The Langley Tap, Langley Burrell, Chippenham

(01249) 652707

Having heard good things about The Langley Tap, my partner and I left behind our traditional haunts in favour of Langley Burrell.

We’d had a look on the website before heading out and were pondering whether to go for the bar menu or the more formal a la carte menu.

Still deciding as we entered, we were met by a member of staff who immediately steered us towards the dining area which was empty, save for a family group.

Despite the tasty sounding starters including oven-baked goat’s cheese and baby beetroot with dressed mixed leaves (£4.65) or a home-made fishcake with salmon and spring onion and served with a sweet chilli dip (£4.75), we went straight for the mains.

I always get excited when pubs have a vegetarian section on the menu as it usually means there’ll be more on offer than the usual nut roast or pasta bake.

And I certainly wasn’t disappointed. A Mediterranean vegetable and goat’s cheese-filled pastry tartlet with salad and new potatoes (£8.75) instantly took my fancy, although the spinach and ricotta cannelloni (£8.65) and vegetable risotto (£8.95) were equally appealing.

My decision to go with the tartlet was a good one as I tucked into a large plate of tasty food. The puff pastry was crisp and the vegetables tangy, although too much goat’s cheese for my liking.

Mike chose chargrilled chicken breast topped with a creamy Stilton and white wine sauce and new potatoes (£10.95) and proclaimed it to be delicious.

The food took a while to arrive, but you could tell that it was all freshly-cooked, so was well worth it.

What wasn’t worth the wait was our attempts at trying to order dessert. Requests for the pudding board were ignored and once our plates had been cleared away we were left feeling invisible.

We decided to abandon all hopes of a lovely pudding and tried asking for the bill.

But even this was difficult and we had to go to the bar to pay as several members of staff seemed more interested in chatting to regulars in the bar than serving diners.

The food was absolutely fantastic and the tastiest we’ve had in a long while, so it was a shame that the service failed to live up to the food’s high standards.

Opening hours: Monday to Friday 11.30am-2.30pm and 6pm-11pm; Saturday 11.30am-11pm; Sunday noon-6pm.

Ales include 6X and Henry's Pale Ale, plus an extensive wine list.

Disabled access

Visit www.thelangleytap.com

Our Eating Out is an independent review carried out by the Gazette without prior knowledge of the owners.