There’s rarely going to be a more intriguing pub name in a more delightful English village. If Hollywood was searching for the authentic English village, they’d just cast Filkins in the role.
This welcoming 18th century pub is run by the delightful Paula and Ray. It’s part of the Barkby pub group, a collection of high quality “foody pubs with rooms” including The Bull at Fairford and The Harcourt Arms at Stanton Harcourt near Eynsham.
I adore the unusual name of this pub in Filkins. It’s a village that was once home to Labour politician Sir Stafford Cripps, Chancellor in Clement Attlee’s post-war government. It’s an ancient name for an inn, referring to the five “alls” – monarch (who rules all), the lawyer (who pleads for all), the priest (prays I for all), the soldier (fights for all) and the peasant (works for all).
With its aged stone walls, flagstone floors and roses around the door, The Five Alls really is your quintessential English inn. You walk through the front door, with a roaring fire to your left in the snug. Sit in the deep leather Chesterfields or on the long Turkish ottomans and glimpse the cosy front room dining area to the side. There’s a rear dining room too that’s even grander. The hidden toilet doors are false book-laden bookshelves. It’s warm and inviting.
With an extensive breakfast menu and a doggie friendly ethos, it’s a perfect spot for a stopover to explore this southern corner of the Cotswolds, being sandwiched between Burford and Lechlade.
Our spacious bedroom (number 5!) was out the back, through the pub garden and across the car park. It was comfortable and tastefully decorated in pale greys and off-whites, and pleasantly minimalist for a country inn. Locally produced throws and artwork add to the calm stylish vibe. There are five, cottage-style bedrooms in a quiet corner of the garden and four in the main inn. Being out there was perfect for the hound as that early morning outside wee was easy! Bring your dog bed and blankets. There’s a £10 residential fee for the dawg.
The serving staff – Lisa and Mel – could not have been friendlier or more accommodating. The food here represents far better value than many of the nearby Cotswolds pubs. Mains start at around the £15 mark and only the rib-eye steak exceeded £20. It’s not high high end gastro dining but it is still very very good wholesome food.
Starters kicked us off with an excellent lamb kofta dressed with red onion, tomato and mint mayo – it is certainly the finest one we’ve tried recently as we’re both suckers for meze-style dining. The cheese soufflé was calorific heaven. Tangy Double Gloucester baked cheese with a mustard cheese sauce, oozing naughtiness whilst remaining light and fluffy.
The mains are either your pub classics like haddock and chips (£18) or something a bit racier like duck breast with mash in a red wine gravy (£23).
I plumped for the nourishing fish pie accompanied by a stack of kale and French beans, a healthy balance to an absolute classic. My partner was tempted by the red lentil Dahl, a fragrantly spiced vegetarian option with hints of star anise and turmeric, mopped up with delicious homemade sweet flatbreads. This was all washed down with a decent South African Chenin Blanc at £10.50 per large 250ml glass.
Puddings brought the meal to a good finale. A classic sticky toffee pudding had a rich yummy black treacle toffee sauce and was topped with indulgent clotted cream ice cream. The dark chocolate and hazelnut delice with cappuccino ice cream was sizeable and the most chocolatey of finishes you could ever desire.
If you are staying over, the breakfast menu is as good as it gets. Both classic and vegetarian full English breakfasts feature together with American style pancakes and maple syrup and forest fruits. But the stars of the show were the Benedict’s – your classic eggs Benedict; eggs Florentine and eggs Royale – smoked salmon on a toasted English muffin with poached eggs, Hollandaise sauce and rocket.
It’s a quality country pub with good affordable food, a classy beer garden, and stylish reception rooms and bedrooms. Bring the pooch too! There’s loads of lovely walking in nearby villages like Coln St Aldwyns and on the Thames Path at Lechlade.
The Five Alls
Filkins, near Lechdale, GL7 3JQ
thefiveallsfilkins.co.uk
From our recent experience, there are problems at the pub causing the dining experience to be questioned.
I sent this email five weeks ago and then again a week later. As it’s been ignored, it’s now time to publish it.
I personally urge you to consider your next trip as your money could potentially be better spent elsewhere.
“My wife and I eat out a lot (too much!) and when our experience is positive, I often leave a review online. However,
instead of leaving a damaging review, I feel compelled to write comment about our collective experience. I therefore hope you will appreciate that my intention is convey things constructively and fairly.
It’s currently 6am and to say the disappointing experience has weighed on my mind since Sunday is an understatement. I am therefore relieved to now finally be typing….
