Review by John Roberts on 25th October, 2009

Add your review
Food : Excellent Service : Excellent Staff : Excellent Value for money: Excellent Will be dining here every time we visit Lamphey.

Date visited: 22 Oct 2009

Review by L Evans on 2nd March, 2009

Add your review
It seems to me that it depends on what mood the proprietors are in as to whether you get good service here or not!

Date visited: January 2009

Review by Stuart & Vikki T on 21st February, 2009

Add your review
I was amazed to see some rather less than kind reviews on here re The Dial. I stayed at The Dial for a few days as a 40th Birthday treat arranged by my wife. We found the accommodation absolutely wonderful and Mr & Mrs Hill lovely people who made us very, very welcome. The food was fantastic as usual (I've been visiting the Dial for a good number of years), the service spot on and it was worth the drive from the Midlands just for the awesome breakfast alone. I'm afraid some people need to realise that the good restaurants get busy and sometimes you just need to be patient and polite... have a drink and enjoy the evening. I have been in the Dial when stroppy people won't wait longer than 10 mins before they start bellyaching and also when people have sat down late in the evening and let their unruly children run riot to the annoyance of the rest of us. The Dial is not a Macdonalds, it's a top notch private business and if you start shouting the odds at the bar after a 10 min wait or don't control your children then don't expect to get get a friendly response from your host. I have seen Mr Hill's patience pushed to the limit by some extremely rude people who wanted a reduction off the bill, though I noticed they were there for a good couple of hours and did not complain during the meal. At all times he was polite but firm and would not tolerate rudeness...why should he anyway? Tell you what moaners, if you love complaining, don't go to the Dial at all, leave more room for those of us that absolutely love it ! I cant wait to go back and have another one of Granville's peppered steaks....bloomin great Great Pub, great food, top people in our opinion.

Date visited: 21 Sept 2005

Review by Dave on 30th October, 2008

Add your review
Our party of eight took a while to be served at the bar, and I felt obliged to apologise to the other couple waiting for drinks for the delay our drinks caused them. The barmaid was unable to give advice about any of the cask-conditioned ale; later one drink had to be returned because of a cracked glass, another because it had something in it – all this took some time due to the one barmaid serving behind the bar. We declined an offer to go directly to the table preferring first to sit and peruse the menu in the bar. After quite a while we had to ask for our order to be taken. Soon after we were shown to our table in the dining area, nicely presented with tablecloths and napkins in glasses and after a while we were sharing plates of green-lip mussels, Greek Salad (it was a shame there was so much balsamic vinegar), garlic bread and whitebait (very nice and crispy). For some time we sat looking at our empty plates and glasses. After asking the Landlady if our plates could be cleared, as we had been waiting for over twenty minutes, and if it would be possible to order some more drinks we were informed that they would be cleared and it had not been anywhere near that length of time, and no apology was offered. We had by now realised that, with a full restaurant, the establishment seemed to be a bit short of staff, just three people were evident in the bar and restaurant (the barmaid, a pleasant waitress and the Landlady). We waited with our drinks and eventually had a visit from The Landlady, informing us that the Sea Bass was taking a while to cook, and that it was a pity we were late as we had missed our slot. This was a surprise; we had booked for 7:30 and had been there within a few minutes at the latest, yet the Landlady said we were booked for 7:15 but had not arrived until 7:50. When we attempted to put the record straight, the Landlady came back at us with some serious attitude “it’s in the book as 7:15 – it must be right” seemed to be the basis of her argument and she would have no compromise. Her rudeness and attitude left a major cloud over what was to be quite good food that arrived shortly after. The whole Sea Bass was very good, as were the homemade vegetarian sausages (but looked rather small compared with the fish). The Sea Bass fillets were nicely cooked but overpowered by yet more balsamic vinegar. The kids enjoyed their fish and chips. The vegetables were over-cooked for our taste. It was now 10pm, we weren’t happy because of the rude attitude and delays, so we skipped desserts (they did look good), and asked for the bill. At this point we felt we had to point out (discreetly, away from the table) that the food had been spoilt by the lack of service. The Landlady told us she had been let down by a member of staff, but rather than leave it at that and offering an apology, she kept insisting that the service had suffered because we were late. So we left, no service charge added. And there we were in the car park when what had to be the chef appeared. There was a lengthy remonstration. He called us “ignorant pigs”, he banned us all. All in all, an experience we would rather forget.

