Hare & Hounds in Central Bedfordshire

Exotic menu not cheap and not enuff to feed a not big eater. 🤷🏿‍♂️

This is a very nice pub. Great service and very pleasant staff. Good varied menu

Took two guests from USA for lunch prior to an afternoon at Shuttleworth. There were few in the pub so the service was prompt and polite, the food was excellent, and three courses were enjoyed - especially the Eton Mess. After some years it was nice to revisit the Hare and Hounds. My visitors were delighted that we chose this venue.

A friendly welcome, well-kept real ales, good choice of interesting wines. It was pleasantly busy on a Friday night but still welcoming to those who wanted just a drink. Many thanks.

We visited on a Saturday night, just driving past and found this little gem. Beautiful location, lovely pub garden, staff are very attentive. I had the bouillabaisse, which was outstanding, rich, full of lovely fish and highly recommend - thank you chef! My husband had the pork, again high quality and very well done. We shared truffle chips, which were very moorish. We will be back. Don’t drive past this beautiful pub, well worth a visit.

Slightly disapointed with the food. Staff as always were spot on.

Very disappointing Sunday Lunch! Salmon starter to share was a con. More expensive than having it singularly. £18 instead of £8 each! Roast beef was tough, very fatty and was too undercooked. Parsnips very hard. This was also pricey at £19.

Service was great. Heard great things about the food here. Burger was fine (could be better). But the chips were amazing! Wish I'd gone for something different as the other food looked far better than the burger was. We would have loved to have more veggie options too.

Fantastic food - can not praise the chef enough! Lovely atmosphere & topped off with friendly people that work there who made our visit fantastic

This is a nice pub close to the Shuttleworth museum/Swiss Garden. It has a large car park and good garden space (you can eat inside or outside). The place is well-maintained and clean throughout. The food was liked by all of our party and we would all recommend it. For instance burgers appeared 'hand made' from decent ground beef, not some kind of compressed circle found so often in pub food. Service from the two waitresses was very pleasant and helpful; there did seem to be some delays in the kitchen but I can't comment whether this is a one-off or delays are usual. The female manager checked on our food. All courteous and efficient. They include a semi-mandatory 10% tip which seemed fine to us, and better than many places that try to extract a second or higher tip. Recommended

My girlfriend and I had a Sunday roast here tonight and we were not disappointed! Service was excellent and food was amazing. My partner had the beef and she said it was the best roast beef she’s had. It’s a little pricey but the food is great quality and portions are generous. Staff are very attentive and accommodating. Very dog friendly and a lovely atmosphere. Will definitely go back again. Highly recommend!

A lovely pub in beautiful Old Warden village. Excellent menu with well cooked food. Super young staff. We had acrwally good evening meal.

Lovely food and service. Just a little bit too pricey.

Went here for a Sunday dinner, and it was lovely. The food was delicious The staff were friendly The inside and outside of the pub is beautiful

Great food & drink, lovely place. Excellent service from friendly professional people. Wonderful building and location. Thanks

First time visit, we live in a neighbouring village. Lovely building in a great setting. The menu was very limited, one side of A4. The lady behind the bar was less than enthusiastic, I really felt like I was putting her out when I asked for the bill. She really didn't want to be there. Nice place, good food, wrong attitude. It will be a long time before we go again

One of the worst meals I have ever had. Just terrible

What an absolutely fabulous place! On a visit to friends near Hitchin, they took me to this bar/restaurant. Lovely quiet location with on-site parking, outside seating and a lovely large garden area for the children to play. Inside had a lovely feel and a very handsome you waiter greeted us and took us to our table set away by itself in its own room. Starter was recommended by the waiter; roasted carrot and leek soup. A perfect recommendation! It was delicious! Main course, pan seared tuna in a rich tomato sauce, which was like heaven on a plate! Absolutely amazing! Very professional, attentive staff and overall a wonderful culinary experience during a weekend break visiting friends. I would highly recommend if anyone is in the area.

Best pub for miles. Always excellent.

Very good front of house staff, brilliant service, great food......the seafood stew was delicious

Local type pub, young girl in bar first was a good asset being very happy friendly and on the ball..the young lad who took over when we went through for a meal in restaurant was the opposite and wasnt a little dopey and never offered specials list… itwas early after 6pm and quietfood was gastro type and not to our liking in honesty

Thought to try this place on a wet summers day. The young barmaid Lucy was lovely. It went downhill in the restaurant though with the overseas waiter not up to speed. Never offered the specials or described food available and service was at half speed. The food was limited but tasty but pricey for what you got and some sauces over the top Certainly a place we wouldn’t visit again unfortunately but a nice outside summer pub

Great village pub. Great quality food every time

One of the best pubs I've been to! Lovely atmosphere and great food, the location is the cutest.

