Generous George

The worst meal I have ever eaten. It was classed as a vegetarian burger of cauliflower and cheese and when I cut into it is was just a flat, soggy mush. The burger was not a burger consistency, just cream that was battered. For nine pound the meal was overpriced, even with the bun and oven chips. A lot of the prices on the menu are not listed either.

Rebranded as Generous George. Its been re-​decorated and re-​branded.
It was quite busy and the food was quite good. The 2 for 1 has gone but there is a good menu choice at a reasonable choice.
Service was a bit slow and if you want a refillable soft drink you have to go to the bar or get the person serving you to do it for you instead of a machine.

As part of a chain of restaurants now known as Generous George, I was highly impressed by the customer service and personalisation to our evening.
The venue had recently had a refurbishment and it was extremely modern, great on the eyes and not what I was expecting. They’ve changed the vibe from a chain pub to a unique place. They have a good selection of real ales too and have a loyalty card for collection of stamps to get one free!
The food was presently really well and obviously the refurb included the kitchen and menu, plenty of choice, well displayed and actually cooked. We opted for two courses as they were so filling and we weren’t rushed or pressured at any point.
This place is really relaxed, great location in Coften Hackett and worth the drive out to the countryside, escape the hustle and bustle and enjoy the surroundings too!

The Oak Tree has been re-​decorated, re-​branded and re-​launched, so time for a re-​view.
The old Oak Tree was a bit dead on its feet. An old venue that has been a few different brands of pub over the years (poachers pocket for one) has slowly faded away as The Old Hare and Hounds (an Ember Inns) went from strength to strength (although itself seems to be getting a little lost these days with average food and less imaginative guest ales).
Marstons have sensibly taken the decision to revamp the place to bring it back up to date. This has involved the following:
–Change of brand to ‘Generous George’
–A lick of paint (with lots of stencilled writing)
–A slightly shifted focus to make sure cask ales are fairly up front in the bar
–Installation of pizza ovens and introduction of a separate pizza menu
Its hardly the most ground-​breaking move a pub will ever take, and certainly no chances were taken, but its at least brought the pub into this decade!
I went for a pizza, figuring if that’s what they are pushing, then its got to be decent, and it was. A perfectly good thin crust pizza, not anything to shout about but it was pretty good. The other half went for a roast dinner, which was served with all the trimmings, and a HUGE portion of beef. Unfortunately the beef had seen better days, and was rather chewy and a sad grey colour. Drinks wise we had a pint of Jennings Cocker Hoop (average) and a pint of Pedigree New World Pale (good). Both were well kept.
Prices aren’t bad at £7.50 and £8 respectively for the food, drinks were averagely priced too.
All in all the place is fine. If I fancied popping out to eat a pizza, it wouldn’t be the worst place to turn to, and I think you would probably struggle to get better elsewhere. We were part of a bigger group and they dealt with it ok (apart from a weird situation where the table was booked for 1pm and our food was actually cooked to this time, not wrong, just weird) Its just a bit hard to get excited about the place.

The Oak Tree is part of the Marston’s group, so it looks pretty standard from that perspective. It’s quite a substantial pub, with a large ish carpark. Clean, plenty of room for families, and a separate kids menu with the usual burgers, chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, pasta etc… Personally I prefer a restaurant/​pub to serve smaller portions of its usual menu rather than have a kids menu with alternatives, but it does have a fair bit of variety and would work as a treat.
Service was mostly prompt and friendly, although our food didn’t all arrive together.
Food is cheap and usually you can get 2 for 1 on mains, which makes it very reasonable, and as Ross C said– it’s convenient for the Lickey Hills.

ive been there a couple of times as the oaktree and unfortunately the service every time was poor and the food wasn’t up to much either, on two occasions the chefs special board wasn’t available and the staff waited for at least 10 minutes before comeing back to us and said so i must admit it was much better as the poachers pocket

The Oak Tree is a nice little pub and carvery located on the corner of the Lickey Hills which makes this location a great and local spot to drink or eat after or perhaps before a day out at the Lickey Hills. My girlfriends and me usually pop into The Oak Tree for an afternoon drink or snack. The atmosphere is really relaxing and chilling when it’s not that busy, leaving the sofa seating area to me and my girlfriends. Bonus! However, when it is quite packed, the atmosphere is really lively and busy but still suitable for families and young children. The Oak Tree supplies a fairly big car park on site if ever you are travelling by car so that this pub and carvery is accessible to many people. They also have a cute little outdoor seating area for those hot days of summer.

This pub only really serves a purpose in getting a refreshing pint after a nice walk around the Lickeys. Other than that, it’s nothing very special. Prices are a little too expensive for simple drinks, considering that the pub décor isn’t particularly unique or inviting. I thought that £3 for Sailor Jerry and coke was a bit too much to pay, especially in a pub that is a little dull and generic inside.
The food menu is made to look cheap with a two for one offer, but actually, the prices of singular meals rarely go below £10 anyway, so you’re practically paying the same for a single meal anywhere else. The food is standard pub grub such as lamb shank, rack of ribs & chips and chicken pies. I’ve experienced better tasting food, and I find the two for one offer very awkward if I’m not dining with even numbers of people.
The garden area of the pub is nice to sit and relax, but the pub itself isn’t any different to your local. There are better, brighter pubs in the area to grab a drink and a meal. Although, the size of The Oak Tree is going to waste; with a refurbish and menu change, I can see the pub becoming very popular.

