Axe and Compass in Huntingdonshire

Superb! We enjoyed yet another wonderful Sunday lunch and had to write about it as a sign of thanks and appreciation. It really was fabulous. The meat (we both had lamb) was cooked perfectly – as was the wonderful array of vegetables. Just the right mix of vegetables and each cooked, well, perfectly! The gravy topped it all off as did the service, which was speedy, professional and extremely friendly from the entire team. It’s a gem and we can’t wait to experience again. Thank you ‘team Axe’!

Wednesday night is quizz night at the Axe. A real laugh , friendly atmosphere. Worth a punt for the top prize !

Very good food and friendly staff

Lovely place, thoroughly enjoyed by our motorcycle group

Trip out with the bike club, planned, great food, great service, sat outside and thoroughly enjoyed it

Make a point of visiting Hemingford Abbots and, without a doubt, the Axe and Compass if you like tradition, civility and the quiet atmosphere of a very well run, clean and tidy pub. Spot on !

Attractive period pub in well regarded riverside village good range of beers, ciders and wine. Decent menu with a options for most palates.

Very welcoming cosy Snug area .food was hot and enjoyable .staff where polite ,welcoming .Great reminder of a lovely country eaterie.We will be back . Forgot my bag and the staff came out to bring it to me so a big thank you to him as it was Saturday and I was flying out to the US Monday

Wish we could get here more often. My birthday meal celebrated in style with wonderful food and prosecco. Perfect evening out.

We went here for the Thursday steak night and had a delicious meal and a carafe of house red. Staff were friendly though I couldn't see a front of house manager and service/clearing was a little slow.

A reasonably presentable place, service was a bit slow but not too bad, portion sizes good, prices average for the type of venue, quality of food could be a little better as the batter on the fish was a bit soft for beer batter, starters of a good size portion, staff very friendly and polite. Would go there again.

Me and my friend stopped here for lunch. We opted to sit in the garden as the weather was nice. The food was very delicious and reasonably priced. Staff was friendly and helpful. It looks like a very quirky pub from outside, but inside is renovated and dont have an old building vibe, sill very nice pub to visit though.

I visited for Saturday lunch, our order was taken efficiently enough at the outside kitchen area. I accepted that being peak lunch time, about 1245, the service would not be fast food speed. I think that we waited about 45 mins for a couple of burgers and a helping of chips to arrive. When our food did arrive, the burgers were luke warm and chips nearly cold, as though it had all been sat on the pass for 10-15 mins.

I like coming here for a pint on my way through the village. The beer is always cold and service is quick. Friendly staff and rather a nice pub to sit inside or outside of while enjoying the drink purchased.

Arrived at 6 for dinner. Was served at 6.50. Dry chicken nuggets for my daughter and a meat platter with chorizo that was inedible and no crackers or anything bar a few lettuce leaves to eat it with. We sat outside and was served in a take away wooded plate with wooden cutlery that wouldn’t even cut the meat. The food was beyond basic and in my daughter’s words .. “they taste like McDonald’s”. Only for four times as much. It was very expensive, very basic and poor service

This is the reason why people just buy meals from M&S Food rather than bother eating out. Had lunch here today and to be honest it was rubbish. Ordered tuna nicoise salad and waited over 30 mins... it was tinned tuna (not the worst offence) but a salad with no dressing....come on guys, that is not ok for a Tuna nicoise. It's not difficult to serve with a salad dressing?! Would have cost about £2 max to make, no cooking skill required, yet they charge £14 as a garden price and £20 for inside...this just isn't worth the price at all and is really disappointing.

Really beautiful and historic. Extremely friendly staff

We visited the Axe and Compass with our daughter and 2 small children as it was my birthday. The weather was warm and we decided to eat outside . The play area kept the children amused whilst we waited a short while for our food which was cooked well by Faye, and we all enjoyed lunch. The service was very good thank you Natalie for looking after us .

