Review The Royal Oak - Poynings

Haven't visited here for many years as moved away from the area but my recent visit exceeded expectations. The menu on this occasion had a Welsh theme and I wasn't disappointed. The star of the show was a "Lamb Cawl" which is a Welsh take on a lamb stew and I was very impressed with the quality and taste of this dish which was way above what I would normally expect. Compliments to the chef. Additionally the bar staff and waitressing was second to none. Bear in mind this was on a Thursday afternoon in November so I was blown away. Highly recommend.

Lovely country pub with a great children’s play area to the side. We only stopped for a drink and some chips on the way out of Brighton, but the chips were fab and the food we saw coming out to other tables looked amazing, so we’ll go back for lunch or dinner soon. Spacious and a good sized car park.

Lovely place for families. Nice garden with shady trees and lots of Roses! A Pirate ship at one end for the children to play on. Outside bar and large sun awning. Food selection is perfect! And delicious! Plenty of parking. Lovely staff as well!

Lovely pub. We had an absolutely gorgeous lunch here. Large portioned, well-presented, absolutely delicious, traditional English food. Perfect for finishing our chilly blustery and rainy walk. Reasonably priced. (£70 for 4 adult meals, 4 drinks, and a couple of coffees). There was a bit of a wait for food, but was well worth it. A highlight of our visit to England. Thank you.

Amazed and super pleased to see gluten-free beer sold here, truly above and beyond, and very much appreciated. Only popped in for a cool drink on a hot day but couldn't turn down the opportunity to try one I'd not had before, many thanks for thinking of all your customers :-)

Really suprised about the mixed reviews on here, as we found our visit to this pub in the beginning of August to be first rate. From the staff to the quality of food (one of the best rump steaks we have had in a long time and great chips) The price was reasonable too. Thank you for making our trip along the south downs a memory to remember

Lovely meal, perfect after a long hike! The burgers were amazing, as were the chocolate brownie and rhubarb bakewell. The pub had a very welcoming vibe, and all the staff were friendly and helpful. Would recommend to everyone.

Good pub with a great outside space and a lot of parking. Worth a walk too...just remember you have to walk back after good food and a few drinks

This is a fantastic family pub in a village location. Huge beer garden with lots of seating, an outdoor bar and a pirate ship play area for the kids. Haven't tried food here but good selection of beers/ales and the food looked good from what I saw. If you are looking for a relaxed pub where you can take the kids without feeling uncomfortable- go here!

Had a midweek lunch here. Great atmosphere, place buzzing with people. Small menu but adequate choices. The food was high quality- the best chilli I’ve had in years.

Amazing lunch for my dad‘s 85th. Staff were super pleasant and well trained, and of course, the food was excellent, both in taste and presentation. The menu did not do justice to the chef‘s far more complex content and flavour combinations. But, there is only so much room on a menu I guess. Well done all, must try out the fabulous beer gardens next time.

We had a Sunday roast here and I have to say that it was the best chicken roast of my life! The chicken was so tasty and tender but also juicy. Their Yorkshire puddings were amazing too. Would definitely highly recommend this place.

Very nice place. A bit expensive, in my view, at £150 for 4x mains, 3x desserts, 2x beers and 2x soft drinks. But the service was excellent and I thought both the pie and mash and the sticky toffee pudding were excellent. Would go again.

A large group of 10 of us ate here last Sunday and I can honestly say it was one of the worst roast dinner’s that we have ever had. The potatoes and broccoli were very under cooked, the other veg was sparse and the meat was full of fat and gristle. My mother was given 2 tiny bits of chicken wing as her entire meat portion (we did complain and more chicken was bought out for her). All this along with the high price of £16 for each roast, it turned out to be an expensive and disappointing meal for my fathers birthday. The actual pub itself is beautiful and in a lovely setting, however, I would only ever stop for a drink in future and not for food as we have done previously. The staff seemed very polite and friendly though.

Had a lovely time here took my mum out for her birthday a lovely gentleman whos name I didn't catch made my mum's day when he brought her sticky toffee pudding out singing happy birthday he was perfect host We had the chicken breast stuffed with brie wrapped in bacon served with Cesar salad an the brie cranberry an mushroom Wellington as we both liked the sound of the others we halved the meal but my Wellington was something else please forgive the noises we made great lunch great company an Job well done

Love this place and have been going for well over ten years. Beautiful setting,fabulous food,amazing atmosphere and staff and the locals make the place!!

I’ve Had a few wonderful lunches & Dinners here, it Serves the most amazing food and a really varied menu!!� fantastic variety of Beers and lovely friendly staff with warm log fires burning as well!!

Love this pub! Great food, atmosphere and beer garden to watch the World Cup in !!

Very friendly staff found us a last minute table at a busy time. Super dog friendly too, good food and good service. Only thing likely to stop us going there more often is the 2 hour drive from home!

Fabulous Sunday lunch for 7 of us, very attentive staff and manager Chris , thanks to all

Lovely pub, gorgeous garden. However we waited over an hour for our food and it only ok. Under cooked broccoli, hard potatoes and I'm pretty sure they were frozen yorkshires. It was a busy day but they could've done with more staff and more food. I would give it another try though

The Royal oak is a lovely pub in the Sussex countryside, the service was attentive and polite. The food was good but not fantastic for the price. It was very busy so maybe it would be better when it is less crowded. However we will possibly consider trying again in the not too distant future.

Great food and good service. Can’t wait to get a dog so I can take him there!

Great service, great garden and the fullest point for a year. And as I walked there, I didn't have to brave the horrendous traffic.

Good burgers. Good garden area with lots of seating and a wooden pirate ship for young kids to play on.

Good food, good wine, good ales, good staff. Sausage & Mash is NEXT level, what's not to like? 😀

Ordered Gluten free bread, normal bread provided, good job we queried it, had my wife eaten it, she would have been very ill. Not really impressed by the staff, they just seemed glad we spotted it, there didn’t seem to be any understanding about how seriously this would have been had my wife eaten it.