Ye Olde Saracen's Head Bar, Pub in Coventry, Balsall Common

Reviews

1. billy s ★★★☆☆

   Service and atmosphere were good, but ultimately we came for the food and it fell short. One dish had to be sent back, the salmon arrived unpleasantly chewy. Across a table of eight, the food was fairly average and generally lacking in flavour, which gave the impression that some items may have been pre-prepared or frozen. I’d avoid the set menu in particular, as it felt overpriced for what was served and that’s coming from a Londoner. That said, it’s a lovely pub with great staff, plenty of charm and a great spot to stop in for a pint.

   almost 7 months ago
2. April Carney-Dalton ★★★☆☆

   We decided to visit on a whim for a nice lunch after reading the claim of the best steak in Coventry. However, on arrival there's only one beef steak on the menu. The atmosphere, greeting, parking, cleanliness were all good but I was just really disappointed with the lack of availability of steak. When it arrive I was also disappointed by the taste, it was cooked to my liking but had a strange taste - could be the oil it was good in or also that I'm used to eating ribeye. However, the triple cooked chips were absolutely divine! We also had the brownie and ice cream for dessert which was delicious but slightly on the small side in terms of portion.

   almost 7 months ago
3. Cecile Wong ★★★★★

   Dav was superb and incredibly kind. I had booked a dog-friendly table for three, but when making the reservation, I wasn’t able to mention that we had a 92-year-old lady with a zimmer frame, so high seats would have been very difficult for her. Dav immediately understood and quickly set up a low table for us, which was fantastic! Daisy, Becky, and Avangeline were also wonderful, helping us with food and drinks and making sure we had everything we needed. The food was amazing. I had the steak, my partner had what he called the best ever pub pie created by Tom Shepherd, and we also had the salmon, everything was delicious. The only small disappointment was that there were no dog treats left as the earlier dogs had already enjoyed them all. Still, the service and thoughtfulness throughout made the whole experience feel above five stars.

   almost 10 months ago

1. Jon Sabin ★★★★★

   Had a 40%off mains leaflet come through the door and hadn't been here for a few years, so be rude not too. Well we weren't disappointed. The bar area was nice n cosy although it did smell a little damp. We had to wait for our table, not long tho. A good selection of drinks at the bar. The inch's riversider was especially nice. Once we sat and ordered the starter came out quite quickly. Lovely presentation. I had the cheese, bacon n garlic mushrooms. Very nice, just needed a little more garlic and stronger cheese. I then went for the best pub pie and award winner apparently. And yes I did make the right choice, a little rich but yes very good pie. Exactly how it described. The staff were very good, friendly, cozy pub. Well worth a visit.

   almost 10 months ago
2. Neily there ★★★★★

   Recently hired out this Beautiful old pub for our wedding reception. The food was amazing with a ni e choice of beers, wines and non alcoholic beer on draught. We cant thank Dav and his team enough who went above and beyond, blessed to have it as one of our local pubs.

   almost 11 months ago
3. Lee Holt ★★★★★

   Ye Olde Saracen's Head is an incredible place with delicious, fresh, and amazing food, with the most wonderful team working throughout. My wife and I had our first date here in March 2018, I then proposed here in August 2019 (a proposal which wouldn't have happened in the way that I imagined if it wasn't for the team working and communicating with me for months running up to it to help organise things!), and we had our wedding day meal here in December 2022. We had our 'big day' cancelled 3 times over the course of 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, so we decided to cut our losses and have a small, intimate day that we could organise and put together even if pandemic restrictions were still in place. From the first point of contact all the way through to the day itself, Chloe communicated with us (a lot!) via email and phone to get everything in place - we were able to arrange table plans, decorations, menu choices for guests, have guests sorted onto different tabs, and so much more! Chloe just couldn't do enough to help us have the most magical day possible, and considering it wasn't the 'big day' we had planned previously, it was quite honestly perfect, and that is in large part due to the Saracen's Head, all of the staff there, and the incredible food that was served. To put things into perspective, most tables at Ye Olde Saracen's Head are for 4-6 guests, whereas we had 32 guests in total on our day (we had around half the restaurant to ourselves) and none of our guests had the same combination of starter, main and dessert. So, this was a huge undertaking for the staff and yet everything was seamless, every single guest commented on both how delicious and fresh their food was, and how endearing the general ambience of the venue was. Thank you so much to everyone at Ye Olde Saracen's Head, and a special thank you to Chloe for all of your tireless work to ensure our day was beyond all expectation. You definitely have customers for life from us and all of our guests!

   almost 3 years ago

1. Tom Capell ★★★★★

   First time here and didn't disappoint. Really nice place inside and out, had the baked camembert and then the 16oz Argentinian rib eye. Cooked perfectly. Will definitely return

   almost 4 years ago
2. eleni afiontzi ★★★★★

   The pub atmosphere was really tasteful, the place was so big you could easily get lost trying to find the restroom! Overall a great experience, do try the platter with the sweets, that cheesecake was amazing! Sunday roast with chicken was much appreciated as well.

   almost 4 years ago

FAQs