Booked a table for 6 for Sunday lunch. Ordered promptly, starter took over 45 minutes to arrive (3 small chicken wings for £7.50…), then waited a further 45 minute for mains. Complete lack of attentiveness from staff, no apology for the delay at all, even when we queried how long our order would be. Roast dinners were fine. All veg was completely cold on some plates, which given we’d waited an hour and a half for it is pretty poor. Staff didn’t ask if food was ok, no offer of extra drink order…. And we seemed to be the only table eating…

Enjoyable dinner with friends, starting outside in the large, sunny garden before coming inside to eat. Steak was delicious and cooked to perfection, very good value for money as well (Steak+wine for 2 Wednesday deal). Fantastic service, can't wait to come again.

A really enjoyable meal. Beer is great, with good options and the food was spot on! Steak cooked to perfection and lovely chips too. Overall a really good evening, would recommend.

Pretty mediocre food. The burgers we had were bland, the rolls fell apart and I would actually rate the meal below Weatherspoons. It's pretty hard to make a boring, bland burger, but this was. Such a shame for a lovely pub in a beautiful village.

Mushroom starter - the crispy crust was armour-plated. Fish & chips - the fish must have been cooked a while back and kept warm because it was completely soggy and the fish itself was very thin. The chips weren't chips, they were wedges of al-dente potatoes that had never seen a fryer (possibly microwaved) - very odd and a slice of good quality bread & butter would have been better! The sticky toffee pudding was under-whelming, not a patch on Costco's effort. AND it was expensive.

I visited this establishment today with my wife daughter and grandson on recommendation and was sadly disappointed with food we received. We chose the Sunday roast option and we were not at all impressed with it, the roast beef, it had a lot of fat on it, the roast potatoes if you can call them that were not roasted at all. We didn’t like the pickled red cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower undercooked. Overall not happy at all.

Nice local pub. Three ales on, a black sheep, butte and one other. Ale served well and tasted fine but slight sourness on the nose, was a Wednesday so chalking that up to drayman being due later this week. thatched pub, well presented with plenty of spots to rest your beer

I would recommend this place, lovely Sunday lunches .

Used the garden kitchen. Lovely burger. Nice to hear the bells at the church ringing.

Lovely relaxed village pub and the food was superb as was the staff will definitely be returning highly recommended.

Very nice pub with lovely food and nice staff

Brilliant food ,service ,atmosphere ! A must visit there is truly no better ! Thank you so much to all the staff. Simon & Liz Wilson

The best roast I've ever had. That is all you need to know. Lovely pub, full of character, lovely people and a brilliant atmosphere. Helpful staff and at a cracking price. I wish I lived closer!

Love this pub. We'd had a lovely dog walk, and popped in halfway round. We only had a starter, and drinks, but as always it was really nice.

Another gem of a place to eat. A lovely quiet pub with a good menu range. The food was all home made and tasted delicious. Service was good and a great atmosphere.

Great place, great staff, great food!

We love this spot, a hidden gem in a stunning town. The food was beautiful and well worth the wait. Portions were plenty and service from the staff was exceptional. We love coming back here and will continue to do so.

Went today with the mums and my partner. I had heard good things about the roasts. It was superb . We will definitely be going back.

It's OK for food, standard pub grub. A lot of people give them a hard time for slow service & it is a bit but they are nice and friendly. Dishes are perhaps a bit too expensive given the standard of cooking on show but these days I would imagine they wouldn't be open at all if they aren't charging £19.50 for a bog standard salmon mains.

Booked via email. Ignored our request and didn't bother trying to accommodate. Ruined new years day for us

Really nice food cooked to order, unlike many pubs. The staff were really friendly but service was a little slow in a below capacity dining room.

Had a nice Sunday lunch, could have been a bit hotter. The stewed red cabbage which I usually love was inedible - someone had decided to tip half a pack of cinnamon into it! I nearly sent my plate back but managed to scrape it to the side - raw cinnamon in a large quantity is not pleasant. Please pass on to the Chef, Delia Smiths stewed red cabbage can’t be beaten! The other thing that seemed a bit odd was being addressed as ‘you guys’ by the two young wait staff. We weren’t guys! We were women! In todays world there is still room to simply say ‘what can I get you ladies?’ without the world falling in!

Never eaten anything so can’t comment on that but normally stop in after work for a couple of pints and very friendly staff

A nice lunch - roast was decent enough but would like to chose my own veg rather than have them served on the plate tbh. Lamb nicely cooked though and the pud lovely. Service was a nightmare - so slow and we probably had to prompt (as did others) about 6 or 7 times for them to bring menus, take orders, clear etc. then then added a £17 service charge automatically which we felt wasn’t deserved (we didn’t pay that much we gave them £10 and that’s because they were all very nice - just very very slow and a bit disorganised).

