Since launching, Jeremy Clarkson’s pub has not been short of headlines.
The controversy magnet that is Clarkson, formerly of Top Gear and The Grand Tour and now starring in the fourth season of Prime Video's Clarkson’s Farm, has remained true to form with his latest venture.
Having opened his own village pub, The Farmer’s Dog, in Asthall near Burford last August, the undeniable titan of the presenting world has been getting backlash on social media over the pub’s menu prices.
The Farmer’s Dog is focused on selling British-grown produce and beverages, with a few exceptions being made to ensure the place can stock things like tonic water. With that locally-sourced focus, it’s got menu prices to match.
Sourcing food and ingredients from overseas is often cheaper, of course, but if you want to support British industries then you’ll have to expect a slightly steeper charge.
But that hasn’t sat well with every social media commenter.
“Thought @JeremyClarkson wanted an affordable pub for customers. £24 for pie and veg is a bit much,” moaned one customer who seems to have missed the past five years’ rampant inflation.
Another chimed in to call the pricing strategy ‘f****** extortionate'.
The prices and frothing social media commentary haven’t done much to harm the business, with the pub being packed-out throughout its opening hours. Clarkson’s star power certainly isn’t to be trifled with.
That said, the disgruntlement shows no signs of slowing down. One woman has shared her receipt from a meal at the pub on a Facebook page entitled ‘The Farmers Dog Pub, Jeremy Clarkson’, spurring fresh outrage from cynical commenters.
"Went to The Farmer's Dog yesterday, what a lovely experience," she said. "Very busy but once we were in the pub for our meal it was a relaxed atmosphere, the food was delicious staff were brilliant."
Five roast dinners and a round of drinks came to what she deemed a ‘great price’, and she ‘highly recommended’ a visit.
The receipt showed that two Hawkstone Premium Lagers had cost £7 each, and a medium-sized wine came to a tenner.
Three juices were priced at £3.40 each, while the roast dinners came to £24 per head, or £26 for those who had both beef and pork.
A kid’s roast, meanwhile, was £12, a a smattering of sides came to £6.50 on top of all that.
After a service charge of £19.34 – added automatically at 12.5% of the bill – the total came to £174.04.
If you’ve been for a meal out lately, most of these prices won’t come as much of a shock. Once you factor in the costs of sourcing local ingredients, they sound pretty close to what you’d expect at such an establishment.
But au contraire, the social media commentariat aren’t happy about it - despite the fact the customer seemed happy with the value for money.
And there seemed to be one detail in particular that riled many people up.
"P***es me off when they just add a service charge,” frothed one commenter. “Should be your decision to tip or not depending on the service. Was looking forward to going here."
"With the service charge, that's £7.88 a pint. That's crazy," said another who had best never visit a pub in London.
A third wrote: "Bl**dy service charges! How annoying! This isn't America, Jeremy, and it is not how we do things here!"
One other added: "I always believe in tipping the staff, but 25% service charge already added! What if the service isn't up to standard?" It’s very generous of this commenter to try and double the service charge, but it was in fact 12.5%.
But many pointed out that there was a very simple solution, with one hitting back: "You can ask for service charge to be taken off the bill if you don’t want to pay it."
Another echoed: "You can ask for the service charge to be removed if you don't want to pay it. It's still discretionary. It gives you a good opportunity to explain why you didn't think the service was up to scratch."
Others, meanwhile, were condemning of the food. If you’ve ever taken a picture of a roast, you’ll know those photos rarely do the meals justice. Nevertheless, someone commented: "Sorry. But that roast dinner looks like something from a Wetherspoons or Hungry Horse pub.”
Considering how popular the pub and its landlord are, there’s been plenty of defence issued online too.
"You know what you're getting if you choose to go there," said one defender. "It's not Wetherspoons!"
"That's not bad considering it's all British and locally supplied," said another.
"£30-a-head for a nice dining experience with decent food,” mused another. “Seems pretty good value."
Another agreed: "That's pretty good value. At least you know all the ingredients are British at The Farmer's Dog.”
Running a village pub sounds like an absolute nightmare as it is, but it’s fair to say that most don’t get quite this bright a spotlight scrutinising every last detail.
Featured Image Credit: Mark Kerrison / Contributor/Getty ImagesTopics: Celebrity, TV and Film, Social Media
Rachael Davis