My wife and I arrived ahead of our 1.15pm booking. We checked in and ordered drinks with a very professional and welcoming gentleman. When the rest of our party arrived, they experienced the same. A good start in delightful surroundings.
From hereon, I noticed a disconnect.
By 1.30pm, having waited for a considerable time to get another drink and be invited through to our table, I got my first sense that something wasn’t right. Regardless, when I finally got the attention of a young lady, I ordered the drink and asked if we could take our seats.
The atmosphere among the five of us was positive throughout our two hours with you which enabled us to ride the bumps of our poor experience. So rather than ruin the atmosphere, aside from asking for a reduction in the arrogant obligatory application of a £23 service charge, I decided to write to you later, as I now do.
We appeared not to benefit from a dedicated server and instead were attended by four different staff through the course of the meal. This clearly lead to the very erratic service we received. From the provision of menus to placing our orders and eventually receiving our dishes, everything was, as just described, erratic.
The two main attendees were a young man and a young lady. They performed with seemingly no experience or interest, which for an establishment charging such relatively high prices and conveying ‘quality’ was extremely disappointing and frustrating.
At no point in our sitting did we receive a host check. At no point were were asked if we would like more drinks and at no point were the delays acknowledged to us. (No-one said goodbye or thank you when we left either.)
So, the food itself? Starters (soup, prawn sliders and souffle) were all good, thank you.
Main courses of two types of roast and a fish and chips, with three sides were first and foremost, tepid. I should have insisted they were re-plated but we had ironically already waited too long.
I had taken a trip to the lavatory during the prior delay and noticed our food on the pass. It was then at least five minutes until we began receiving our plates and a further five minutes plus before our entire order was complete.
The meagre and pretentious portions of vegetables (one carrot, one parsnip and not enough green vegetables to share among four) on the roasts was atrocious. And not helped by plates so big as to dwarf the amount of food on the plate and challenge one’s reaction. While I appreciate my comments on this are subjective, surely a fullsome, moreish, hot roast dinner in a lovely country pub is also your vision – not just my fantasy?
My fish and chips was worse though. Shameless, overcooked fish with zero taste, cold potted French fries and potted warmish mushy peas were an insult and in my opinion, require a serious overhaul in design. Do you/your chef, seriously believe that a diner’s experience is heightened by putting all food elements in metallic pots? (The tartar sauce also benefitting from same)
But back to the service. We were not asked if we wanted any sauces or condiments to accompany our meals. When we eventually got the attention of a staff member for this (and some additional drinks) we had already been eating for some time.
At the completion of our meal, the empty plates sat on the table for an uncomfortably long period. The table was cleared but no offer of a dessert menu. I subsequently asked for one and they were duly brought and we placed our small order promptly.
Again though, there were delays to receiving it that went beyond ‘normal’ waits. The portion of chocolate layer cake was probably the penultimate piss take (no apologies for the parlance) and finally underlined what I sensed was happening; ‘Charge as much as possible for as little as possible’.
The slither of cake was so narrow that physics would not have allowed it to stand freely if you had cut it a millimeter slimmer. It was delightful in taste apparently but it mostly conveyed a story of “….let’s cut these portions as skinny as we possibly can sort that we can maximise our profits”.
The Sticky Toffee pudding looked generous and delightful in comparison, so thank you for that.
My order of an Irish Coffee was delayed and when it came, the cream had dropped. Not bad for £10 perhaps but like my mood now, in typing this email, I had taken enough hits to have zero faith in gaining attention or empathy from your staff.
The bill, all £252 of it, arrived. Again, no interest in whether our meal had been good from the young waiter. Instead, complete ignorance and confusion when I politely asked for a new bill of £240 to be created as I was aghast to receive a £23 service charge for such non-service.
I drive past your establishment every day and had long wanted to visit. Your FB page is liked on my account and I receive your emails. With genuine sadness therefore, our experience could not have been more disappointing and results in us clearly not wishing to return. And that disappoints me hugely because I desperately want you, as a local business, to prevail….and for us to have a great place to enjoy food and drink.
I do not believe we have high standards. We are humble but rightly, regardless of price, expect decent service. On this occasion, the highlight was meeting your host gentleman at the start. Everything else went downhill.
I hope you can use my observations for positive change as they are conveyed not as a complaint. Do please reply.
Thanks for sharing your experience Barry, and so sorry to hear that it wasn’t a good one. We’re just a review site though, so would recommend reaching out directly to the restaurant with your feedback.