please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Quaint traditional village pub. 4 ales on offer - not very exciting but certainly acceptable - and excellent food, with our order taken at the table even though we'd have been happy to order at the bar.
|
visited the Hare and Hounds at Claygate today for Sunday Lunch. We had booked a table for 2pm which was just as well as the pub was very busy. There were three of us, two of us has the roast beef and one the lamb. The meat was excellent and served with roast pots, yorkshire pudding, cauliflower cheese, corgettes, swede and carrots. Service was very good and attentive. The deserts were well presented too.
Two courses were � 14.50 and worth every penny for the quality. The pub itself is well decorated and clean, I would highly recommend.
|
Nice pub, the decor has obviously been attended to recently to draw more of the Surrey crowd. A smart move would be to add more vegetables to each food order. Why such a miniscule portion of peas to accompany a big serving of battered fish? Including wider range of vegetarian options might entice some moneyed Esher folk south...
Otherwise, pleasant service.
|
Stopped by for a quick drink at lunchtime today. Very pleasant welcome from the French lady at the bar. All I had was a small glass of wine but I was looked after very well and professionally. The dinner menu looks good; I will definitely return to try it!
tapis - 26 May 2010 16:42 |
I think Lipstick has got it right, and as mccomb has gone quiet Hamptonhunter was probably right about his identity, or else he's shifted his caravan to infiltrate another part of the countryside. We normally visit the pub early evening, and find it relaxed, non-theatening, and with a French-based menu which is more varied than most other nearby pubs. I like the place, but then I remember it 60 years ago when it had a dead oak tree outside that was hollow in the middle allowing a 7 year old to climb inside through the crack and emerge at the top.
|
a lovely pub, with a beautiful garden, i really enjoyed the banter with the staff and being to be made to feel very welcome on my first visit, also no issues with having kids with me which is a great relief, thanks
|
thats because they dont go out in daylight hours! dont be fooled, the two old crones sit at the bar each night like they own the place! Trouble with a capital T!!
|
Had a great birthday lunch here on Sunday - great food and great fun . No sign of any pikeys.....
|
I would have to agree with Lipstick. The pikeys are still there, which is annoying, as it used to be a great pub.
|
mccomb doesnt know what he is talking about - the pikeys still go there - pretending fit in as locals
|
Me thinks "mccomb" is in fact Mr Peter Linacre??? (Director of the company running the Hare and Hounds) look at his other posts and then the pubs the company owns or used to own!
|
Great to see that Dan Gregory is back. He should sort the pub out again. This pub was flying but standards will be revived I am sure. The gentlemen of the road have been shown the door, he tells me
|
how quickly things change - new 'landlord' will serve anyone - the pub should be renamed 'The Pikey Arms' but they'd probably nick the sign if it was!
|
Even though this is called Auberge which makes you think it will be dreadfully gastro it was ok as a pub. A decent range of ale for this sort of place without being spectacular: Bombardier, Directors, Deuchars and Doom Bar. Beer was ok but not great.
|
This was a once great purveyor of fine British Sunday lunches. Alas times have changed. Arrived at 1 pm this afternoon, and noone had a scooby what was going on. The unshaven barman (never a good look in the food game) was totally clueless. Managed to secure a table in the door way. Got our main and only course after 45 minutes. (Lord knows how long the later arrivals waited.) My partner ordered a Ribeye steak, she got an extremely tough old rump! There is absolutely no excuse for this! I asked for some mint sauce for my roast lamb which was stuck infront of my partner who was eating the steak. I don't believe that they eat steak with mint sauce, not even in parts of Australia where they don't shave. A few good points, but on the whole, completely dreadful. Not cheap either. Go to Marney's Village Inn up the road, harder to find, but you won't be dissappointed. Top tucker!
|
This place just keeps getting better and better. Looks like it is now the number 1 place in the village. The big news this week is that Buzz - a kiwi guy I knew in Wimbledon has just arrived to run the bar. It will now get even mor elively and fun. L'auberge remains an absolute gem - with some outstanding well priced food.
|
The inside is very well decked out, a pleasant atmosphere for a quiet drink. Well done.
