The Finch's Arms in Rutland

Came in around 3 o’clock, asked the girl behind the bar if it was okay to sit and have a drink. She said yes and sit anywhere just not where the tables are set( which is fine) 5 mins later my partner said he would need some food, maybe bar snacks or lunch. I went back to the girl behind the till and asked if it was okay to have some food, I saw there was some sandwiches on the lunch menu. She said no, we’re not serving any food anymore. I was a bit confused as it was only 3 and I’d just heard someone order from the “lunch menu” in the same area as us. There was tables laid and no one on them, so I could see that it was mostly empty just incase she was saying no because she was busy? I tried to ask her if we could have some bar snacks, or some bread, but she spoke over me and in such a patronising way. I’ve worked in hospitality and in retail and I know customers can be hard work so I always try to be extra kind and respectful to staff. I left feeling disappointed. We went elsewhere in the end.

Beautiful pub and restaurant. Sat in the courtyard garden with our two dogs . Lovely view , great friendly service. Very dog friendly. Fabulous delicious lunch Highly recommend in this beautiful village

Disappointed. Booked a table for 10 of us for my 50th birthday. Service was slow, soup was bland, main courses took 1.5 hrs to be served despite restaurant being only half full. Also over priced for what it was. Shame as this used to be a great destination pub

Food here is 10/10 and they do the best roast 😊

Have eaten here several times and never been disappointed, on this occasion the restaurant was cold (wish we had coats) and the food just warm and lacking in flavour. The roast potatoes were bland and needed roasting for at least another 30 minutes, cauliflower cheese had hardly any cheese, small portion of beef and quite fatty. Service was great as always. We will return and hope it’s back to the usual high standard. Very busy which speaks volumes.

Lovely location in the middle of Rutland Water

Lovely old pub in a beautiful setting but with a modern restaurant to the rear. Attractive garden with comfortable seating. Interesting menu with more variety than the usual pub range - this is a step up. Food and drink very good quality. Service was generally good if a little perfunctory from one staff member. Overall a very pleasant experience and worth a return trip sometime.

Very busy restaurant for a Tuesday evening and I can see why. We had excellent burgers that were really tasty and chips were great too. Delicious pistachio pana cotta and a yummy tart for pud. Lovely atmosphere and very nice, pleasant, courteous young staff. A non alcoholic drink each and one cappuccino. £65 altogether for 2 people, 2 courses. excellent value for the quality. Highly recommend and thank you for a lovely evening 😊

Amazing food and lovely garden area. Dog friendly

I'm struggling with this review, as the pub is a really nice peaceful place to go, and the staff were lovely and very helpful... so the negative part of this is solely to do with the food. £19 for a chicken caesar(?) salad!!, which was the smallest (and most expensive) main course caesar I have ever had. As a salad, it was quite nice, but a caesar salad it definitely wasn't... the dressing tasted of just mayo, nothing else! There were whole anchovies on the lettuce, and some croutons, and the bacon bits were very welcome, but where was the magic of a caesar dressing?? Anyway, as a somewhat different salad, it was quite nice, albeit not large enough to warrant that price tag, so I happily ate it and put it down to experience. Other than that, a very pleasant visit

We stayed after a wedding at Half Moon Farm up the road. The walk doesn't take long and we were lucky that it was a relatively warm night. The beds in the room were really comfortable and the room was spotless. Lovely attention to detail - there was a Nespresso machine in the room and a little personalised note. Shower was lovely! I've given 4 stars as ufortunately they had run out of vegan sausages for the breakfast so we just had mushrooms, spinach, tomato, beans and hash browns. The sausages really would've made a difference! Coffee was great! Very nice open and spacious dining room. An bsoloyely gorgeous stay - would love to return!

First class setting, great garden with views over Rutland water

Booked for a family meal in private room. Beautiful setting, delicious food, great service

The Finch’s has always been great and our recent experience reinforced exactly that. The atmosphere was lively but not imposing. The service attentive but not overly. The food prompt and delicious - desserts were the highlight! The cost completely acceptable and in line with expectations. Looking forward to the next visit.

On the 10th August I took my mother in for lunch who’s travelled from Australia to be greeted with poor service from the get go. To begin with we got taken to our table and the waitress (possibly could have been a manager?)very rudely asked us for our drinks order (we had just sat down!) we then asked to try two red wines and where refused and she stated we had to buy the bottle before we tried it? (I have never heard of this before) It felt like she didn’t want to be there at all and made the experience really unenjoyable! The card machine that was brought to our table declined 5 different cards only to then find another machine which then went through first time, making us feel very embarrassed. Me and my partner come here quite frequently and we are always raving about how good it is. We always enjoy the atmosphere, service and food however this visit had a totally different aura and wasn’t a pleasurable trip and could think twice about coming again.

