Not the most charming location right by the flyover, but that is where the unpleasantries end!…read moreInside this is a friendly place and a proper traditional pub to boot. Quite a fair garden space also! This pub has rapidly become one of the essential ale houses of Leicester. I fully expected to be staying a while, confirmed once I saw 3 beers on I'd not had before. Whipples Gold, Belvoir Dark Horse mild and something I mysteriously noted down as 'Sedge of Betterns' which appears not to exist! One cool initiative is that if you finish the barrel then your next beer is on the house. Make you feel better about getting that last poorer quality pint. Chatting with the bartender led to the first time in my life that someone pointed out I was old enough to be their father!

Quite the village pub! The New Inn is an excellent place to get a wonderful meal and a friendly…read morepint. A family run freehouse, it is probably the best restaurant in the Rushden area. Not the cheapest, not the biggest, but probably the overall best. Arthur and his family do a bang up job of providing wonderful meals and friendly service to visitors and locals alike. Always two cask ales on tap (usually Greene King IPA and Timothy Taylor's Landlord), a few draught beers and ciders, and a small bottle selection. Quite the gin selection, too, as well as a wine list. You'll be sure to find locals sitting in the cozy fire warmed pub section in the winter, or enjoying the beautiful shaded garden in the summer. Well-behaved dogs and children are welcomed!

The queens head is lovely place to chill out and unwind and with a forever updated real ale…read moreselection,the ales are prepared to perfection and are highly valued by the county " camera group " who take ales very very seriously. The landlord and landlady phil & dawn have transformed this historic public house into a stunning wam and friendly establishment and they work hard to make everyone feel comfortable. The atmosphere is quite relaxed with a mature crowd ( no yobbo's ) and there is always some old fellow singing and playing something in the eveing's. Also there is a pool table with a pretty good pub team and also regular darts and domino's matches. Very worth a visit :)

The best thing in this pub is the Landlady. A close second…read moreis the live ad hoc music apt to break out anytime; bring along yourself + any instrument (most nights), beginners welcome. There is nothing pretentious about this pub. Being a Freehouse it has avoided brewery/leisure group themed makeovers and corporate interferers. As old buildings go it has a long and interesting history without "Ye olde English" fakery. A word of warning though; the queens is next to a florist and opposite a funeral directors,so, fall asleep in the bar at your peril !!

Lovely, traditional English pub. They've got all the important things nailed. Cold beer, hot food -…read moreand at great prices. Really friendly bar/restaurant staff that greeted me like a long-lost friend. There is a great restaurant - full of English charm and the food is just what you expect and need from a proper British boozer. The essentials of a pool table and dart board are also in place! Plenty of parking in the car park and a cheery open fire adds to the charm. There is a function room and private dining room (we had a good nosey around) and there are murals on one wall of the famous faces that used to frequent - Rod Stewart, Noel Edmonds, U2 and various famous faces from an epic time in British music history. It's not a music venue as such now but there are occasional bands, quiz nights and other events on. Worth checking in if you are passing through or are nearby. Woollaston is a really pretty little village for a wander around. Hope you enjoy as much as I did!!

A pub with a fantastic reputation delivers a great night out and doesn't disappoint. The Wollaston…read moreInn used to be known in the 1970s as a mecca for live acts with outstanding bands making the trek from the city out to this little oasis in the country. Acts such as U2, Status Quo, Thin Lizzy and John Peel himself are all said to have played there in their early career. Obviously the pub has changed radically since those heady days of rock and roll. The old hall upstairs which was used as the club can still be hired out for events. With its large windows and stripped floor it has a fantastic charm for an intimate wedding or celebration. However, you will be pleased to hear that there is no evidence of the 70's disco that it used to be. The restaurant downstairs is a revelation to the village. Chris the head chef has brought high quality dining to the area much like his predecessor brought quality rock bands. His menu is interesting without being pretentious with classics such as game, steak and chicken sitting beside a great fish menu. The selection changes regularly so each time there is something new to try. His wine list is also very strong and we have enjoyed many a night sampling a range of grape derived delights. The pub offers private dining as well as the hall and restaurant so it can cater for family groups of up to 10 or 12 people. On the nights we have been there the place has been busy so I recommend booking ahead of time. In conclusion I would highly recommend this place if you are in mind for top notch food in a historic setting.

