The Chequers - South Oxfordshire

We have been visiting The Chequers at Burcot for years, it used to be ok but recently the prices have increased and the quality of the food and the service has dropped. I took my mum for a NYE dinner and her £36 fillet steak arrived like charcoal, mine was less burnt but not right. The fries were greasy and cold and the mac cheese looked worse than store bought. Upon pointing out the charcoal steak to the waiter, he told my mum to try it, she might like it and proceeded to walk off in a huff. When he returned to the table with condiments, my mother informed him that a he didn’t like it. He was then even more obstinate, saying “this steak is cooked by Steve Sanderson, the owner and that is cooked correctly, plus you wanted it cooked well done”. At this point I informed him she would not be eating it and it needs to be changed, he ripped it from the table and stormed off. Following this service, we decided that we would not be continuing the meal, I spoke to another server/FOH and told her we would be paying for the drinks but nothing else. I realise that she was trying to apologise, but there was no amount of touching my shoulder that would make me change my mind. And felt like an invasion of my space. So we paid for the drinks and walked out. On the way out, another server joyfully said ‘I doubt I will be seeing you again, maybe on the street’ Thanks to Steve Sanderson and the team for ruining our NYE.

We have been to the restaurant on numerous occasions and the sunday roast has always been exceptional We found ourselves on our own Christmas day and thought we would book Not cheap at 125 per head but we thought it might be something special The pub is fab , the staff very attentive but the Christmas dinner was the same as a roast with no brussels , stuffing , bread sauce or an offer of cauliflower cheese ! Parsnip shavings and two roast pots !! The canapes were not what i would class as canapes , a pig in blanket , piece of belly pork with apple sauce !! However the scotch egg was delicious ! Prawn cocktail was very nice , the palatte cleanser lemon sorbet was so sour it actually made my eyes water and the winter berry meringue barely had any cream We paid the service charge because it was Christmas day but left feeling a bit flat especially when there wasnt a member of staff to say cheerio and thank you ! I would definitely revisit for a roast but felt quite disappointed with the special Christmas menu !! Definitely more inspiration needed .

Very disappointed and definitely not value for money was extremely disappointed with starter a Camembert which came rock hard unable to dip bread which was stale took it away returned in few minutes not much improvement portion sizes extremely small 4 starters 4 mains 1 bottle of wine 2 coffees .. the bill was very high with a high service charge would definitely not recommend to any one ..

The service was good; friendly and attentive, but the food was subpar. My salmon was overcooked and the potatoes were dry and under-seasoned. My partner's venison burger was slightly undercooked and dominated by too much truffle oil. I think the restaurant is living off an outdated reputation, unfortunately. The quality on offer does not match the prices charged.

When visiting Oxford, we typically stay at the accommodation here and also choose to dine at the on-site restaurant. Our first experience was a pleasant surprise, with the room meeting our expectations and the meal being very satisfying. However, our second visit was not as good. The accommodation was still of good quality, albeit a bit pricey, but the restaurant left much to be desired. We ordered the venison burger, which is a personal favorite. Unfortunately, the burger was served on a chopping board (rather than a traditional plate) and all the usual burger toppings were charged as extras (such as £6 for 10 chips). The burger itself was undercooked, making it cold before we could finish half of it, and it was overly seasoned, masking the taste of the meat. We mentioned these issues to the server when she cleared our table, but nothing was done to address them (fortunately, our dog enjoyed the leftovers). Breakfast the next morning was also lukewarm. We will likely look for a different dining option for our next visit, as the high cost did not justify the subpar food quality.