For a lot of years I’ve driven past this pub and been told about the exceptional food so last night I thought I would give it a try…it’s a very old pub from the 17th century with a thatched roof in a beautiful village called Hemingford abbots.when you walk in it feels like you’ve gone back in time,the service was a little slow but the staff was very friendly,eventually we got our drinks and food,I had the fish and chips with peas and tarts sauce,the fish was beautiful with homemade chunky chips my daughter had the same my wife had the steak with peppercorn sauce chips peas and mushrooms and my son just had a portion of chunky chips..it’s lovely to see proper home cooking…4 people plus around of drinks came to roughly £80,you might think it’s a little expensive but for home cooking in such a beautiful pub it was worth it…

What a great pub! Food was amazing, service excellent and location fantastic. Hope to get the opportunity to visit again.

Food was good but drinks were extortionate. We had a pint of lager, a pint of shandy and 2 cokes and it was £19 plus. Coke was from a syphon and not bottled. Won't be returning, which is a shame as a nice pub overall.

Always nice in the sun, decent garden, served very promptly, something of a surprise. Just a shame zero vegan food options on garden menu

Lovely pub with a massive outdoor space. The place is also dog friendly and the service is very good.

I’ve visited this pub several times over the last 2 years and it’s always been good. Not sure if they’ve had a change of management but todays experience was not good. We were charged 10% extra for sitting in the garden to eat and the food which was nearly Restaurant prices and it was served on a paper plates - not the best way to eat Sea Trout. The food was also quite small and not particularly tasty. On the plus side the play area is good if you have young kids and dogs and the other customers in the garden were chatty and friendly.

I am fairly local and I needed to visit nearby villages and thought that it would be nice to check up on the Axe and Compass again as I have in the past brought a group to eat there on several occasions. I had the Greek style lamb steak for £18.00 and the presentation was good but the meat was cut in strips with next to no edible meat on any part, even the steak knife could not cut to remove the little pieces of meat off the gristle. I did complain and I did get a sorry from the waitress! My pint of beer was good but at £5.35 in a village pub. The service was good and there was a comfortable atmosphere. I got the impression that the management is taking advantage of the day trippers that were there in what is a beautiful area and forgetting that they might like a few locals come winter. I have never come across any thing like it in Greece.

Hadn't been to the Axe for a while and went on a Thursday evening and chose off the Steak board options which was very reasonably priced and included two glasses of wine. Chose the Flat Iron Steak which was excellent and a decent size for the price. Starter of fried scampi was also fine and bottle of Merlot was very drinkable. Service was also very good and a great choice of beers. We will certainly return.

A great choice from the specials board. In our party we had mixed grill, blade of beef and ribeye steak. We also had fish and chips and a fish platter. Really lovely simple food, cooked and presented well. Can’t beat good pub food.

How the hell have they managed to make a pub in such a lovely location so terrible? I've been twice in the past month. The first time on a beautiful sunny bank holiday Monday. When I arrived it was dead, as I had got there just in time for last orders. If I recall correctly this was 1745. But it's unfair to give a scathing review on one bad experience. I went back very recently on a Sunday afternoon. The kitchen had shut for the day by 1600. Two soft drinks and a packet of crisps set me back over £10. I watched as a couple waited 15 minutes for two pints as the disinterested and confused bar staff took this time to manage a single drinks order. In the meantime I tried not to be distracted from watching the tennis on the telly by several flies crawling over the screen and then lazily buzzing around the bar. This felt like a metaphor for the pub in general.

Good food. Service was very slow. Waiter did't know how to use equipment to take order.

Wednesday lunchtime very quiet but service was slow and had to ask when our food was coming. We were there for at least an hour before our starters came out. Same for our mains! Service poor, ambience nonexistent and food not up to scratch gor the prices paid. Shan't be going again!

Beautiful spacious garden ..nice pint.

Nice pub with a big garden. Dog friendly with water for the dogs. Barman on his first day had good humor and good customer service.

