The Swan, Pangbourne

I..GIVE..UP!!! Over the last four years, our family has repeatedly found ourselves at this beautiful riverside location - initially because the food, ambiance and service were very good. Oftentimes, even though it wasn't our 'local' we looked forward to going there on the days that our activities prevented us from eating during regular pub hours. Regardless, we loved it well enough to bring visitors from abroad as a matter of course. NO LONGER!! The food, which was once prepared with care and quality has fallen to beyond dismal standards. Todays so-called Sunday roast ( a last-ditch option after a series of earlier disappointments with more adventurous meals ) was the last straw. Pallid beef in tasteless brown gel, microwaved veg and a single HORRIBLE slab of potato graced my plate. Ugh. My daughter's scampi were knobs of breading with iodine-tasting shrimplets, and my son's horribly overpriced burger didn't come within an inch of it's cold roll's edge. Service was brusque, which I consider acceptable (even preferred) but only if it is professional and attentive. It was neither. All this said, please understand I would never write such a review if this weren't the very last of a series of similar disappointments. Two or so years of real pleasure have been followed by almost two years of rubbish. Time to call a spade a spade. This pub has seen the better of it's many long days and absolutely deserves to be given the care of new management. It probably won't happen as this establishment receives so much transient traffic that it doesn't need to be good, but I'll say it, "Shame!!" Oh, and if you like GK beer, it's served well, but that's not really saying all that much now, is it?

6 Jun 2010 18:24