The Old Barn Inn was a warm welcome for this weary traveler who had had a nasty encounter with…read morenature only a few minutes before. I needed a place to escape the rainy elements, sit down, catch my breath and have a small meal. The Old Barn Inn was right there, situated in the small village of Glooston, northeast of Leicester. I was expecting what has been typical, inexpensive, no-thought-put-into-the-meal pub food. But much to my delight, this place far exceeded that expectation, and allowed me to escape for an hour. The young men who own and run this pub, have taken great care into making sure each meal is as fresh, organic and locally-grown as possible. They bake all their own bread daily, the flour comes from a local farm. Also, they make their desserts daily as well. I ordered the Homemade Ciabatta with Brie and Sauteed Mushrooms, which is served with a healthy leafy salad, lightly sprinkled with vinaigrette, and skinny chips, along with a pot of English Breakfast tea. The ciabatta bread had come out of the oven an hour before, and the entire presentation was artfully done. Though I didn't have any dessert, if it's as well made as the ciabatta, it will be incredible. And I have a strong feeling it will not disappoint those who find themselves at The Old Barn Inn, which is now just the pub. The owners live upstairs in the inn quarters. They offer vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dishes. Dining here is well worth the journey.

The Brampton Halt is in Diana country, a big chunky country pub not two miles from where the…read morePrincess is buried at Althorpe House, this place set up perfectly for wining and dining the type of people who flocked there after the Princess death, its target lunchtime clientele even today, the elderly and the female of the species (with designated male driver) clustering around the noisy tables enjoying the off-season deals. Although numbers are a trickle up at the Earls manor they were surprisingly busy for a credit crunch Thursday night at the 'Halt', me mum treating the family to a good slap up meal from her Premium Bond win. The staff were very pleasant although our table for five (four at best) was appropriately squashed up and hidden away with the rest of us who there only for the February cheap deal, a free bottle of 'plonk' with every two main courses for £20 hard to turn down. Yes it was the old trick of serving you a ropey overpriced main course sandwiched between more exquisite starters and suites, making profit back on those extras and additional booze, a single glass of wine thereafter costing more than a parking ticket you would have got if you had eaten in Northampton. As I say the starters were good, well presented and flavored, around three quid each. The main courses were less sophisticated, the type of stuff that clatters on and off a service station rotunda, gammon and chicken burgers hardly cordon bluer. The salad vedge was so chunky and unoriginally served I could have made a face on the gammon, this kids menu territory. The sweet was a more superior fare, a choice of eight different ones, served in welcome big plates to suggest quality. But it's about value these days and feeding five people for £80 with two bottles of free wine is a cracking deal and the Halt is a nice, if formulaic, pleasant place to eat and enjoy those deals at. In the summer this place will be heaving, a pub fully geared up to holding on to its smokers with an excellent beer garden and heated outside areas, including stuff for the kids and the nearby reservoir bustling with wildlife making for pleasant evening walks with your lover. Like I say the pub is huge and has a games room and a lounge and bar for the locals, cable TV and two sets of toilets keeping the punters moving around the pub. The function room is big and the parking spacers even bigger, enough for 100 cars plus if you ask me. There karaoke and pub nights and so something for everyone. This is an old style family pub that has every chance of surviving this cruel recession that has seen 3 pubs a day close across the nation and 45,000 jobs lost in the industry since the smoking ban. In fact it's so keyed up it's even on wikipedia!

Great location, it's an old converted train station. Lots of ales, and the food is great. It's…read moresomewhere between pub and restaurant food. I am a little biased, this was the first pub I went to when I arrived in England. But it is great. You won't be disappointed

The Swan is a lovely village pub in Braybrooke which attracts visitors from further afield. It is…read morein a lovely traditional building with a homely bar to sit in whilst enjoying a drink, or you can sit outside in the very nice beer garden at the back - the pub has recently won an award for the quality of the gardens. There is also a large, covered decking area to sit on, which has heaters to enable it to be used all year round. The Swan is noted for its food, delivery decent quality pub food at a consistent standard - the restaurant is always busy so they must be doing something right. It is an Everards pub so the ales are the standards Beacon, Tiger and Original, none of which are much to write home about so the occasional guest ales are always welcome.

Lovely, comfortable surroundings and genuinely friendly staff. The food was of a very high standard…read moreand beautifully presented. Excellent value for money. A bit special whether you go for the restaurant type meals or for the basic pub grub. Highly recommended.

Oh My God! What an amazing pub!…read more The White Horse is among the finest pubs in England, in my humble opinion. Landlords Richard and Caroline clearly strive to please every person who walks through this pub's doors, and to my knowledge they always succeed. The food here is superb. Both the lunch and dinner menus are packed full of delicious options that will never disappoint. As I have told many friends, The White Horse can boast that it serves the best vegetarian option in the area. We regularly come on a Sunday and order the vegetarian option and have yet to be disappointed. A great selection a real ales and good beers the White Horse's wine list is not to be overlooked. I love the Rioja here and have been known to horde the better part of a bottle for myself. The staff are always ready to serve with a smile and a genuine appreciation for their patrons, who are more friends than customers after a single visit. Do not visit England without a trip to Tilbrook to enjoy this pub. It is truly the best Great Britain has to offer!