Lovely staff and the food was lovely. Couldn't do enough... we were chatting too much to look at the menu and they were very patient! I had a vegetable tagine which was amazing and the boys had steaks which were delicious! Liked it so much am going back for sunday lunch soon, and will bring my dogs ass they are dog friendly :)

Fine dining food in a stunning location. Great service, food was special, fantastic experience for those who like to treat there palate.

I am only giving this one star and that is because the drinks were good and the seating area was nice as were the staff. My family went there for my Dad's 86th Birthday for a 3 course meal. The bill came to £430 and not one of us enjoyed one of the courses. The menu was very limited so we all struggled to find anything we wanted. The starters were covered in so much blue cheese it ruined what would have been nice chicken. The burger was tiny and tasted strange. The duck was tiny and came on a bed of what can only be described as slop. All the steaks were full of gristle and only came with chips and rocket. The chips were all covered in parmasan cheese and most of us hate cheese. The ice cream was very bland and full of lumps of ice. If it wasn't my Dad's birthday we would have complained and returned each dish I had, but he hates a fuss and we didn't want to spoil his birthday. I have been going there for 30 years but will never eat there again until this chef has left. It was a total waste of money. Most of us went home hungry apart from the dogs as they aate most of it!

Set in the most beautiful village, please see my Travelling Bear with Stu Bear YouTube channel for videos from this location and the Shuttleworth Collection

Great gastro pub, a good menu with a good mix of the land and sea dishes to choose from, all cooked well and tasty.

A surprise lunch for my daughter! Lovely friendly team, who went the extra mile to ensure we had what we wanted, and settle us comfortably, very welcoming. Nice comfortable and relaxed environment. Excellent menu with additional specials, lovely food and we thoroughly enjoyed our meals. It was an excellent visit and we will undoubtedly be coming back. There is also quite a big car park but it is most likely needed as it must be a very popular place. Thank you!

A great spot if you want to stop for a couple of drinks out in the sun, and if you catch it on the right day, you might see some planes flying over from shuttleworth!

Very good food. Roast dinner was great.

We booked early dinner, the restaurant was cosy and the local bar really enjoyed entertaining.Amazing food and staff. The fish stew was divine and creme brûlée probably the best what I ever had.

Great roast! Took our dog, welcomed, which was good. Service was faultless. Friendly atmosphere. Outside area is good too, views across the village, fields and woods.

I was expecting more from the hair and hounds. Two of our party arrived and was served drink straight away and then the last two arrived and did not have a drinks order taken for half an hour and that was only because we went up to go and asked to have our order taken. At that time, they also took our food order. However, one of our party has a gluten allergy, and even though there were many dishes on the menu that were “gluten-free available“ the server came to tell us that there was in fact, only a couple of gluten-free options available. We then finally got the two extra drinks and one of them had lipstick marks all over the glass and because we barely saw the servers we had to go up to the bar to ask them to change the glass. Then one person in our party received their dinner before everybody else because it was put through as a starter and not a main meal. The main meals when they arrived, weren’t even that spectacular for the price. They did apologise, but as I said at the beginning, I expected more from the reputation of this restaurant. We won’t be returning as it was not what we wanted from a meal out. I also felt quite poorly the rest of the day and I linked that to the food.

Not sure what was colder, outside or the atmosphere and reception.

Fabulous food, lovely dining room. Surprisingly busy for January but we could see why.

A really nice pub with an excellent food and service. After visiting the Shuttleworth Collection aviation museum I went to the pub for a lunch with a friend. The ambient is really nice and cozy and the staff is friendly. The food itself was amazing, and the beer choices are good as well (I've tried a local one and enjoyed as well). The price is worth the food for sure. It has been one of the best pubs I've visited during my last trip to England.

Excellent service and lovely food

Went in for a drink after a drive. Nice pub.

We had a very disappointing meal. The choice on each course was limited due to having run out of Mussels, Rib Eye Steak and Vanilla Ice Cream. The bread served with the soup was very dry and the Rump Steak was tough. We were asked if we wanted a sweet, waited an age for them to take the order and even longer for it to be served. Apparently there was a large party in the next room, but we were the only ones in our part of the restaurant. Despite all of this we were still asked to pay a discretionary 10% for service. It was overpriced for what we received. We shall not be returning or recommending your restaurant.