Could do with spending a bit of money "landscaping" the front though. Even just a bit of gravel might make it stop feeling as though you are drinking in the car-park.
|
This pub always has 4 real ales on the go, two regulars (Broadside & London Pride) plus 2 guest ales. The service is excellent at present with Matt managing the bar. The bar food is good although a little pricey but it is cooked by the same chef that cooks in the attached French restaurant!
|
A large pub at the junction of roads with a car park on one side and a patio/green in front. One side of pub is dedicated to a French restaurant, L'Auberge. Plenty of oak beams in the lounge but some look cosmetic to me. 4 cask ales on the bar, Adnams Broadside and Regatta, Everards Beacon and Fullers London Pride. Beer was tepid and overpriced at �3 per pint. Comfortable leather armchairs and sofas at one end and dining room type chairs in the remainder. Quiet and relaxing atmosphere.
|
Went for the first time this Easter weekend. Had a pint in the bar on Good Friday - a decent stout from Everards - and decided to have lunch in the French, and French-staffed, restaurant at the back. I had duck rillettes to start; the wife had a coarse venison pate. For my main, I had roasted pork belly on a bean casserole; wife had hake fillet on coucous. Price? �5.95 a head for 2 courses - shows what you can do if you put 'cheaper' cuts on the menu. Now OK, this is a pub guide site. But the thing is, this restaurant complements the pub. You feel perfectly at home sat in the very traditional bar, supping one of the 4 real ales on offer. Other establishments take note.
As for price, well you are in Claygate so expect to pay 2.50 upwards for your ale. And �5.95 for the 2 courses in the restaurant is a bargain in anyone's book, particularly when it's cheaper cuts of meat, and fish, well-cooked, as opposed to these 'all you can eat' carverys of meat from an animal that must have died of TB or something.
anonymous - 11 Apr 2007 11:22 |
Couple of nice australian barmaids
|
Nice local pub, beer not as well kept as at the Foley Arms round the corner but is well worth a visit. Have not tried the restaurant but the bar food is of high quality.
|
The 'guzzler' is not the manager of this pub just a fan.
|
This pub is now NO SMOKING (from 1st Jan '07). If you wanna smoke you can pop outside......
|
OK when the local pikeys arnt in attendance. keep them out and this place will be a cracking little gem of a haunt.
anonymous - 12 Dec 2006 15:27 |
I know full well that "theguzzler" below is the new bar manager in this pub, so the review is biased. This pub is the most expensive pub in the area, and in my opinion not worth the money. The bar staff are mostly Australians (not a bad thing), although they are constantly changing, as they move on to other places. This makes the pub very inconsistent. The real ales, although varied, aren't looked after in the cellar as well as they should be, and often don't taste as well as they should. The restaurant does very good food, as does the bar, although the "pub grub" is lacking in portion sizes. Worth a visit, but don't expect a cheap night out. You can get more for your money in the West End of London.
anonymous - 17 Nov 2006 10:44 |
A bit posh and mainly an eating place but still a good place to have a pint and look at life through another perspective
Will2 - 20 Aug 2006 22:48 |
If you fancy a laugh then come here. Seems to be a bit of an eating place as well as a pub. Also you can always invest in some chewable toothbrushes!
|
Ok, time to update the reviews on this cracking little pub. The pub has been taken over and dramatically changed and improved Lovely little French restaurant at one end and a friendly traditional pub in the main section. I have noticed the beer improved too recently with most unusual beers for the area, Deuchars, Camerons! Pleasant aussie staff with a young English manager and a real character French
guy running the restaurant. Well worth a visit, they do pub grub too!
|
great place, go there every monday with a couple of friends after Drama classes at the stage school across the road. very relaxed, friendly regulars, situated right in the centre of Claygate.
Richard - 16 Jun 2004 12:17 |
This is a great little pub, i went for a warm up drink before i went to the greek place across the road, The atomsphere was fantastic considering its such a small pub, the staff really made it. They were very friendly, chatty and gave great service. Ended up going back after the meal, and it was a great finish to my night. Good luck to them.
Sam Scott - 3 Feb 2004 06:52 |