The venue and location was perfect. However the service did not live up to it. I had called to book a table for the weekend, worried many places will be fully booked as it was a very sunny weekend. When we arrived, there was no sign of our booking anywhere. Thankfully, they were not busy (odd) so we could get a table straight away. The server told us we could sit anywhere. Since we had a dog with us, we chose the garden outside. We were given a choice of menus and was told he will be back to take our orders. After we have chosen that we wanted the Sunday roast, we were then told we had to sit at the patio tables for roast. My friends and I decided we’ll just stay where we are and just go with the garden menu. The server said he will come back to take our food orders but he never returned. So our friend ordered at the bar. The food took a long time to arrive and the burger I had was quite average, without chips for £15. I think I would return to the pub for just drinks but not sure about food at the garden. It’s such a shame since they have a very lovely garden.

#Buddyfriendlypubs Nice pub in the stunning village of Hemingford Abbots. Cambs. The menu - Good value for money. Service wasn’t the best. But I’d still return back here. Walk through the meadows on the footpath, over the canal to Houghton. Another stunning village. #Roobysvillagetour. More pubs to try too 😉

Food was nice, not much choice. Drinks very expensive. In a lovely picturesque village full of thatched houses.

Average food at very high prices! Beer garden is lovely though.

Nice meal and the odd pint, with friends.

Very disappointed with our food. We payed over £30 for 4 small cups of fries and 2 portions of chicken wings. Chicken wings consisted of 2 1/2 wings which were ok but not worth £7.50 per serving! The fries cost £4 per serving and came in a small cardboard bowl as we were sat in the garden. Will probably stick to a pub in the next village from now on. Totally over priced basic food!

Great food, good beer, friendly helpful staff, fair prices. Free parking.

Classic Sunday roast. Very filling. However, the cauliflower was basically not cooked.

A great village pub with good food and beers. Service was excellent and the food was very good. It is a busy pub with lots of atmosphere and activities so not for someone who wants to have a quiet chat! We had a great time.

Lovely pub in a great setting with a big garden at rear with kids slides and swing.

Top food and service,lady serving us was an absolute joy and very informative in regards to how the tomatoes were cooked,had a blast thank you, highly highly recommend

Great Sunday lunch. Lovely place. Helpful staff

We went on Thursday night to take advantage of steak night for a birthday. Booked on line to sit in the snug but was sat in the restaurant. We then waited ages for someone to come take order for drinks. Went to bar and was asked to wait another 5 mins. They were obviously short staffed. We didn't get given a steak night menu until we asked. Staff clearly stressed and taking orders on a tablet was obviously stressful process. 🙄 Food was lovely, perfect steaks. Service let it down. Staff were very apologetic though. Have to say this is the first time we've had such slow service as its usually top notch. We will be back and fingers crossed all will be well again

Booked a table for 9 over a week in advance, only to be sat in the small bar area next to the door. Wouldn't have been a problem in summer. It was manic inside, however that is a good sign. The food is very fairly priced but you get exactly what you pay for, by no means outstanding. The wait was an hour and a half, which seemed excessively long and thats certainly worth considering if you have young kids. Not sure what the issue was, inexperienced staff or understaffing but it put us off from returning for food when next in the area.

Lovely meal and dogs very welcome. We sat on the very lovely garden area but we would have been very welcome inside with our 5 dogs between the two of us

Enjoyable pub, Great roast dinner excellent potatoes. Leaves you wanting more.

Limited beer, good staff, menu ok

We were passing and decided to grab some food. Service was good, the pub was warm and cosy. The food was great. A good choice.

Myself, husband and daughter really enjoyed a lovely set menu roast, 3 course, good choice and the staff were excellent considering how busy it was. Myself and my husband had the lamb and it was so tender and lots of it, food all came out at the same time and it was perfect, lovely veggies and just couldn’t fault it. Price was pretty reasonable .. lovely atmosphere and stunning decor! would definitely book again - Thank you

Very poor service and mediocre food

Food and beer very good.Staff made our party feel welcome.

Very friendly and fast service admittedly no-one else was in there. Good food too . A small but well balanced menu able to cater for all tastes

Friendly village pub with good selection of beers.