Date visited: 26 October 2008

Review by Gary on 1st June, 2008

Add your review
We were a party of four on Holiday looking for a lunchtime meal. The problem we encountered was when one of our group order the Plaice meal (cost £11.50). For a fish supposedly fresh it stunk to high heaven and the smell was putting us all off eating; however not wanting to make a scene Anne took the meal to the waitress who was also doubling as bar staff and quietly explained the problem. In fairness to her she was polite and helpful and soon reappeared with the same fish with its head cut off. The waitress had been sent back with the message that the fish had been purchased the day before and the landlady had said that it was fresh and there was nothing wrong with it. The fish still had a strong smell to it. We asked for it to be taken away and the waitress asked if Anne would like to choose something else; having been put off her meal but not wishing to just sit there whilst the rest of us were eating she asked for the starter soup. The Waitress reappeared clearly embarrassed and stated that the landlady had said that ‘ If she didn’t like the fish she would not like anything else’. To add injury to insult we were charged for the fish meal with the landlady displaying all the tact and diplomacy of a warthog! It is the first time that we have had cause to complain about a meal that possibly may have resulted in illness or have encountered such a rude and ignorant landlady. This review and our action could have been avoided if the landlady had acted by putting her customers first instead of her own arrogance. We feel so strong that we are also passing this review onto the environmental health for Pembrokeshire.

Date visited: 22nd May 2008

Review by Fiona on 28th September, 2007

Add your review
We dropped in on spec. and received a very warm welcome. The food was exceptional, and the Dial rightly deserves its reputation for its menu. Staff were courteous and friendly. I cannot fault them - I would recommend this place to anyone for that special night out. We'll certainly be back.

Date visited: 26 September 2007

Review by martyn on 21st February, 2007

Add your review
The Dial Inn-Proprietors-Ruth & Granville Hill,should be very proud to be listed under the AA & which Good Food guidelines for,their establishment and the hard work to keep up the standards expected. The varied-choice of menu's and superb cuisine/service,will definately, be a very friendly welcoming,to any traveller/local,in this traditionally Olde World Inn atmosphere. The friendliness and general politeness of staff,employed at The Dial Inn,Lamphey Village,also reflects the reason,that the Good Food Guides have respected this,in their choice of Tavern Inn-The Dial Inn.Please- Enjoy.

Date visited: february 2007

Review by Phil on 4th January, 2007

Add your review
We visited the Dial Inn on New Years Day with two children. We bought drinks and the Landlady was extremely rude from the moment we walked in, and even tried to charge us corkage for heating up a jar of baby food in the microwave. The staff then bullied us out of the pub when we decided we didn't want to eat off the menu because there weren't any highchairs available. We found their behaviour rude, arrogant and completely unnacceptable. This is the most un-child friendly pub I have ever had the misfortune to walk into. If you like being insulted, bullied, disappointed and come out reaking of cigarette smoke, this is the pub for you!

Date visited: 01/01/07

Review by Angela Jones on 16th September, 2005

Add your review
I fell in love with the Dial Inn from the moment I stepped inside. Every part of my stay was perfection from start to finish. The accomodation is superb - extremely comfortable and very tasteful; the staff are welocming and friendly and the food is fresh, homemade and totally outstanding. I would recommened this establishment as an exceptional place to eat, drink or stay. My compliments go to the chef and the owners. I'll definitely be back!

Date visited: September 3rd 2005

Review by Mr M Thomas on 15th September, 2005

Add your review
i have to completely disagree with the above stament as i was there the night this instant accured. i though the party of eight were in the wrong, to be honest if it wasn't for the very well trained polite staff and the high quality of the meal, my night would have been spolit the party were foul mouthed, as they baged they way through into the kitchen. i overheard the rmanager offering 20 percent discount and their kids meals out staright away and within 2 mins the party were complaining again. i thought the staff dealt with the situation very well, and only when the two gentleman started to force their way into the kitchen area did the owners ask him to leave the premises. i would recomend any to vist to see for themselves, that it is of high quality both in food and service. all night i heard constant complients about the food or the service, apart from this party who were abovisly out for what the could get excuse my bluntness. To those who read this statment, all you have to do is ask people in the area of pembrokeshire and you will get nothing but positive feed back, if im not mistken, because i was sat close the the paying counter i overheard a customer say that "You havent seen wales untill you seen the dial"

Review by Mr Williams on 15th August, 2005

Add your review
We booked this establishment for a party of eight, for 8.30pm. Having waited for over an hour and quarter, we still had not received our order, even though we had ordered our meals in the bar at around 8.30pm and promised we would be served shortly after been seated. We made a complaint to the waiting staff, (who i must state were most curtious), and asked for the manager, who arrived at our table and promptly asked us to leave, much too our disgust, in front of other guests in the restaurant, and the children in our party. Having backed down after pointing out the problem was his, we left of our own accord as by this time he had upset the children and left a bitter taste in everyones mouths. I would not recommend this establishment to any holidaymakers in the area as i feel they care little for their customers, as they over book to make as much money as possible with poor service, and strongly recommend this establishment is removed from the aa/which or any other guide.

Date visited: 13 August 2005