The Bell Inn — Restaurant in Harborough

We had Sunday lunch at The Bell on 5th August 2018. To my surprise, we were the only people eating there (there were some folks drinking), but hopefully once word gets around about how good they are, next time we'll struggle to get a table (where were all the hungry locals...?)

The newly restored dining room is large and airy, with a fascinating old map of the village, with several contemporary photos, taking up one wall.

There was a nicely varied menu, but all three of us went for the roast chicken. It arrived with everything already on the plate, and it was very well cooked and tasty.

My elderly mum asked for a smaller portion but nevertheless she still had a good plateful. My wife and I ended up having to leave some potato and veg as there was just too much. If I might suggest, it would have been better if we'd had the veg on a separate plate so we could have taken a bit less.

The big surprise was how little it cost (£28 including soft drinks), in fact I think they're perhaps underselling themselves compared to other nearby pubs.

In spite of not managing to clear our main courses, we naturally had a bit of room for pudding. This was where they really excelled themselves. My 'Chocolate Mess' was, I think, the nicest pudding I've ever had, anywhere. Three puds for just over a tenner, again, great value.

The jovial landlord and his barman were always on hand to ensure we were well looked after, and I'm sure if you wanted a variation on the menu, they'd be able and very willing to help.

There was Sky Sports Football on in the bar, but it was unobtrusive in the dining room (and it would have been even better if Rangers hadn't let that last minute Aberdeen equaliser in...!)

For anyone on a narrow boat passing by, you need to try to moor up at the Foxton side of the tunnel and you'll then have around a 10 minute walk into the village. But it's well worth it I assure you. Incidentally, if you have trouble mooring, please let the Canal and River Trust know as for some reason, and in spite of numerous appeals, they seem very reluctant to improve the dire towpath situation at Husbands Bosworth.

All in all, this pub really deserves to thrive and from our visit, I thoroughly...

Went for food this week as we were staying close by on the canal for a night. I have to be honest, on first impressions I was not sure what it would be like, especially when the barmaid explained they had a limited menu at the moment.

We're not overly fussy eaters though and are always happy to try everything, everywhere and give anywhere a fair chance.

The reduced menu was simple but offered enough of a choice of a snack, main meal, burger, fish and chips etc.

We had a cheese and bacon and burger and scampi and chips. Based on the food we ordered I can honestly say it was one of the best pub meals we have had. Really really good chips, probably the best I have had in a pub, the burger was juicy with lots of flavour, as were the onion rings and scampi.

I'm not sure reading the other reviews if the pub has recently been taken over. I mean sure it needs a little doing up here and there and the garden could be much better and made better use of, but hopefully these things are in hand. With the loss of trade with Covid and now lack of money around it will take time, but if we're passing again in the future we will definitely pop in to see...

Regrettably we were faced with aggression from whom I presume to be the landlord. On sitting in the garden our group, of females, was approached by a man who, without greeting, asked tersely ‘Can you tell me why this umbrella is on the ground’ and angrily scolded us for moving this item, with we had done with no damage to it in any way, and lain it on the dry ground. There was simply no need for this abrupt and anti social approach. His attitude was rude and unnecessarily aggressive towards a group of females spending money in his pub. Rest assured, we will not make this a repeat performance as we shall not be visiting...