The Blue Ball

This little gem in the picturesque Walton on the hill was a wonderful find. We went on a day with a target complex offering though, an outdoor BBQ pitch looked tempting but wasn't part of the main service so we had to pay cash and collect our food, which took several iterations to sort. Plenty of outdoor seating as shown and the restaurant inside looked upper end plush for gastropub.
Swift service for a busy Sunday.

Had a pint of otter, hope it's the normal flavour because it was a wee bit sour.
Bar staff need to step up. Good bartenders know who is next in line and acknowledge customers waiting. And again another pub that concentrates so much on food that if you weren't holding a menu you weren't going to get served.
But apart from that the pub was clean and well presented, food I sampled was good.
Worth a visit.

A welcoming, tastefully decorated, and comfortable pub with good food selection. The meal was delivered quickly and was of excellent quality and quantity. The staff were friendly and helpful and I would recommend this place in the picturesque village of Walton on the hill.

To begin, the starters were lovely. My table were impressed by how much range and how tasty it was. There was no complaints there. The drinks were quick and the glasses for draught were refrigerated, which is always a bonus!

However; mains were incredibly disappointing. We ordered 5 steaks (different cuts) and not a single one was cooked to what we asked for. They were all overcooked and was like chewing rubber. The peppercorn didn't do much to help the flavour. The fact that most of us asked for medium rare, and they all came out as well done was shocking. Some of the steaks went up to around £26 as well!

We only sent 1 back as a lot of us were hungry and didn't have time to wait for 6 new dishes to be made. The place was practically empty so the especially long wait times for food to be served didn't make sense with the quality that was produced.

The burger that was ordered, the brochie bun was burnt and the meat was overcooked. The person who ordered it left most of it on his plate as it wasn't enjoyable at all.

I will give credit to our server who rectified one of our steaks and took a round of drinks off our bills. The steak that was recooked had no complaints, and was cooked to the expected standard and was enjoyable. But it's a shame that the chef was able to cook the dish but didn't put the time, care, or effort to get it right the first time round for everyone.

The waitress did explain the kitchen was overwhelmed with our order (7 people, starters and mains) and they were understaffed, but we waited a long time between when the starters and mains were served. I would have understood the long wait times to ensure our food was up to par, but to have long wait times for food, joint with it being poorly cooked, was unacceptable. As someone who's recently left hospitality, I can fully appreciate the pressure and stress the industry is under but I can't accept the rushed, and complete lack of professionalism in the food

It's such a shame as it's a beautiful pub with a large outdoor garden area, and the purpose of our visit was to celebrate a birthday, so the experience unfortunately left a poor aftertaste in our mouths

Nice interior but greeted by a pile of sick close to the entrance with a slippery floor sign next to it, 2 hours later when we left it was still there, lovely first impression!!

Booked a 5.30pm table for Sunday Lunch so expected some roast options could be limited. No chicken, pork or mash potato. Not sure how you run out of mash however, just peel some spuds boil and mash them up with butter!

Took 30 minutes for starters to arrive cold, sent back. Staff didn’t have much
personality or customer service, abrupt and lacking any enthusiasm. Another 40 minutes for main course and had not cleared the starters aways before they arrived or collected empty glasses so table got a bit cluttered. Looking around the place and quite a few disgruntled looking customers, sending food back and waiting a long time……

Roast beef main courses (only meat available) were luke warm, roast parsnips way over cooked , big dry and cold Yorkshire pudding and just like warm cabbage as the main veg. Roast potatoes barely warm and a bit hard. Gravy was lovely but again almost cold. Not once did anyone ask how the food was, say sorry for the wait or if everything was okay when paying the bill, like they knew it wasn’t good and didn’t want to ask! Didn’t charge us for a round of drinks, but honestly came here for food so extra drinks didn’t really cut it. Lots of other nice gastro pubs and restaurants around the area delivering far better food and service than this place, so would 100% not return and recommend you go elsewhere to.

Lovely pub in the heart of Walton on the Hill. Warm and friendly with great food and an extensive drinks menu - including local Silent Pool Gin.

Incredible food. Took a while to arrive, luckily we weren't in a hurry. Well worth the wait though.

Very very poor meal. We went for my grandad’s birthday and not only was his gamon overcooked, all over our chips were cold, my haddock was tasteless, my father’s chicken burger was very dry and over cooked, probably straight from the freezer. The staff felt rude and when my mother asked for the bill a second time I saw the two bar staff laughing away. Furthermore, half way through the meal I had to my coat on due to them turning the heating off. It was cold and unpleasant. When you pay £160 for a meal for 5 and you get all that, it made for an awful evening and we will not be retuning. My sister’s starter came 15 minutes after everyone else’s, but they did take this off the bill. All together disappointment.