Great Sunday lunch at the Finch’s today- the best we’ve had in 5 years - Always a perfect end to our annual pilgrimage to Rutland.

Having called ahead to check that outside dining was available , we made the 45 min drive, after being informed that it was , but on a first come first serve.On arrival we went to place an order , to be told the menu might change. A short while later we were then told food wasn’t available to order until 6pm. The saga continues , we were told as we hadn’t booked a table food was not available until 8:30, things despite seating at one Of the outside table , that is first come First served. The staff were poorly informed of the structure of dealing with customers . The manager was about as useful as a chocolate tea pot. Avoid at all costs . Customer service is not their priority, this place clearly dines out on the address and region,,not for the customer service.

Great lunch in a lovely location - it was sunny so we sat on the terrace and it was delightful. They were extremely busy and possibly a little understaffed but we weren’t in a hurry so it wasn’t a problem. Highly recommended.

Great location, The staff were very friendly and welcoming as soon as we walked in, Great food excellent selection of wines.

We came here for lunch twice, both times food was excellent however they forgot our mains the second time and we had to wait for around an hour. Bit disappointed from an otherwise really nice lunch.

We were lucky to have a perfect summers evening so when we arrived having booked for inside the staff accommodated us and sat us outside. The view across Rutland Water is beautiful. The menu was well put together with lots of choice and the food was delicious. Staff were great. A fabulous meal in a great setting!

I've got to admit, one of the best breakfasts I've ever had. Service was really professional and courteous. The view of the water was lovely, even though it was overcast with 25mph winds blowing the smell of £350 gilets in my face.

Beautiful place great food top notch service 👌 you have to visit The Finch's Arms .

Being told we'd have to wait an hour till 6pm to see the menu as the chefs needed to see what was left after a busy day we really should have left then. But giving the benefit of the doubt we waited and with a long journey ahead we wanted something quick and simple so chose the burger & fries and fish & chips. The waiter casually saying the Monterrey Jack cheese had been substituted with Red Leicester lol didn't fill me with great expectations for a gourmet burger and I wasn't disappointed, it certainly wasn't a £20 burger! Anyone who's worked in catering knows refried fries from a busy day and these were those! Heinz have successfully made ketchup for years for a reason but sadly you won't find it here! Having said that not even Heinz could save these fries lol. A busy day and not having eaten since breakfast with a long journey ahead we ate the average food and went on our way. Service was pleasant, environment pleasant but I guess they thought a couple ordering a burger and fish & chips wouldn't notice it was average and the fries refried and any old ketchup would do ... wrong!

Being told we'd have to wait an hour till 6pm to see the menu as the chefs needed to see what was left after a busy day we really should have left then. But giving the benefit of the doubt we waited and with a long journey ahead we wanted something quick and simple so chose the burger & fries and fish & chips. The waiter casually saying the Monterrey Jack cheese had been substituted with Red Leicester lol didn't fill me with great expectations for a gourmet burger and I wasn't disappointed, it certainly wasn't a £20 burger! Anyone who's worked in catering knows refried fries from a busy day and these were those! Heinz have successfully made ketchup for years for a reason but sadly you won't find it here! Having said that not even Heinz could save these fries lol. A busy day and not having eaten since breakfast with a long journey ahead we ate the average food and went on our way. Service was pleasant, environment pleasant but I guess they thought a couple ordering a burger and fish & chips wouldn't notice it was average and the fries refried and any old ketchup would do ... wrong!

What a pleasure to share fish and chips or burgers with friends/family.

Place looks amazing However we were surprised that by 7pm they had run out of food. Recommend calling before

Nice pub and garden with good walking around it.

Couldn’t have been less welcoming if they tried. Very odd atmosphere - not what you’d expect for the London prices and location. Avoid!!

Incredible place for a lovely lunch. The gardens were beautifully kept, great food and drink. Service was perfect.

We went there after a visit to Hambleton hall. It was said the food is actually better ! The food was excellent with a wonderful view of Rutland water. The only downside was the waitress that served us was very brusque, made you feel a bit rushed and a bit disinterested! It was busy on such a nice day so she was probably under pressure but customer service is everything.

