Marquess of Exeter — Restaurant in England

I have a lot of nice things to say about this Inn/ restaurant so please bear with me 😊 The Inn is situated in the very lovely, rural, quiet main street village of Lyddington in Rutland. On the outside, it looks like your typical village pub but inside there's a very pleasant twist. It has been under new ownership since spring 2022 combining traditional English country pub and a balancing touch of India. I use the term balancing as complete respect and importance has been given by the owner and management to traditional English village pub life so as not to alienate the locals with the introduction of a more exotic Indian/ English fusion. In my two stays I have yet to sample the traditional menu and have instead opted for the Indian menu so I can only go on and give a glowing report of the quality of the food on offer from that menu. The Indian food is the creation of award winning chef Krishnapal Negi from London with a menu of around 9 starters, a similar amount of main courses and half a dozen desserts with specials on offer too (£30 - £35 per head). Portions are not over sized but leave your stomach with a 'Just about the right amount' feeling which i think is important for a healthy night's sleep later. General Manager, Gaurav is a perfect front of house host, calm, polite, attentive and reassuringly in control. Tracey runs a tidy well stocked bar and has that immediate friendly warmth that draws you in making polite friendly conversation easy to have. The service is slick and all staff are friendly and obliging. Lovely little breakfast selection, once again, not over filling but just enough to kick start the day in the right manner. It is table service. Phew!... now, the rooms... The 20 or so rooms are in a separate block to the Inn with some of them over looking land to the back. We've stayed in room 20 on both occasions and can describe the room as comfortable, spacious, light and airy, with an en suite bathroom. Colours are neutral with a feature wall and simple functional furniture and tea & coffee making facilities. Very peaceful with a small country view. Ample car parking around the site. Have loved the two stays so much, a third is already booked so I look forward to returning in a few months time 😊 I can't recommend highly enough as a venue for either a special meal in the restaurant or for a vacation/ meal stay over.

November 23 Edit:

Although Gaurav has moved on within the group, Hanuman has taken over the helm and is guiding the operation in the same fashion as Gaurav along with the help of Sandeep. Both are very polite, obliging, and welcoming. All staff are as attentive as ever and did very well with a 70+ cover service despite an unforseen last-minute kitchen staff shortage.

Hoping to return early in the new year when we are in...

This place is the worst I've ever experienced. The pits of all places. I booked a table on the 21st August 2022 for our wedding anniversary. This was to dine out on the 29th August 2022. Our special day. I received an email on the day of booking stating alls good, and we look forward to meeting you on the day. I also received an email reminder on the 28th. Our reservation was for 1900 hrs. We got there 1845. No cars were in the car park, which I thought was very strange. Another car followed behind us at that point. We got to the entrance and walked in to find the place in darkness, no body about. A guy came out to us and stated they were closed. I said how can you be closed when we have a booking. I showed him our reservation on my phone. At this point, 4 other people came in. They also had a reservation booked. He then went onto the computer and said I don't understand how this could of happened, I've only just received the reservation. I said this was booked on the 21st August, how can you just receive the booking details. We never received any oppolgies, nothing. I will never use this place again. Peoples reviews state how good the food is. Well, without any excellent customer service I couldn't give a S**t. We were treated without any compassion. Totally disgraceful. I hope this place closes down soon, they don't deserve to be running a...

Came for a two night stay in the hotel, but also ate here for dinner on our first night.

The dinner menu is split into two sections, one with more pub classics, and another section with Asian cuisine, mostly Indian. We both opted for a curry partner having garlic chicken, and myself, kukuri chicken. We also had garlic naan, egg fried rice, onion bhaji, and shrimp tempura.

All the food was excellent, but the standout for me was the bhaji, probably the best I've ever had. The kukuri chicken was excellent too, and was at the limit of my spice tolerance, so it may be too much for other people.

For dessert we shared a mint teardrop, which was a bit like a giant aero mousse, but richer.

I definitely recommend having dinner here.

Now the rooms, which for me is where the Marquess of Exeter fell down. The rooms trap the heat so well, that on my stay it was unbearably hot and I struggled to sleep, despite that the walls were also very thin, and you could hear everything your neighbours were up to including snoring all night.

If I'm being particularly nit picky, the rooms could do with a bit of maintenance too.

That being said, the bed was comfortable, the rooms were large, and we had our own bathroom in the room. As we booked late it was also...