Quaint gastropub with great atmosphere , food and friendly service

Excellent lunch with very high quality flavourful food. The village of Old Warden is a chocolate box quintisental English village and the H&H does not disappoint.

Had a wonderful Christmas Lunch with my friends yesterday. The service was very warm and welcoming. Thank you for a lovely meal

Nice atmosphere and friendly staff. Excellent food. We will definitely visit again soon. We have booked a table for Christmas day.

Great country pub in Old Warden. The beer garden is one of my favourite spots to spend a warm summer afternoon sipping a cold beer or perhaps a decent G&T... cheers!

Did the circular walk with my dog and came here for lunch afterwards. Though note to self - walk earlier!. We had a table booked for 3:30pm and they had run out of quite a bit. Shows it is fresh and cooked that day so no issue from us. We had soft shelled crab and portobello mushroom soup to start - both amazing. Then roast beef for both of us. Cooked beautifully and loads of veg. Will definitely be back and I’ve recommended to others already Thank you

No greeting on arrival. When seated we observed 2 completely dead plants on the windowsills and numerous cobwebs. On visiting toilets, ladies and gents were dirty. Tables and carpets in the restaurant, grubby. Poor menu and overpriced. Arrived at 19.00 on a Saturday evening, 18 November, to be told one main was already unavailable. Lack of selection for all courses. Bad experience for me, had the coq au vin as trout not available! Gnocchi was so overcooked and hard it broke a tooth. We ordered sorbet to be told a requested flavour was unavailable, so selected another, this was also unavailable. Then asked for ice cream, again, first flavour requested was unavailable. The two scoops were presented in a brown "peanuts" dish! Having paid the extortionate bill, we left, no good evening from any member of staff. Very disappointing. Will not be visiting again.

A fantastic place,the food is delicious,staff so friendly and helpful. It was our sons 50th.birthday, I had a Hamburger,the best I’ve ever had, everyone said the same about their food. Would recommend them 100%.

Stunning food, every mouthful was delicious. Fully recommend. Thank you for an amazing lunch.

Happy to have the hare and hounds as my local pub. Great food, atmosphere and service. Good parking space available. Looking forward to the spring/summer time to have a meal in the Amazing garden they have

Excellent sunday lunch,roast/burger

Excellent food, nothing on the website about dogs only being allowed in the bar and the bar is a bit of a squeeze to eat in.

A beautiful pub in a very pretty village. The food was excellent, we'll be back!

Food was OK, but overall experience was good helped by a very sunny day.

Fantastic food, personally felt a bit pricey but in terms of the quality it’s very much worth it if you’re out with friends or on a date, highly recommend for a nice meal.

So good that I have returned literally again and again. It's a lovely 'olde worlde' oak-beamed country pub venue and the welcome one receives is genuine. Delicious goat's cheese mousse starter with three beetroot accompaniments and mouth-watering chicken cacciatore main course. None of the several desserts appealed, so we rounded off with coffee. We chatted for two and a half hours but were never made to feel that we were overstauying our welcome. With drinks and discretionary service charge, the total of £42 a head was justified by the quality.

Unfortunately the worst Sunday lunch I have ever had. Two beef dishes were very fatty and stringy, the potatoes were dry, tasteless and hard. The whole parsnip and carrot seemed like no care had been taken in cooking or preparation. The Yorkshire was rock hard. The staff are friendly but feel like I have been robbed. I had to leave 90%. Someone else on the table had the chicken. The chicken itself was average but the rest of the vegetables had the same issue. I will not be returning! The chef needs to seriously up their game

Great pub great food great staff friendly helpful and cheery. Well worth popping in very interesting place indeed.

Amazing food and very friendly and welcoming staff.

Some of the food we tried to order was sold out. Otherwise pub was nice and staff was friendly.

Went for a midday meal for three which was very nice and the service was prompt so didn't mind paying the added service charge.

We've been for an anniversary meal, and the food was outstanding! Lovely garden area too for a sunny day out with your fluffy friends 😊

If you're not local I wouldn't bother. My wife and I were in the area and had a quick search online and saw the Hare and Hounds. Good reviews and it looked like a lovely setting. Checked to see if they were serving food; kitchen closes at 3pm, that's ok it's 2pm and it takes about 10 mins to get there. We arrive and the area is lovely, a very pretty country pub. There were even little steam trains outside. Walk in to the pub at 2:15pm. Wait my turn at the bar. Which evaporates every time a regular comes in. After waiting 15 minutes, 10 minutes of which should have actually been my turn but all those pints of doombar for the regulars takes a while to pull, I get "served" I ask for the food menu. Guy at the bar asks the woman next to him "are they still serving food?" She says "no the kitchen is closed" Funny that... I just saw the chef standing in the bar area looking bored. Ridiculous and very disappointing. We were looking forward to having a nice meal at the pub but we instantly packed up and left.