Went there for lunch today, in the past good service and food, today really poor, booked for 1, had to chase for the main course an hour and half later. The steak was tough and the burger lukewarm. Good initial reception there after getting hold of anyone was very difficult. Too many tables for the number of staff.

Had an exquisite dinner here. Oriental chicken thighs, trout as a main, and chocolate crémeux for dessert. A beautiful location to match an amazing interior and friendly, professional staff.

Stopped for a lunchtime sandwich and drink after a walk around Rutland Water. Welcome not exactly "warm", having ordered drinks, we were advised that despite a range of sandwiches being offered on the menu, because the restaurant was busy they could not serve us. No real apology! Why offer sandwiches if you can't provide them at 1. .15pm on a Monday when the restaurant is half empty ? Cannot recommend.

First time here and loved it! Good lunch menu with a friendly attentive team. I hope to visit again soon.

Stayed for one night in room 4 which has a nice view across the terrace and a bit of the lake, very spacious , good sized bathroom, coffee & tea. The highlight of the stay was our meal, I had the slow cooked Ox cheek fabulous my partner had the trout also delicious to start we had the duck parfait and the marmite butter and toast, we finished off with Panna Cota and Rhubarb frangipane, we mixed and matched between the set menu and the A la carte which wasn't a problem the meal was excellent value, the wine list has a good range of wines and prices The service was good, it's a young team and they may not be supper slick but they are friendly and extremely helpful and if they don't know they will say and go and find out. There was a comment about table spacing, wasn't an issue plenty of space between tables. Breakfast was good to, the Scottish Oats is a large portion! Would happily stay and eat again :)

Food was inedible and when queried we were told that "this is how we serve it"

I was treated to a fantastic meal from a very dear friend last year. The food and service was top notch . This wasn’t cheap I saw from prices but think it was worth it . It’s a long drive from where I live about an hour but again worth the visit if in the area

Outstanding food and a stunning location. Really delicious lunch, with a great choice of menus. A la carte and a set menu, as well as a few great pub classics. A great pub. Very highly recommended.

Excellent service and food great location friendly helpful staff

Had a lovely family meal here, food and service was great and such a lovely setting! Look forward to returning here!

A real gem, the food looked amazing although we only stopped for a pint. I will definitely be returning for a meal. The outside seating is really nice and I imagine it's packed when the sun comes out, saying that Hambleton on the Rutland peninsula is definitely not on the way to anywhere .... A real quality place.

I’ve stayed here and I couldn’t fault anything the room the food the service was amazing. It’s such a nice place to stay and eat the food is delicious .

We were here for a wedding reception, which included dinner, overnight accommodation and breakfast the following morning. The whole time we were there was superb. I don’t know how the staff managed it but they served us with excellent food, on time, and met everyone’s needs. To provide such a high quality of service in a relatively small building which dates back hundreds of years is remarkable. Add in the setting close to Rutland Water, plus the very comfortable rooms, and it all adds up to something special. Faultless.

Went here for the first time on Sunday - absolutely superb. Food was delicious - I had the veggie roast dinner - absolutely gorgeous. Service fabulous - can’t wait to visit again

This is a great spot for drinks outside as the view is lovely. Food was very average as was the service and it’s not particularly cheap. We weren’t made aware of a children’s menu until it got to dessert which was strange and resulted in one of the kids just ordering a bowl of chips for their main. We were also seated out of the way in a separate room whilst everyone else was in the main dining room! Disappointing overall.

That’s three visits now and all times the food and service has been excellent. What a joy to have found somewhere that you can rely upon. Well done I say

Stunning! One of the best meals lve had in a very long while…l started with the prawns and then went for the stone bass ..it was so well presented and so very tastey. The staff were very friendly..and attentive. Icant wait to return,

Service was good but over priced food .£9.50 for a bowl of Soup and 2 slices of horrible GF bread. Actually I was charged £2.50 for the bread ,I can buy a whole loaf of GF bread in Tesco for that price.I know they have to make a profit but "come on !!! My friends lunch was 4 rather large fish fingers in a ciabatta bread for the same price as a Soup ,so how can Pea Soup be the same price as fish fingers you just can't compare the two.?? We won't be returning at these silly very disappointed.

