20 replies to this topic

[Matthew (MPJ/Admin)]

The Pomeroy Inn have a web site

www.vintageinn.co.uk/thepomeroyinnlittlechalfont/

The history seems to take some details from a familair source.

i was interested in their descrition of the area, the site says

"Nestled in Little Chalfont, a couple of miles south east of Aylesbury, The Pomeroy Inn sits near the chalk and beech landscape of the Chiltern Hills. Set in the heart of rural Buckinghamshire (or Midsomer Murders Country as it's known by fans of the TV series) it's ideal for scenic local walks. The pub is also close to the Roald Dahl Museum, Chiltern Open Air Museum and Benjamin Disraeli's country hideaway, Hughenden Manor. "

I hope it does well. alsways good to have choice

[Fran]

I've been to The Bugle Horn in Hartwell and The Five Bells at Weston Turville. Very similar to each other, and a notch below gastro pubs, but priced accordingly and the food, service and ambiance were very good. Having one in Amersham seems like a good thing, and I hope they are successful.

[David P]

The new Pomeroy Inn appeared to be open for business as I went past yesterday.

[primrose]

Hubby and I went here for lunch today. We were met at the door by a member of staff who informed us that the restaurant doesn't officially open until Monday, but if we liked we could be guinea pigs for the chef/waiting staff and receive our meal at a 50% discount. Well, be rude not to accept an offer like that. We were given a menu and our drinks ordered/dispatched immediately, we ordered a starter, main and puds. The service to be honest was quite slow, but we put this down to the staff being new to the job and still training. The starter of beer battered mushrooms was well worth the wait. The mains and puds were also of good quality and portion sizes were adequate.The staff were equally very polite. Our meals consisting of 2 three course meals, (from the set meal price menu) with beverages and lattes would normally cost £29.50, but today was the bargain price of £14.60. Based on today's experience we will definitely be going again and will be happy to pay full price.

[Fran]

A news report on the opening. See: BFP article.

[Fran]

I've split this topic so that it remains relevant for the "Eating and Sleeping Places" group.

The discussion about whether The Pomeroy Inn is in Amersham, Amersham Common or Little Chalfont is here: White Lion Road topic.

[Eaton]

Struthie and I went tonight. It's got a good atmosphere and a very nice outside seating area but it was quite shambolic, obviously it's only been open for 2 nights but they really struggled. We had to wait a very long time between each course (and for drink refills) and there were a lot of comments from other diners about the same issue. The food was ok, not amazing but ok. I'm not sure if the chips were oven chips or had been kept warm but they weren't crispy or that tasty. The steak was good but it came with a huge 'lump' of iceberg lettuce which had caesar dressing dumped on top! The pudding however, was well worth the wait and as a pudding person it more than made up for the disappointing chips and the lengthy wait.

If you have an early reservation you only get the table for 2 hours, which wouldn't normally be a problem but tonight we were in there for 2.5 hours, at least an hour (in total) of that was waiting between courses. In fact the only time we didn't have to wait was when we asked for the bill, which arrived in less than 2 minutes!

Having said that I would go again because there are bound to be teething problems with a new venture and new staff but I think that I'll wait for a few weeks to allow the staff to settle in.

[struthie]

Struthie and I went tonight. It's got a good atmosphere and a very nice outside seating area but it was quite shambolic, obviously it's only been open for 2 nights but they really struggled. We had to wait a very long time between each course (and for drink refills) and there were a lot of comments from other diners about the same issue. The food was ok, not amazing but ok. I'm not sure if the chips were oven chips or had been kept warm but they weren't crispy or that tasty. The steak was good but it came with a huge 'lump' of iceberg lettuce which had caesar dressing dumped on top! The pudding however, was well worth the wait and as a pudding person it more than made up for the disappointing chips and the lengthy wait.

If you have an early reservation you only get the table for 2 hours, which wouldn't normally be a problem but tonight we were in there for 2.5 hours, at least an hour (in total) of that was waiting between courses. In fact the only time we didn't have to wait was when we asked for the bill, which arrived in less than 2 minutes!

Having said that I would go again because there are bound to be teething problems with a new venture and new staff but I think that I'll wait for a few weeks to allow the staff to settle in.

Have to agree with everything you said Mel,it was painfully slow,will leave it a while before we go back,food was good though.
But yes the bill came out within a minute!

[Stockers]

Five of us went on Saturday night and had a very good meal. Good standard of food and wine at reasonable prices. Staff were very obliging and only one very, very minor omission on 5 starters and mains was pretty good for a new operation.

They are sure to do well and we will certainly be back again on a frequent basis as long as the standards promised are maintained long term.

Nice to have a new pub/restaurant of this quality and type where they have been sadly lacking up until now.

[Jeff T]

My wife and I had a meal here last Friday evening and found both the quality of the food and the service to be very good. A varied menu and not overpriced. My only criticism is that there isn't much space allocated for people who just want a drink. The bar area is very small and quickly gets crowded. I understand that the money is made on food not drink these days but it's a shame that non-diners are not really catered for. At the moment you can take your drinks onto the patio area if the front bar is full but this is unlikely to be an option in winter or when it's raining. They've done a good job on the decor and the staff training and I wish them every success. It's nice to have a decent pub in the area again.

