The Sheaf Inn — Restaurant in England

First visit here since the currant landlord took over and after hearing nothing but rave reviews was left a little disappointed. First off the transformation from how the pub looked from the last time I visited was outstanding it looks modern and cosy and welcoming and I'm sure the addition of the outside seating is great on warmer nights. We where greeted in a friendly manner and showed to our table but after this the service wasn't great. The waitress didn't ask how steaks were meant to be cooked until after we brought it up, felt a little slow and inattentive especially as there where only four tables in the dining room. I massively appreciate that when staff are wearing masks it's hard for them to get a bit of personality across and make it feel special but tonight it felt particularly robotic. It also to ok a while for our drinks to arrive that we ordered when the main courses started to arrive in fact we had almost finished the mains. They seemed to be following all the covid guidelines well but at no point did we get the "please could you wear a mask while moving around the pub" speech that is pretty much the new normal at the moment. But unfortunately it was the food we felt the most disappointed with. The pork belly starter the pork was dry like it had been cooked originally at a to high temperature or reheated for to long. This was excentuated by there only being two very small smears of the apple source and the top of the belly being trimmed of all the fat and skin that would help keep it moist. Compared to the other starters of the chicken Bao bun and the halloumi it also looked pretty small when next to them and extra little tiny square of pork and spear of asparagus wouldn't have made it feel overly genourous.

For the mains we had the slow braised venison. Venison very dry and bland was dying for some of that braising liquor to be reduced and mixed back through the meat to keep it moist and give it a bit more flavour. The beetroot was a under done but not inedible, the mash was the best part beautifully seasoned and smooth. The gravey however if you are going to be pretentious enough to call it a whitly Neil jus it's got to taste better than a weak bisto which unfortunately it did.

The picanha steaks where both pretty tough to the point we had to ask for steak knives to cut them. The tempura on the mushrooms was tough and chewy not light and crisp. The "truffle" and thyme chips had no flavour of truffle on them and were not particularly great chips. The puddings the brownie was not a brownie it was warm chocolate cake and the sticky toffee pudding was more of a toffee sponge then a traditional toffee pudding neither where good.

Portion sizes where good (apart from the pork starter looking a third of the size of the rest), you could get three courses comfortably but didn't feel small either. If it had all been executed a little better it would definitely feel great value for money to probably slightly cheaper than most the good food pubs in this part of Northamptonshire. The beer was also well kept and it seems like they regularly change them. I was also impressed with the amount of local produce on offer.

I hope the Sheaf takes this as somewhat positive critasism I am aware I have been particularly harsh but having heard nothing but great things it for me did not live up to it. That said with a little more training out front and attention to detail in the kitchen I don't think it would take much for them to be...

Amazing food, lovely staff and a great atmosphere!

Had a really lovely time here on valentine's day as a table of 3. For starters we had the ham terrine, Korean scotch egg, and mezze bowl. For mains we had the lasagne, pork collar, and venison. For dessert we had the pretzel and popcorn brownie, sticky toffee pudding, and pistachio baked cheesecake.

All the food was exceptional.

The scotch egg starter I had was very flavourful and the Korean spice shined through subtly without being overwhelming, the egg was jammy in the middle and perfectly cooked.

The lasagne was delicious, and the Caesar salad side with it was a great accompaniment to the dish. The venison was very tender and tasted delicious, as someone who doesn't like things tasty super gamey, it tasted great. The pork was also cooked perfectly and delicious, it was juicy and tender.

All the desserts were wonderful in their own rights, I had the brownie and thoroughly enjoyed my dessert, but tasted the pistachio cheesecake and as someone who loves baked cheesecake I would totally go for that next time even though I really loved the brownie.

For a three course meal, portion sizes felt pretty good, nothing felt too big or too small, I wasn't left feeling over indulged at any point, or feeling hungry.

The staff were all super lovely, they were considerate of the more intimate evening (being valentines) and were giving space for people to enjoy themselves rather than making conversation. I did strike up a brief conversation with one of the servers though as I noticed a plaster on him and wondered how he got hurt, he was super polite, and made me laugh over it. I felt super welcome from all of the staff I interacted with.

I would highly recommend going here for a great meal out.

Thank you so much for a...

Went here for a birthday meal on a Saturday night. Table had been booked three months in advanced yet we arrived for our booking to be told the table wasn’t ready and the had to wait 45minutes before we were seated, at a table that had obviously been squeezed in (all I can assume is they had used my table for other people) The staff members that were working front of house were lovely and obviously very busy. We were only asked once through the whole meal if we wanted to order more drinks so the business lost out there as we would normally of had many more than we did. When we can to order all of us wanted the sirloin but we’re informed there were not enough left (run out of steak on a Saturday night!). I can’t fault the food it was delicious and the staff members were very friendly. However I would not book here again. The restaurant was very cramped and the whole experience was a...