The Sloop Inn

I always visit The Sloop every year several times with family and friends, and have done all my life. I am now 65. Recently on the 12th Nov 2025, I popped in for lunch. I asked the barman for some assistance with the menu. He was politely unhelpful saying 3 times that “Everything we have is on the menu!” I considered that his tone was rude and unhelpful. When I mentioned ‘Customer Service’ he noticeably changed his attitude. We did in fact decide to stay and the food and drink were good. A lady waitress helped us with the WiFi after the barman gave us the longwinded access!

Very disappointing experience overall — both in terms of food quality and customer service. I ordered the chicken and leek pie, but had to return it as it contained far more pastry than filling. The pastry itself was dry and thick, while the chicken was virtually non-existent. The chips were also undercooked and the whole meal appeared to have been reheated, possibly from the previous day. When I raised my concerns, the manager initially refused to accept my complaint, claiming I had eaten too much of the meal and insisting there was nothing wrong with it. Only after a lengthy discussion did he agree to offer two desserts in place of the returned meal. However, no paying customer should have to argue to be treated fairly after receiving such poor food. A couple of observations: the waitress came to check if the food was satisfactory almost immediately after serving it, which the manager later used as a defence — this seemed like a deliberate tactic to dismiss any later complaints about food quality. Additionally, payment is requested upfront when ordering, which we found unusual. Think of that what you may. Overall poor food and poor service. We won't be returning.

Great fun pub, staff were fantastic and the location superb! Right on the lovely Bantham beach a short drive from Hope Cove, Salcombe and Dartmouth. The food in the pub was excellent and very varied and not expensive. The service was friendly. Breakfast was great

The Sloop used to be one of THE places to go locally but yesterday we were extremely disappointed. As always the staff were great, particularly Tom. It's unclear whether they have a new chef or not but if so he needs replacing quickly before the reputation becomes really battered (no pun intended). We ordered our food and whilst waiting for it to arrive we saw a lot of dishes being returned and nearby tables complaining. The poor waitress was an absolute star having to deal with such disappointment. That said we were apprehensive about our own meals. We ordered a steak, peri peri prawns, fish pie and a lamb. The steak was overcooked, the fish pie dry and full of bones and the lamb practically burnt, as was the accompanying broccoli. Now we're not the type of people to moan when it's perfectly edible, albeit not the best. We did mention it to the waitress who was very happy to speak with the manager but we didn't want a refund or discount, it was just feedback. It was such a shame to see so much food being returned and The Sloop should definitely act fast before it really suffers and the front of house staff definitely don't deserve the stress poor cooking causes.

We went for a meal and found some of the dishes good but others terrible. For example, the fish and chips was great but the beetroot risotto was horrible 😕 service was good and it is a wonderful location but some dishes were massively over priced and in our opinion, sub standard

A great pub, lovely staff, especially Jamie :-) and fantastic food. The Ploughmans was the best we've had in years and reasonably priced too, thoroughly recommend plus food of an evening great too. Can't recommend highly enough, a wonderful location, beautiful area and surroundings too.