Absolutely disgusted with the shoddy service. Waited 40 minutes before we got up and walked out. Was ignored time and time again by the pregnant waitress. Will never eat here again

14 Jan 2010 I know its a low rating but Oak tree let ltsef down
we know its never going to be fine dining but the xmas dinner down in the basement felt like a dungeon very dark tucke away in the corner 2 round tables pushed together to make a large table of 8 wasnt condusive for conversation
Service was good very prompt
portion size was good but tiny plastic serving pots of garlic mayo and tomato sauce is a particular bug bear of mine
pâté was on the cheap sort
butter portions were rock hard we had to warm them in our clenched hands 3 of us doing that at the table can’t even think what we looked like !
mains were just ok — the menu listed Salmon I was given a piece of gray reconstituted white fish be it coley hake or pollock it was NOT salmon and it still tasted of the boil in the bag accompianied by SPROUTS very hard peas roast potatoes carrots very unusual combination it wasnt very nice at all and you’ll be shouting at me for my nxt statement I didnt comment when asked if everything was ok but we were on a xmas night out and they werent my work colleagues so You can stop reading at this point if you like
Dessert was yes you’ve guessed it squirty cream over everthing
We didnt even want to try the coffee or tea
to top the evening table was being cleared — no sign of dessert as yet ??? and the waitress was taking the glasses away and my wine
glass which had a large mouthful left in it it certainly didnt look like dregs was whisked away by putting her thumb in it to manage the other 3 glasses at the same time of then she said i do apologise I have stuck my thum in that I will immediatley get you another I hadnt spoken a word only to answer yes it was dry white thank you
I do understand the price was not huge but why do everthing on the cheap and nasty ts a shame the main menu looked ok and the normal area of the pub looked clean and bright and wel kept instead of shoving us down in the dungeon which was so unwelcoming and stuffed with other xmas parties but saying that I may go in the daytime lunch and try it again
qypers comments please

The Oak Tree used to be my favourite pub when I lived over here, it was called The Poachers Pocket then and featured a huge play area downstairs where I could deposit the kids’ for a couple of quid and sit and enjoy a drink and a meal. When we moved back over this way we decided to pop in, and was surprised to find the pub has been completely done out to give it more of a restaurant feel — and annoyingly the play area has gone so that the new owners of the pub could make this large downstairs space into two function rooms.
Oh well, we were there by then so decided to stay and have a family meal as we had noticed they offer their meals on a ‘2 for 1′ basis so with four of us eating the savings would be good.
The pub is much brighter looking than it used to be, they’ve removed all the dark wood panelling and painted it all a neutral cream colour which is refreshing and gives it a much better appeal. Seating is a choice of benches or chairs, we ate on one of the soft and comfy benches because it’s easier to keep the kids’ under control sitting at one of these as they cannot start causing havoc without getting past me or their Dad first!
The menu is quite extensive and there are several starters to choose from, as well as plenty of main courses and desserts. We had a main course each, which only cost us £14 because of the excellent ‘2 for 1′ offer which I’m sure you’ll agree is fantastic value to feed four people — the baby had just a few bites from each of our dinners so it wasn’t worth ordering her a meal.
Three of us had a 10oz steak, and our nine year old daughter ate a chicken breast in BBQ sauce. All our meals were served with chips, although we could have asked for a jacket potato instead. We waited only around 10 minutes for our meals to be served and when they were I was highly impressed with the large portion sizes, and also with how juicy the steak looked. I was a little surprised that we had to ask for sauce though as most pubs will automatically bring this to you with your meal, or at least ask if you want any. This wasn’t really a problem though, and as soon as I mentioned it the waitress got us everything I’d asked for and also bought a couple of individual ketchups for the kids’.
I was very impressed with the quality of the food, it was cooked to perfection and even though the three of us had all asked for our steaks to be cooked in different ways when they arrived they were cooked exactly how we’d asked. My daughter also said the chicken breast was delicious, and the sauce was rich and very tasty — I spread a little on my steak and it had a really rich and almost meaty flavour to the sauce.
We didn’t have dessert, but I fancied the look of the apple pie and custard — I just didn’t have room by the time I’d finished my meal!
There is a fantastic range of drinks available at The Oak Tree, including a very good wine menu from which you can buy a glass or full bottle. We shared a bottle of Shiraz with our meal and found it to be fresh and delicious, despite being very reasonably priced.
The staff are all very good in The Oak Tree and nothing seems too much trouble for them. They are friendly but without being over familiar and very helpful. Even when the pub is busy the service is quick and friendly so queues at the bar go down quickly.
Incidentally I am due to visit The Oak Tree again on 4^th December for one of their set Christmas meals. These meals are priced at 2 for £25 which I think is an absolute bargain for a yummy sounding three course meal — I’ve picked Game Pâté, Turkey Christmas dinner and Rhubarb Crumble and Custard, will update my review on the 5^th and let you know what I think!