The Dove Freehouse and Kitchen

lets be honest, anyone who has ever been to the dove knows that the beer is amazing...the food is fantastic....the staff are charming.....the only thing wrong with the dove is the manager, who is constantly and very conspicuously incredibly rude to his staff, who actually always seem to be working hard and not worthy of his constant shouting. The manager is a man who can never be pleased and it would be great to boycott the dove purly because of him, but i can't stay away from the place due to: the other people in there, the beer, the food, and the underated staff (who i feel very sorry for).
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 5
Friday, August 04, 2006

Great beer, not so great food, I'd agree. But the personal comments don't belong in a review - be constructive.
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katie
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Friday, July 21, 2006

Oh dear, this is a great pub for drinks, (excellent beer menu) but the only thing worth having on the menu is mussels…..and beer. This is my third visit now and because it's such a nice pub, lively, outside seating etc I kind of hoped if I chose something different from last time (crazy cheese and potato pie creation) it would be better but alas, all 4 of us ordered something different, steak, steak burger (particularly bad), soup and sald and we were all very disappointed, also for the quality of food, the prices are totally unjustified. There are plenty of other nice food places on Broadway Market and that general area, I really like the Morgan Arms, i’d still recommend it for a drink and the mussels, although last night the sauces were odd, blue cheese? But that’s about it. How disappointing.
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Rosie - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 3
Monday, June 12, 2006

I was astonished reading the reviews previously. I have recently started to visit the Dove regularly at the weekends and have never had any problem with the food. I think it is generally accepted that the beer is good (and with a range of 101 beers to choose from that's not bad going). Being vegetarian, I have sampled the home made vege burger, the vege bangers and mash and the vege sunday roast (which changes almost every week) - apart from a slightly tepid raost potato once, I have found the food to be gorgeous - and commented so.

On a Sunday night there is a pleasant jazz duo, the pub is ALWAYS packed, the atmosphere is vibrant and the beer is good.

They must be doing something right.... oh well, I guess you can't please all of the people all of the time - For my two penneth though, I love it there :-)
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G Turner
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, March 22, 2006

I went to the Dove with a group of friends who had previously recommended the place very highly. Unfortunately, things seem to have changed quite a bit since their last visit. The food was no more than average to say the least, and quite expensive. The worst thing had to be the service - our waitress kept walking away while we were trying to order our drinks, with the result that one round of 6 drinks took 30 minutes to actually arrive. The food orders were just as difficult, and the most shocking, laughable incident came when we tried to order a second round of drinks - the waitress snapped 'but you've already HAD one'. Excuse me?! Then the second round didn't turn up and when we complained to the surly manager as we left, he offered no apology, merely saying they were short-staffed and implying that we were unreasonable. I've never experienced such appalling service and I certainly do not recommend this place.
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Claire
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Friday, January 27, 2006

The Brazilian Steak burger consumed last night was sublime. Thus, i must disagree with the previous review citing the food as "nothing short of rubbish". That comment is garbage. But back to the positives, The Dove has a lively buzz, especially in the main section where two jazzy cats were purring double bass ambience. Blow man blow!
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crazygonuts
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Monday, December 19, 2005

I've been going to the Dove on and off for the last 6 or 7 years. It does, at times, have a great atmosphere but I can only whole-heartedly agree with other reviewers that the food, which was once fantastic, is now nothing short of rubbish. And, as for the Gary Crowley look-alike bar manager,.......in all the time he has been there I've never seen him smile once. Never, ever, never.... Real shame he's such a miserable git because last time I was in there the staff behind the bar were delightful. It does still have some sort of lasting appeal but really needs to have a shake-up if it wants to keep its customers.
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Eddy
Friday, October 21, 2005

I am I right in thinking that if you spend around £10 for a Sunday Roast you would assume that it is excellent? After waiting around 40 minutes (with no apology)I was salivating when my 'roast' arrived at the table...not for long though. I had two roast potatoes three pieces of broccoli and dried meat, I had to even ask for more gravy to lubricate my pallet. Dove, what are you doing? The beer and atmosphere is great in this place, but I will never, I repeat never eat here ever again...
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Rebecca - View all reviews by this user
Saturday, October 08, 2005