The King's Arms, Woodstock

Poor food experience. Three of us had (pre)ordered the gnocchi, when it came none of us could eat it because it seemed to have been bathed in chili. Between the three of us, we have different tastes and chili thresholds, but it was completely overwhelming and inedible for all of us. We looked back at the menu, and the dish is not described as having any chili or being spicy at all, so it was presumably a mistake. We asked the waitress for new ones without the chili, but when she came back she said that all the gnocchi had been made up with that sauce, so it wouldn't be possible, and gave us menus to make new choices. One of us was a vegetarian, but there were no other vegetarian mains on the menu, so they had to order a starter instead. This situation seems unacceptable to me - if you only have one vegetarian main, it needs to be done carefully and properly, which was not the case here, or you should have more options (you = Fuller's, I suppose). At least one of the other fish options was not available either. The gnocchi incident meant that half of our group ate their mains about half an hour after the other half. Aside from this, everyone agreed that the food was distinctly average. I wouldn't be so annoyed, but the dishes are expensive and the menu is written in a way that makes the food sound like much more than it is - average chain pub food. We were given a significant discount on the final bill due to the food issues, which I appreciate. The staff were friendly and pleasant, although there seemed to be uncertainty about how to handle pre-bookings (we were a group of 8) at several stages in the process, particularly at the end - when I was given the final bill, the £50 pre-booking fee that I had paid before was not deducted automatically, I had to query it otherwise I would have paid an extra £50. The bar area here is lovely, but I will not be returning here for food.

We arrived on a Sunday and had a table for 6 booked. It had a lovely feel to it as we walked in and we were seated quickly. The staff were attentive and friendly, the food was served in good time. I opted for the roast and had the beef, which was beautiful and perfectly cooked. We stayed for a few drinks and then went up to our room. The room was lovely and very clean. The next morning we went down to breakfast and we were served by the lovely Esme. Again the service was excellent and Esme made us feel very welcome. We treated ourselves to the cooked breakfast and the food was lovely.

We have just got back from a weekend visiting Blenheim Palace and staying in Woodstock. We ate at the King's Arms on Friday night. As a general pub, this place is nice. As a restaurant, book somewhere else. We booked for 7.30pm, and by 8.40pm, we still hadn't received any of our food. We're English, so we don't like to complain, but eventually we gave in and did so. Our food finally arrived at 9.10pm, by which time we'd all lost interest. Five of our meals were nice, one was pretty terrible (the pasta). The woman serving us was friendly and was clearly very embarrassed about the situation. However, there was zero proactivity or acknowledgement from the staff whilst we were waiting (and waiting). The problem was in the kitchen, and although we realise this is not the fault of the waiting staff, a few proactive updates would have been appreciated. They weren't run off their feet, busy. There are so many pubs and places to eat in Woodstock, so I would book somewhere else to eat for now. This will give the King's Arms time to organise the kitchen and conduct some staff training. The King's Arms is a lovely pub with rooms. Our friends stayed there and had the same problem at breakfast each morning. This could be an excellent restaurant with a bit of training.

Booked for a Saturday evening meal on the website as visiting Blenheim. Service was superb and a good choice of meals. We all had different main and they were all delicious. Lovely atmosphere, we would definitely visit again when in Woodstock.

First class establishment, in the centre of Woodstock. Beautiful place to stay. Lovely traditional bar with dark wood, and beautiful cosy decor. Very friendly and helpful, especially Molly who made it a great stay. All the rooms are named after English King's and are beautiful. Wonderful decor, comfortable beds, and very quiet Dyson Blade fan in room. Plenty of mirrors, and quality hospitality tray, and coffee maker. Lovely radio, and beautiful toiletries in bathroom. Breakfast as served in a dining room with a glass atrium. Quality Full English. Proper butchers sausage, bacon, and food piping hot. Parking in Woodstock can be tricky, but for £10 the hotel will sort you out with a 24 hour parking permit. What's not to love. We definitely be back.

We had a group booking dinner last night, food for what we received was overpriced. My roast beef whilst beautifully cooked was on hot thanks to the gravy, the roasted whole carrot, was cremated and exploded black carbon so was placed on our uncleared shared charcuterie starter board. This was well presented and good. At no point after the main course did the 2 staff on duty ask if we wnated desert or coffee. They then had the cheek to add 30% service charge to the bill, everyone had a full copy off all the bill for 33 people. We were not allowed to have a separate check and settle at the end, i was pointedly told but no one else wants this. You want drinks pay for them You want a second drink pay for it Then pay for your food, so 3 payments were needed

We went to the Kings Arms for lunch while we were visiting Blenheim Palace. It was a very cosy pub, the food was great, very well decorated for Christmas, and the staff were really friendly and helpful. I would certainly visit here again when in the area

Came here for dinner, didn’t have a great experience. Was offered the choice of brown or white bread with soup, requested brown, white came out. It went back for them to tell me they’d run out of brown bread and the white bread was fridge temp cold, no butter and I saw the table next to me had their bread toasted. Side of greens for £4.95 was just some peas, broad beans and rocket. Couldn’t taste any seasoning, incredibly overpriced. Just felt like the chef had given up. Wouldn’t return, and wouldn’t recommend sadly! Much better options locally.