The Fox and Hounds, Northampton

Our family chose this pub to celebrate my mother's birthday (September 2010) and wished we hadn't bothered. We used to visit this pub several times a year when it was the Dusty Fox and it was always regarded as a bit of a treat. It used to be comfortable, with good reasonably-priced food and child-friendly. Not anymore! Since it became the Fox and Hounds, it has really changed and not for the better. The identikit make-over is totally out of keeping with the building's heritage, in my opinion. But worse was the food (over-priced, partially cooked, heavily salted, inedible and served in very small portions) and the service (indifferent, slow, no eye contact, the staff were not familiar with the menu and there was a language barrier). When the food eventually arrived, my 10-year-old said he thought the chef was more concerned with presentation rather than quality. What surprised me was the number of people who were there - they arrived just as we were leaving, despite the poor service and food. It seemed to me the type of pub to 'see and be seen in', judging by the expensive cars in the car park. My mother said it was a case of 'the emperor's new clothes' and no-one liked to disagree. I was tempted not to pay the bill but the barman had already insisted on swiping my debit card when I ordered, so I would have been charged regardless. Because we hadn't booked, we were told to sit in the bar despite there being plenty of empty tables in the restaurant at the time. No-one came to see if our meal was okay because no-one really cared. There were so many things wrong with this pub, I could feel myself getting more and more irritated the longer we were there (and there was a long wait for the food). We were very, very disappointed. We left feeling ripped off and still hungry. Needless to say, we will not be repeating the experience.

8 Oct 2010 12:34