. We so wanted to support a country pub, wish we never went. Expensive mistake!!
jan o
Popped in for something to eat about 5pm the lady behind the bar is extremely loud ....sat us down in restaurant it was so cold she put fire on made no difference....asked us to wait 5 mins to order after 15 mins tried to order she again asked us to wait she was doing nothing the pub was empty....the food smells wasn't very nice so we decided to leave ......I wouldn't recommend this pub.....
Rupert_09
Been in the summer and recently twice in two weeks. Sat inside in the evening. If you like your pubs to be dark, dingy and cold with zero atmosphere and no outside lighting so you cant see your way back to the car then you’ll like this place. If you like your burgers cooked in the oven(!!!) and the chips over cooked then you’ll like this place. If you like to eat just about ok food then pay good money for it then you’ll like this place. I don’t go out to eat very often but when i do i expect decent food. On the plus side, the staff seem friendly and it is nice outside in the summer although the garden could do with some TLC. Drink selection is fine.
Simon Fuller
Great little pub. Went midweek, have been a few times, and had dinner. Great price and quality.Be aware midweek kitchen closes at 7.30pm and pub at 9pm. However highly recommended. This is a quiet pub
Emma J
Amazing social, local pub with incredible food. This pub is one of those local, market town county pub gems… Fab local pub feel with great staff and friendly atmosphere, great food and lovely atmosphere… winter is lovely sitting round the fire and summer brings a beautiful garden… (I am a new local to the area… moved from Poole 6 months ago) .. so maybe a bit biased… but willing to share the secret of the Barley Mow!;)
Good food in a very nice atmosphere. The menu is a mix of traditional pub food and some Asian dishes. Seemed to be only one person running the bar and serving guests but she did a great job keeping up with everything. We sat inside but the garden looks very nice.
Philip H
The vegetarian option for the advertised “Sunday Roast” was just to eat the vegetables, with no vegetarian roast alternative on offer. There were only two members of staff present, one of them a very bad-tempered youth who clearly didn’t want to be there. He banged our pudding cutlery down on the table and left us to sort it out. The food was poor and the atmosphere very uncongenial. We greatly regretted that we hadn’t gone somewhere else, and will do in future.
John Greenwood
I first visited this pub in the late 1960's.It was much smaller then, didn't serve much food, and catered mainly for locals and small amount of passing trade.However it served excellent beer and was a most pleasant place to spend a winter's evening in front of the public (now village) bar's open fire, or on summer's evening, sat in the beer garden, watching the sun go down.Times may well have changed and although the brewers (Hall & Woodhouse) have probably trebled the size of the floorplan over the years, the extensions for the most part have been made sympathetically, to what is a quintessentially old English pub.My wife & I last visited on a weekday lunchtime in mid July 2023, and I was pleased to see that the beer and service (Imogen, extremely helpful & polite), was as good as ever and that the menu was very extensive for vegetarians & meat eaters alike. The prices were very reasonable (certainly for the area).It was sad to see so few (4) tables occupied, compared with how I remembered as both, a cyclist & motorcyclist in the 1970's & 1980's.The Ferndown bye pass has a lot to answer for as it is now more difficult to access the pub from the Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole conurbation. In this respect all 3 of the closest pubs to the Barley Mow, are easier to reach, but to my mind, not so pleasant. At least there's plenty of room, for your dogs to accompany you for a drink and a meal and afterwards you can always enjoy a pleasant walk over the heathland, from the National Trust, White Sheet Car Park.All in all, probably one of the best country pubs on the Dorset/Hampshire border. John G.
Michael C
The food was poor, the hygiene bad. Service poor. There were two desert plates with large chips out of the top edge.the servings were poor.we will not go again.
John Stevenson
This year we have celebrated a wedding and more recently a special birthday for my wife. We chose the Barley mow. In this historic setting we were delighted with the service given. You are a jewel in Dorset Crown!
Absolutely awful , bad atmosphere , the cook was constantly shouting at members of staff , freezing cold had to have a blower heater for the elder members , 3 meals were not edible , sent back , dirty crockery and glass ware filthy , shame as this was a family birthday of 14 people which we had booked week prior , so this was no surprise to them we were arriving ! ! One good thing the member of staff serving us was great friendly welcoming young lad seemed embarrassed . Shame as it’s a beautiful old 16th century pub ( hall and woodhouse ) will not be returning .
Terrible experience. We were staying around the corner and thought the pub and its reviews looked good. We arrived on the 26 December and initially thought the pub was closed as the blinds at the front were still down. We went into the main part of the pub where all tables were laid out for lunch and there was one family eating. We had two dogs with us and therefore went around the bar into the area at the front of the pub. All the lights were out and there was an elderly man sitting in a wheelchair who had only one tooth who kept grinning at us. We had ordered our drinks at the other bar and so had no choice but to sit down. We sat down by the fireplace which was not lit even on a cold day and there was loads of rubbish in the inglenook - cardboard boxes, general litter, crisp packets etc. The lights were not on and everything including the bar, seating areas, floors etc were filthy. We left after 5 minutes leaving our drinks. We then went to the other pub around the corner where everything was lovely and we got chatting to a local couple who confirmed our views. It is a lovely building from the outside but the outside was dire. Car park full of rubbish. Such a shame for what was I imagine a great pub in a lovely part of the county. We expected more from the lovey county of Dorset.
