Old Hunters Lodge — Restaurant in England

Three of us went out for an evening meal. The waitress was very friendly and accommodating. We sat at a table and our drinks were bought to us promptly. We then ordered our meals, the starters were good and very tasty. Then our main courses arrived. One of our party ordered the Steak and Ale pie, which came with lovely vegetables and chips, the latter of which were of mediocre quality. New potatoes would have been more appropriate and I am sure these would have been changed if we had asked. The meal was delicious, chips aside. One of our party ordered the salmon, which came with mushrooms. The fish was apparently quite dry and the mushrooms had a strange taste, but this may have been personal taste. The third meal consisted of lamb cutlets, with honey roasted vegetables and minted potatoes. One of the lamb cutlets was so full of fat it wasn't edible. The roasted vegetables looked as if they had been boiled, and one of the party asked me to taste them. I can only say that had I have been served this meal I would have left it. It tasted awful and I couldn't taste the mint in the new potatoes. We then ordered dessert, the ice cream was fine, but the apple and blackberry crumble was a disaster. I was again asked to taste this and it was disgusting. It didn't crumble and tasted like it was undercooked pastry. The consistency was solid rather than crumble. In conclusion, would I eat there again, yes but only to order the Steak and Ale pie which was lovely. The standard of the rest of the meals was quite unacceptable in this day and age. I am not suggesting you stay away from this premises, but I am truly flabbergasted that people have given this business such good reviews. I believe this should be a wake up call to their management to improve the standard...

Something of a hidden beauty this place, if you are not a fan of pubs in warehouse buildings (mentioning no names) - this is one for you. The original building still has its stone floor in the bar area and 4 (or maybe more) of you can even sit in an old fireplace (mind you head on the wooden beam). If fact, the low ceilings in this part of the building sets the imagination alight, thinking of how it might have been. The main bar area has a lovely fireplace (which is apparently lit during the winter months) and the space is adorned with a mixture of barstools, various sized tables with chairs and even a couple of comfortable sofas too. We especially liked the lack of fruit machines, or other gaming distractions. There is a large modern restaurant and also a small "old" restaurant which was "un-laid" and open to bar food or those simply enjoying a drink. We had food from the bar menu (actually a specials board) and sat in the sunshine in their large enclosed garden. The food was excellent, the portions are generous and we felt very good value too. Drink prices were in line with most others in the area. The atmosphere and service was both excellent and very friendly. The landlady (Sharon) mentioned they have a small number of rooms available too, including one in the old building with a four poster bed. Following a visit to Dunstable Downs to fly a kite with my 5 year old son - it rounded off a...

We visited on an autumnal Sunday after a good walk in the beautiful surrounding countryside.

This is a lovely old building on the outside, with a fresh modern interior - I imagine it's hard and/or expensive to redecorate in keeping with traditional ways, but the feeling inside is not in keeping with the exterior. It is all clean and well managed - just not the old country pub feeling I expected.

Lots of staff on for a Sunday but most seemed inexperienced and it showed. Service was just about ok, but it felt any moment an order would be missed or a mistake made. We were not shown the specials board and no one checked on our food after we had started eating. Nothing too bad but not great.

The food was OK - nothing to complain of, but nothing to be impressed with. Veg with the Sunday roast was minimal (2 small brocoli, 2 small cauliflower, over cooked cabbage and a small portion of carrots) and microwaved prior to delivery. The beef was cooked well as were the spuds. Portions were on the small side - both adults and children (13 and 11) left wanting more - perhaps due to the long walk. Desserts were lovely - bought in not home made but that's fine.

We realised after we left that we had not been charged for our desserts. I guess the inexperienced staff did mess up at some point.

Not somewhere I'd recommend unless its location is handy - in which...