Hare & Hounds

Quick glance:
+ fantastic French and English food
+ generous portion
+ happy and helpful staff
— reservations recommended
Full review:
Three of us came here for a late pub lunch on a rainy, lazy Saturday. There is a small car park for a dozen or so cars, and luckily for us we arrived to filll up the one, remaining free spot and dodged the rain to quickly get into the pub.
Once inside, we were warmly greeted and shown a table in the main restaurant. The choices on the carte du jour is sumptuously enticing, offering dishes split between traditional English pub grub like fish and chips and French edibles like escargot. The incongruity was at first puzzling; how good would French dishes be in a pub? And how good would pub grub taste in a French setting? Is it French or English?
We had the escargot to share, and the garlicky dish was satisfying and necessitating more bread to soak up the buttery goodness. My (petite) friend opted for the cod and chips, which was enormous but so tasty that, to my amazement, she polished off every last piece of the fish. I was deciding between two dishes and ultimately went on the waiter’s recommendation for their seafood stew, apparently new on the menu and well received by other patrons.
I wasn’t disappointed when the dish arrived on a wooden platter. The visual and smell made my mouth water, and I couldn’t wait to tuck into my meal. The fishes came in chunks to allow me to taste the freshness and sweetness of each piece of seafood on offer, and enormous flavours bursted with every mouthful. If only I had room for dessert. Next time! And I’ll make sure to book ahead of time too!

2011: new management, new menu, no more chaves. Great pub and the bar & restaurant food is really good. Try it, you’ll like it!/