Needing a table for 7 at short notice the Barley Mow were able to accommodate for Sunday Lunch and having seen a couple of recent reviews we were a little nervous. We ended up being pleasantly surprised, the food and service were both great with no complaints from any of our party, served with a smile and piping hot, which is not always the case for Sunday lunch, Roast Potatoes getting a shout out! Everyone then also had desert, a great choice and again all consumed with gusto! The pub's in a great location and has a lovely garden, so definitely planning another visit when we have longer, warming sunny days.
Came for a family birthday meal. Dull atmosphere, we were the only people there. No starters on the menu. Went for the roast beef, which came overcooked and with plain boiled basic veg. Accompaniments looked congealed like they had been sat there for hours. I don’t write reviews but this was so bad I wouldn’t want anyone else wasting their money or evening. We won’t return.
My wife & I are now in our late eighties and used to walk there from Colehill village at least twice a week, then cycle and now by car. The present staff and licensee are always very welcome when we book lunches for us and our great grandchildren, about 10 usually at least, sometimes 12 or more. 100% every time! Not one complaint.
Just awful! We went out for dinner and decided on a country pub. The Barley Mow pub offered chinese dishes, alongside traditional pub food. Our family went and we were hugely disappointed. Firstly, I never took my coat off as it was too cold. Chinese mix platter starter, nothing to write home about and expensive for what you get. Three chinese main meals ordered, very bland and inedible. Never had such terrible food. The lady waiting on us, shouted from the bar - everything OK? Great attentive customer service!! Clearly it wasn't, we couldn't eat the dishes. When I commented no, the waitress never came over to find out any information and went into the kitchen. When my husband came to pay and complained, he was told we don't get complaints! We didn't eat, no apology. We so wanted to support a country pub, wish we never went. Expensive mistake!!
Popped in for something to eat about 5pm the lady behind the bar is extremely loud ....sat us down in restaurant it was so cold she put fire on made no difference....asked us to wait 5 mins to order after 15 mins tried to order she again asked us to wait she was doing nothing the pub was empty....the food smells wasn't very nice so we decided to leave ......I wouldn't recommend this pub.....
Been in the summer and recently twice in two weeks. Sat inside in the evening. If you like your pubs to be dark, dingy and cold with zero atmosphere and no outside lighting so you cant see your way back to the car then you’ll like this place. If you like your burgers cooked in the oven(!!!) and the chips over cooked then you’ll like this place. If you like to eat just about ok food then pay good money for it then you’ll like this place. I don’t go out to eat very often but when i do i expect decent food. On the plus side, the staff seem friendly and it is nice outside in the summer although the garden could do with some TLC. Drink selection is fine.
Great little pub. Went midweek, have been a few times, and had dinner. Great price and quality.Be aware midweek kitchen closes at 7.30pm and pub at 9pm. However highly recommended. This is a quiet pub
Amazing social, local pub with incredible food. This pub is one of those local, market town county pub gems… Fab local pub feel with great staff and friendly atmosphere, great food and lovely atmosphere… winter is lovely sitting round the fire and summer brings a beautiful garden… (I am a new local to the area… moved from Poole 6 months ago) .. so maybe a bit biased… but willing to share the secret of the Barley Mow!;)
Restaurantji Recommends
Good food in a very nice atmosphere. The menu is a mix of traditional pub food and some Asian dishes. Seemed to be only one person running the bar and serving guests but she did a great job keeping up with everything. We sat inside but the garden looks very nice.
The vegetarian option for the advertised “Sunday Roast” was just to eat the vegetables, with no vegetarian roast alternative on offer. There were only two members of staff present, one of them a very bad-tempered youth who clearly didn’t want to be there. He banged our pudding cutlery down on the table and left us to sort it out. The food was poor and the atmosphere very uncongenial. We greatly regretted that we hadn’t gone somewhere else, and will do in future.
I first visited this pub in the late 1960's.It was much smaller then, didn't serve much food, and catered mainly for locals and small amount of passing trade.However it served excellent beer and was a most pleasant place to spend a winter's evening in front of the public (now village) bar's open fire, or on summer's evening, sat in the beer garden, watching the sun go down.Times may well have changed and although the brewers (Hall & Woodhouse) have probably trebled the size of the floorplan over the years, the extensions for the most part have been made sympathetically, to what is a quintessentially old English pub.My wife & I last visited on a weekday lunchtime in mid July 2023, and I was pleased to see that the beer and service (Imogen, extremely helpful & polite), was as good as ever and that the menu was very extensive for vegetarians & meat eaters alike. The prices were very reasonable (certainly for the area).It was sad to see so few (4) tables occupied, compared with how I remembered as both, a cyclist & motorcyclist in the 1970's & 1980's.The Ferndown bye pass has a lot to answer for as it is now more difficult to access the pub from the Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole conurbation. In this respect all 3 of the closest pubs to the Barley Mow, are easier to reach, but to my mind, not so pleasant. At least there's plenty of room, for your dogs to accompany you for a drink and a meal and afterwards you can always enjoy a pleasant walk over the heathland, from the National Trust, White Sheet Car Park.All in all, probably one of the best country pubs on the Dorset/Hampshire border. John G.
The food was poor, the hygiene bad. Service poor. There were two desert plates with large chips out of the top edge.the servings were poor.we will not go again.
This year we have celebrated a wedding and more recently a special birthday for my wife. We chose the Barley mow. In this historic setting we were delighted with the service given. You are a jewel in Dorset Crown!