Fox & Hounds — Restaurant in Chichester

Arrived for a late lunch on a Friday afternoon, to little or no attentiveness from the waitress followed by a “sit anywhere guys” from a casually dressed gentleman who I then assumed to be management.

We were sat in the rear of the venue in a near empty eating area and presented with a menu and wine list. The menu itself was poorly written and non-descriptive of its offerings, from sandwiches to main meals and desserts. There was no drinks menu other than wines offered.

We were then attended to by the casually dressed gentleman who asked what drinks we would like, opting for 2 soft drinks and being asked if I’d like “normal coke” as opposed to what else other than Pepsi that might be on offer, with no drinks menu to tell me otherwise.

We ordered our food with the waitress, I had the “open” sandwich of halloumi and garlic mushrooms with a side of fries and my partner a club sandwich. Food took around 10 minutes to arrive which is where things really started to go down hill. My own sandwich contained a few halloumi sticks on top of 2 larger mushrooms topped with what I can only describe as possibly pesto and toasted bread. My partners club sandwich contained a few pieces of soggy fatty bacon, flat, dry and grey chicken that looked like it had been sat on a hot plate for a few hours, chorizo, lettuce, tomato and small spread of mayonnaise. The last time I checked a club sandwich did not contain chorizo, and neither did the menu state this.

To be perfectly honest for the sandwiches we were offered we could have received better and paid less for a Tesco meal deal and the quality would have been vastly improved. The halloumi from my own sandwich tasted like it had been sourced from Iceland and I am still waiting for the garlic that was missing from my mushrooms to appear.

We left pretty promptly as we were rather disappointed, a brief conversation with the gentleman while we were getting into the car was met with a shrug.

While I appreciate that independent hospitality can be a struggle, the food offerings, service and management let this venue down and I hope that in the future they can learn and improve from their mistakes, and maybe describe their dishes on the menu rather than adding miscellaneous items...

I cannot thank Marco and his team enough for making myself and my mother welcome on Sunday.

Marco made such a huge difference to our visit. Being veggie means I usually have limited options as not many places cater for this or if they do it’s usually the standard “cheese and onion” in some shape or form; especially on Sundays options are even more limited.

BUT the Fox and Hounds came to the rescue and offered an veggie option for their carvery, which is so refreshing. Unfortunately the nut roast had almonds in it which meant I couldn’t have it. But, Marco asked us to hang on and disappears into the kitchen and comes back a few moments later after discussing options with the chef and offers me veggie sausages (he also checked the ingredients for nuts) instead of the nut roast.

I can not begin to tell you how happy I was and so I went for the veggie sausages - not only that but they also prepare you your very own veggie friendly roast potatoes and gravy. My mother had the standard carvery and loved it too.

The meal was FANTASTIC and the guest ale was delicious; even tho I made it into a shandy - the only downside. No room for desert for me but just means we need to return and we can’t wait.

BIGGEST thanks to Marco, Chef and All at The Fox and Hounds,...

We decided to have lunch out on a Friday and chose the Fox and Hounds in Funtington. We have been before so knew what to expect. We often use the garden but it was too chilly and windy. The menu is varied and the prices reasonable for a pub / restaurant. Service was slower than usual, but we went in any hurry. I chose the pie of the day which was beef and Stilton, with mash and a hot slaw. My wife had the smoked haddock. Her dish looked more appetising. I was a bit disappointed by the pie, in that it was quite a small serving overall, with a sparse filling. More gravy than meat.

For dessert, I had the 'special fruit and nut bread and butter pudding. I expected a rich, smooth pudding, it was really quite firm. It's more like a bread pudding. I like a lot of custard with my dessert so asked. When the bill came, I was a little shocked to see I had been charged £1.50 for a large thimble-full of custard.

We will return, but we will be a bit more circumspect over...