[Bawbag]

Ate at The Pomeroy a couple of weeks ago. Service was very good, food fine for the money - nothing special, but then nothing to complain about either - kids loved just running around outside in the evening sunshine (remember that stuff?).

OK, so these chain places are almost everywhere now but this was a good example of the type and we'd certainly go back.

[Fran]

We tried to go there last night for a sunny drink and supper, but the garden was chocca block and it was only about 6.40pm. I suppose there's a lot of pent up demand for summer.

I recently revisited another pub in the same group, and thought the food excellent value, so we'll probably try the Pomeroy another time.

[ITSMEAGAIN]

Andy's gone!

The manager (Andy) put in place by Vintage Inns to get the new place on the map has left (a normal practice among such chains to promote their new restaurant). When he was the manager the food was good and the place well run, but he was obviously temporary and destined for greater things. Unfortunately the place has gone down hill since he's left.

We went for an early evening meal on a recent Thursday evening. The place was not busy but the service from the kitchen was abysmal. I hasten to say the kitchen because the waitresses were doing their best but could only serve food as it came out of the kitchen. There were fewer than 3 tables taken inside and about the same outside yet we had to wait 30 mins for out first starter (see below) and another hour for the main. The young manager was chatting to bar staff all evening and seemed little interested in what was going on around him. My wife had ordered a chicken starter which came out only half cooked and raw in the centre. It was returned for a different dish (another wait). Then finally when the main came the salmon I'd ordered was well over cooked and completely dry. We left without a desert.

I will not be going back until I someone confirms that another manager is in place and that things have returned to the way they were - if that ever happens.

[Fran]

Their grasp of geography is certainly odd, not that that should have any bearing on the food or service.

I've just noticed that the Pomeroy Inn page of the Vintage Inns website is "thepomeroyinnlittlechalfont". The text starts, "The Pomeroy Inn in Little Chalfont...", the next section starts, "You could write a book about the rich history of this historic Buckinghamshire pub. Originally built on the edge of Amersham Common...", and the third section starts, "Nestled in Little Chalfont, a couple of miles south east of Aylesbury..."!

http://www.vintagein...littlechalfont/

[Jinni]

Agree that the couple of miles from Aylesbury is odd but technically the rest of the information is correct.
Everything we now know as Amersham on the Hill was 'The Common' which had farms (Hyrons, Woodside. Raans, Reeves etc)and open grazing above the town, and this old hostelry at the eastern side is one of the only places where there is a scrap of 'common' left beside the old turnpike pike road, now A404.
And to all the utilities, telephone and the Post Office it IS Little Chalfont, although not part of the Parish of Little Chalfont.

It's all down to history - I'm one who finds looking at the current maps of the area fascinating = you can see how the old track through Raans linked up to Amersham and the Misbourne Valley through the present Hundred Acres Estate by following the footpaths, and Bury and Woodside Farms similarly.

[David P]

you can see how the old track through Raans linked up to Amersham and the Misbourne Valley through the present Hundred Acres Estate by following the footpaths, and Bury and Woodside Farms similarly.

It's the old Roman road from Latimer to the Rye in Wycombe. Through Amersham the route is a pretty straight line along Raans Road, Stanley Hill Avenue, the footpaths crossing Station Road and Ruckles field and out along Whielden Street.

[ITSMEAGAIN]

Why are you all concerned about the geography of the place? Why bother to find it if both the food and service are now so poor!

[Zoom]

Why are you all concerned about the geography of the place? Why bother to find it if both the food and service are now so poor!

Because I haven't been there to judge the food and service myself and I usually take a single report with a pinch of salt unless it becomes a trend of poor reports.

And the geographical aspect is interesting to those of us here who like finding out about the history of the area... my understanding is that before Top Amersham and Little Chalfton grew up the whole are was Amersham Common, a large open area, and The Pineapple and The White Lion were the two main public houses on the road across the common.

The "two miles from Aylesbury" aspect is just plain funny....

[Eaton]

On this occasion I would have to agree with ITSMEAGAIN, the Pomeroy is really not very good. Struthie and I went a couple of months ago when it was warm (that obviously narrows it down quite a bit)! We sat outside, it was not overly busy and yet the food took forever to arrive and was just about ok plus we had a jug of Pimm's which was at least 1/3rd ice and was so weak it was virtually tasteless, so we had a 2nd jug as a comparison which was exactly the same. We've not been back since and with the plethora of pubs in the area with a decent sized and pleasant garden, good food and service I see little reason why I would try it again.

[David P]

Went for lunch yesterday and was very impressed. The place was already crowded at 12:30 but they found us a table. The service was very friendly and efficient, the menu had a bit more originality than most chain pubs, the food was freshly cooked and nicely presented and, at £8.50 for two courses, I thought it was very good value.

[mvjt]

It seems to be a bit of a victim of its own success, though. We went a few Fridays ago (party of 6). The food was lovely but service was incredibly slow. Drink orders were delivered with the wrong items and the main course didn't arrive until 10.30, 1 1/2 hours after we had finished our starters (we'd ordered about 8ish).
Tables around us arrived and were fed and left in the meantime.