Eat My Words: We review The Hare and Hounds in Fulbeck

Heading out for dinner with a group of self-confessed ‘foodies’, I knew I would need to recommend somewhere not only nice, but very good.

Luckily, I’d heard through the village grapevine that the Hare and Hounds in Fulbeck was ‘the’ place to go if you wanted to impress.

I had a look at the menu beforehand and knew straight away I was in trouble — I was going to be giving my foodie friends far too much choice, and I was right!

On a lovely warm spring evening, we took our drinks into the outside area on the sunny patio, and the covered patio area was also lit up with fairy lights as the sun went down and was simply beautiful.

We headed inside to take our table when it was ready, and for a Tuesday night it was quite busy, so I knew already the place must have a good reputation.

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Now I have a sweet tooth and will always choose to have a dessert instead of a starter, and will even make sure I have a lighter main course if I see that there is a particularly rich-sounding dessert to make sure I have enough room in my belly to eat it.

Having said that, the starter menu was full of delicious sounding options, and we were all spoiled for choice. I decided to take a chance that I’d have room for three courses and decided on the Soup of the Day for my starter which was tomato and roasted pepper.

My friends opted to try the soup as well, with the salmon and crab fishcakes and tempura prawns, and they were demolished within minutes as they were so tasty.

The soup was definitely a wise choice, we all agreed, as the sweetness of the tomato was given a nice kick with the pepper, and was the perfect start to our feast.

Then came the conundrum of the main courses — there was so much choice that we all ummed and ahhed to the extent that the waitress had to give us more time and come back to us twice.

It was a meat-lovers paradise, with steaks, beef and lamb burgers, and ribs, as well as curry, pies, fish dishes, salad and more. I opted for the chicken with dauphinoise potatoes and vegetables, while my friends went for the steak (with king prawns to make it a surf and turf), the Gelston lamb burger (supporting a local business), and the chicken schnitzel.

Well, where to begin? My chicken was cooked to perfection and the choice of dauphinoise potatoes instead of roast potatoes was a nice, lighter choice on a warm evening. It was so tasty as well, as some roast chicken has been a little dry with meals I’ve had elsewhere, but this was just right.

My friend who ordered the schnitzel’s eyes nearly fell out of his head when he saw the size of it, as well as the enormous portion of chips, but somehow the whole lot was gone because he said it was so moreish, he couldn’t stop eating.

Similarly, my friend’s lamb burger was described as delicious, and she said it was one of the best she’d ever had, and the steak I’m told was “cooked to perfection”.

Even though we were all full to bursting, the dessert menu was calling us, so we opted to order three puddings and split them between the four of us. The chocolate brownie is always my go-to dessert so we ordered two of them, as well as the salted caramel and chocolate tart.

In hindsight, a lighter dessert may have been wiser as they were so rich that we struggled to finish them, but that’s in no way a reflection of the standard of the cooking, but on us for not knowing our limits!

Overall, there were four very full stomachs and four very satisfied customers, which considering the ‘foodie’ status, is a huge compliment to the fab team at the Hare and Hounds.

Out of five:

Food: I’ve gone on and on in this review about how good the food was and I’m running out of adjectives, so I’ll just say every little morsel was simply amazing. *****

Drinks: As two out of four of us were driving, we had a nice mix of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, ranging from a couple of different ciders, a Pinot Grigio rose, soft drinks, and a Guinness, and luckily there was a plentiful variety to suit us all. ****

Decor: A pleasure to dine in the Hare and Hounds, both inside and out. The interior was light and airy with plenty of space and a cosy feeling, while the outdoor space would be lovely to sit in longer during the evening had we had more time. *****

Staff: The staff were fantastic, very attentive and also very patient as they put up with our indecisiveness! *****

Price: The tab came to £222.30 altogether, which for eight drinks, three starters, four mains, and three desserts isn’t too pricy for food of such excellent quality. If you’re on a budget, I would suggest going here as a treat, but definitely go because it is well worth it. ****

Have you had a great meal? Share your own Eat My Words reviews or tell us where to try by emailing: news@lincsonline.co.uk