Open on a Monday, which was a real bonus. Every course was beautifully prepared, cooked, presented and served, looking appetisiong and exciting and tasting wonderful. Price was not cheap, but was justified by the high standard. We will definitely come again and again.

Another good lunch and pint 🍺 👌

Daughter and boyfriend went to this place the week before and had the most wonderful food. This time we went with my parents to this tranquil, remote gastro pub. We took seats outside and with the serenity, we really felt like we were on holiday. However we quickly moved when we started getting bothered by hornets! We moved to the sheltered parasoled round table away from the hornets and from the summer heat. We ordered tuna seared cesar salad. That was absolutely wonderful, fresh and well seasoned with a side of chunky chips Dad had beef burger and chunky chips, patty was very thick and had onions in it, clearly hand made and freshly cooked. It was superb all around. Washed down with pinot grigio rosé and sparkling waters. Lovely!!

The Hare & Hounds, old warden is an exceptional country pub restaurant and bar, the staff are very friendly and offer outstanding service and the food and wine selection is beyond amazing, This is a regular favourite to visit with friends and family 10/10

My husband and I got married on 29th July 2023 and chose to have our reception at the Hare and Hounds. It was the best decision, as we were in very good hands. From the early stages of planning, Ella was very engaged and communicative and was happy to set up regular meetings to discuss plans for the day. Ella and Alex were so flexible with our requests, and nothing was too much for them. They created a tailor-made 3-course vegetarian menu, with an extra evening buffet, and provided 2 complimentary tasting evenings to ensure we were completely happy with the food. We had 42 guests, which was snug but not over-crowded in the dining room. The team decorated the room exquisitely and even made personalized favour tags for each of the guests, and provided fresh flowers on the tables. The food was absolutely DIVINE and we had so many comments from our guests saying how amazing it was. in particular, the gnocchi starter was out of this world. The team were able to clear the dining room for an evening dance area, and even provided knife to cut our cake, and then cut and served to guests. I am absolutely blown away by the service we received, and would not hesitate in recommending the Hare and Hounds to anyone who is looking for a bespoke dining experience. Thank you so much to Ella, Alex and all the team at the Hare and Hounds. for making our day absolutely perfect!! Needless to say we will be back for years to come to celebrate anniversaries.

Sunday lunch lovely roast but lamb under cooked for me . And should serve gravy on the side . Good service great desert and starters .

This pub used to be so good. It is still okay and redeemable but needs to address the pricing and choice or risk losing business. Pleasant decor, clean and tidy and friendly staff, good beer. Menu very limited and significantly overpriced. Suggest a lunchtime menu with some pub classics (Pie and mash, fish and chips, liver and bacon, sandwiches) other than the same old burger and chips. Also, drop the compulsory service charge; if the customer is happy they will tip 10%. If they are not why should they pay it? Finally, turn the music down or off. You will never appeal to everyone's taste in music so why bother?

Lovely meal with friends and family on Saturday night. Had a table for 8 and the food and service were excellent. Had use of the private dining room which was a nice bonus. Thank you.

Lovely little place too eat friendly people great atmosphere 🤩

Dog friendly and staff very helpful and very cheerful

I came here with family and thought the place to be very good. All the food was to a very good standard and the staff are friendly and professional. The place is modern, airy and well looked after. I didn’t catch her name, but the blond curly hair waitress was very good. I wouldn’t mind coming back here again.

Really lovely Sunday lunch. We enjoyed the goats cheese starter and the moules. We had the tuna nicoise and the roast chicken. Great service. Can recommend.