Dropped in for a drink whilst walking, friendly bar staff. The lady was more than helpful providing a bowl and water for our dog. Thank you, will definitely be returning

Our table was booked for 6.30. They were very slow giving us a menu and even slower bringing our starter, which arrived about 7.30! I had Stilton and Broccolli Soup. It was Luke warm and tasted awful. My main was Fish and Chips. The fish was like something cheap from a supermarket, which had been shoved in the oven. We were not even sure it was cod. The batter was damp and soggy and the fish was Luke warm and the chips were horrible. Desert was lovely, I had cheesecake. We went home for coffee! I have eaten there on many occasions and. It has always been fine but this Saturday night was awful.

Lovely old pub. Roast was beautifully served.... but the service was slow. We waited 45 minutes for dinner to arrive.... it was Sunday lunch time.... but was well worth the wait.......£17 for beef roast.

We go every week for a Friday drink and occasional meal. Staff are great and so is the food. Highly recommend this place.

The food and the service We're excellent And the price was very reasonable

Sat for an hour before being told they had "lost" our order. Didn't even offer a drink to apologise. Shame as we were looking forward to this as a treat.

Steak night cooked to perfection. Lovely food friendly staff.

Large outside area plus parking to the rear and great children's play area.

Extremely great home made food, but the 50 min wait on a pre booked table was just a bit too long for a family with two children.

We were disappointed that it took 20 minutes to get a drink and an hour to get food on an evening when it was not busy

We love this local pub and want to support it as much as we can. We saw the offer for ‘Kids Eat Free’ on Wednesdays and arrived at 6 pm with 2 children aged 4 & 6. They enjoyed playing on the play equipment in the garden but having ordered the food at 6.10pm it did not arrive until 7.15pm after asking twice about it. This was too late and it became stressful with two hungry children who were getting tired. There was no explanation or apology from the staff and we wouldn’t want to repeat the experience so we hope that this will improve for others who try it out with their children, as it is a nice offer but needs to be matched with faster service if children are coming.

I've been coming here for years but today I was really disappointed with the poor service. Only one barmaid behind the bar serving, one lady messing around with an ice cream machine that had no customers (although she could clearly see the queue building at the bar and even used the till making the bar maid wait adding to the delays further), one lad clearing glasses and another person doing the same - all oblivious or ignoring the number of customers waiting. After 10 minutes we cut our losses and left without ordering to go to The Cock up the road where we were served immediately and stayed for the rest of the evening. The Axe needs to get it's act together!

I had a great roast dinner, came with lots of vegetables

Prompt and polite service and value for money. I got lamb cutlets by the way delicious

Lovely old pub cannot get enough of it we walk to it through a meadow from Houghton Mill through Hemington abbot lovely little village. Returned to this pub this year very disappointing it us only a shadow of its former self we have visited it several times in years past.i was served beer that was bad and sandwich that had stale bread. Looks like it has changed hands but not sure. We will not be returning next year.

Service dreadful waited an hour and a half to be served . Nice food but spoiled by poor unfriendly service

Very decent food, attentive service even with a full restaurant and a private function. Plus large playground in the pub garden.

Really nice local pub with great food and great beer selection. The beer garden is amazing too.

I visited the pub on Friday at 12pm. I ordered a coronation chicken sandwich on white bread, my friend ordered fish cakes. The sandwich bread arrived hard and dry which must have been noticed whilst preparing! I could also see clearly the lack of filling judging by the absence around the edges and very little chicken in general, I pointed out the lack of freshness to the waitress and I asked for a replacement which she did and apologised. I hoped that the second sandwich would be generally much better. The replacement bread felt slightly fresher but the filling was scant, which was very visibly evident. In addition, their was unfresh, slimy green bits in the garnish. At 12pm I don't feel their was any good reason for the poor quality as there was no one else in the pub at the time! As I was with a friend, naturally I didn't want to complain for a second time and embarrass him, as he was buying the sandwich for me. No complaints for the bar service. The bar lady is very helpful and polite. Its a shame and very disappointing though, I used to work in this pub and was so proud of the quality of food.

Popped on for a pint and a quick bite when on a circular walk from stives. Friendly staff, great beer as they had a mini beer festival on over the jubilee weekend. Lunch was great and we had a variety of dishes at the table. Recommend

Went on steak night, but chose other dishes. Quality reasonable, prices affordable, service good. Very pretty village and real country environment.