We came here for drinks which were very nice. Pub is lovely gardens lovely to sit it so we decided to have food. It was absolutely awful. Waste of money. The tuna on the tuna salad was raw asked it to be re cooked and came back the same. Salad was boring bland and seemed like it had been tipped out of a ready bag from Asda. And was a tiny portion. Worst food I have everybpaid high for and couldn’t eat. Couldn’t eat the tuna as was still raw. Had to go to McDonald’s on way home feeling like I had been ripped off. Won’t go back Sad as it’s a really nice place. Thought we had found a good place to go as we eat out regularly but no thanks ! Don’t waste your hard earned money

I went as part of a group. I have special dietary requirements, so I phoned ahead the day before. I spoke to Luke, the chef, explaining my requirements. He was so lovely, helpfully and understanding. He designed me a wonderful lunch based on my needs and tastes that looked as if it had been ordered straight from the menu and was so well presented that you would never know. The food all looked excellent, and there was a nice variety of dishes to choose from. I would definitely recommend going. I can't emphasize how much it meant to me to be treated with so much understanding and care. It made me feel included and not like I was a nuisance as has happened in other establishments.

This place used to be amazing. Haven’t been for a couple of years now but the menu is still the same, not much choice and there weren’t any specials. The risotto was quite runny and the rice was hard. Not really good value for money, desserts at £8/9. Such a shame as this place has so much potential!

What a lovely pub went today 25/6/23 fanatic roast dinner we had beef beautiful surroundings lovely garden sat inside to hot outside friendly staff food was great had nice martini espresso to finish meal

This was our second visit to the hare and hounds. The first visit was good but this one wasn’t great. It was hard to order drinks at the bar when we arrived as two of the staff could not understand what we really wanted. One main course was served but the incorrect meal. My mother paid the bill who is nearly 80 and didn’t check it before paying. There were 4 bottles of red wine that we didn’t have and some lager. Thanks goodness my Son checked the receipt before we left. We had been overcharged by £100 +. Very poor indeed. We will not be returning. It’s a shame because the food that was right was lovely. No attention to detail at all.

This pub is nicely positioned in Old Warden and close to the Shuttleworth Estate. It's pricey for pub food but it's tasty and nicely presented.

Tucked away in rural Bedfordshire, Old Warden has the look & feel of the West Country. The Hare & Hounds offers a great selection of good & drink in a lovely location.

Stopped off for a few beers on a lovely sunny Saturday, gardens a very nice place to sit with a cold beer.

Amazing staff and brilliant food 😊

The welcome I received from the staff at the Hare & Hounds recently was so lovely. Returning from a small motorcycle trip this offered the perfect setting for a weekday evening. The food was delicious, staff brilliant, and the ale from the pump tasted so good! Highly recommended.

Amazing Sunday roast and steak. We were not disappointed! The cabbage purée is a lovely addition to the roast, good wine selection, and the girls work their bums off. Will definitely return

Cosy friendly local, not fancy, felt homely. All three courses were tasty but the bill felt high. Could possibly do with a bit of modernising to feel more premium/special but personal taste.

Beautiful location in old walden. Perfect ramblers pub for nice refreshments

Excellent village gastropub, large group of us met for midweek evening meal. Great choice of food and exemplary service well worth a visit if a little bit off the beaten track.

Large group of Friends had pre-ordered from a smaller menu selection, BUT, the food was just superb, Excellent service and attention to detail. We called for the chef and kitchen staff and they received a fully deserved round of applause. We will be there again...

We used to come to the Hare and Hounds some time ago so decided to give it another whirl. I like what they’ve done to the interior and our waitress was very friendly. I was disappointed with the menu as it’s very limited…it would’ve been...

Had a very nice lunch there yesterday. The trio of pork dish was excellent, very flavoursome with a tasty sauce and vegetables. Home made crumble was delicious too.

The food was absolutely delicious and the service was great. We didn't have to wait for our order long. I had the Frito Miso and it was just perfect. I would recommend this place.

I came here for Lunch with a friend. We've been before but being in our senior years couldn't remember what lunch was like. We both had the duo pork dish (sadly i forgot to take a photo) and it was simply stunning. Tasty, well put...

Really lovely meal and excellent service by all staff. My wife had rump steak and I had a rib - eye… delicious!! Definitely recommend.

Great little country pub, the rib eye steak was delightful and the chips, some of the best I’ve ever eaten. Our dog Herman also loved it and said he would definitely be back.

We visited here before but not for a while. Previously the menu was exciting and varied. However, this had completely changed on our recent visit. We struggled to choose anything from the menu; we are not fussy eaters. We ended up with 2 very mediocre,...

We have not been back to The Hare and Hounds for some time. I presume the pub has changed hands since then but I do not know this. Our first reaction was that little has changed and it looked as friendly as it did. The...

Had the best roast beef dinner here yesterday, beautifully presented and tasted delicious. They were very busy when we arrived and thought we wouldn't get a table, but staff were brilliant and fitted us in after only about 20 minutes. Highly recommend!