Love this place. Garden is lovely in summer, overlooking res. Hambleton is one of the most beautiful villages, circular walk from The finch's towards water and back along lane takes about 1.5 hours

We were shunted to this pub due to a lunch elsewhere being cancelled due to a fire, and wow. A lovely little pub. Fantastic menu. Superbly presented food. Great flavours. Excellent wine list. The attitude of the staff is just sheer professionalism - I had a nice chat with the lady who'd served us (Rachel ?) . She explained they tried to use best practice at all times such as allowing all bottles of wine to be sampled before serving. All in all, couldn't fault the place. Would I come here again? Yes. Definitely

We were recommended the restaurant by a lady in Oakham and what a good recommendation. Lovely place and food, the waitress and the staff were very attentive and very helpful with my food intolerances

The Finch's Arms is an amazing place to go for Sunday Lunch. The food is outstanding and the staff are polite and helpful. Parking can be an issue if it is quite busy. Overall it was a wonderful afternoon.

A lovely old pub set in Hambleton Rutland. First time here for us and first impressions were great although car park was overcrowded. Food was of a good standard if not a tad expensive. Service was very slow with the four of us having to prompt those waiting on at every step including getting the bill. Underwhelmed at the price.

Went for lunch , excellent food, location and service

Came for Sunday lunch (we all had beef) and it was excellent. Only improvement would be the Yorkshire pudding was a little dry, but otherwise the meat medium rare and tender, veg crunchy, potatoes fluffy and good crunch, gravy good. Service and atmosphere were good esp as it was very busy. Nice view too! Price on the higher end of average but worth it for us and reflects the current cost rises of produce and staff.

Enjoyed one night stay and super evening meal with my daughter for my birthday

We arrived early so decided to have a drink next to the cosy coal fire, where the staff were really friendly. When we checked in and got to our room, we didn’t know what to expect but it was amazing. We had a balcony which looked out over the lake, and the general decor of the room was lovely. It would have been nice to take advantage of the balcony a bit more but it was rather chilly, so we made do with being able to lay in bed and look out. Our dinner was really nice and in a relaxing atmosphere, and similarly with breakfast. The food is all freshly made and the staff couldn’t do more to make us feel valued. We will definitely be looking to return in the warmer months just to be able to sit out on the balcony a bit longer!

I’ve been here with my family several times, we often come for a special occasion and usually stay in the hotel rooms above. Food quality has gone down hill, I was so disappointed. Rooms as usual were very nice. Issue paying bill in the morning stuff had been put on our room that wasn’t ours, was recidivism quickly but a bite to deal with. Serving staff seemed more miserable than when we came previously; no smiles just seemed fed up.

Had a birthday Sunday dinner with all my family. Food was exceptional. Everyone was very impressed. Holly our main waitress was brilliant, nothing was too much. Highly recommend.

Recently stayed overnight in a deluxe room with uninterrupted views across rutland water, absolutely fantastic, excellent Sunday lunch and breakfast, all courses where generous portions,and great value for money. Staff very friendly and efficient, couldn't fault anything

A fabulous dining experience. Quality and preparation of the food was excellent. We would highly recommend The Finch’s Arms and will definitely be returning when we next revisit the area. A five star experience!

I haven’t been tot he Finches for years but this evening my boyfriend treated me to dinner for my birthday. The staff were lovely and the food was great . Despite the restaurant not being full (Monday night in January) there was a lovely atmosphere. Highly recommend if you’re anywhere near Oakham or Rutland water

We booked a table for two for Sunday lunch and decided to try the finches sharing platter : beef, chicken and pork with veg, roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese & gravy ! Can’t recommend enough it was absolutely delicious and plenty for two! Service was excellent and friendly. Looking forward to our next visit!

Beautiful place and beautiful food.

The food here is exceptional. We had a lovely evening, fine dining by an open fire in January. I would always recommend making a reservation as it does get booked up.

Lovely place with great views over Rutland water

Ideal location, beautiful room with a view and great food. Service was slow in the evening, however they did warn us and we were in no rush. Location ideal for walking. Meal prices are on the high side (duck and pork between £25-£30) but this was a special occasion and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal and cocktails.

We went to celebrate our 51st wedding anniversary, and at first stone into a very small, very noisy room with three tables, one for us and the rest for quite a lot of very noisy beer drinkers. We asked to eat in the restaurant and we were shown a table there, the food was good, but I ordered seabass with potatoes, broccoli caviar and cream sauce. When it came there was no broccoli or caviar but some kale. It was lovely. I did not complain but did comment at the end about the lack of broccoli and caviar. I was assured that the broccoli and caviar were in the cream sauce And apology would’ve been fine, but taking me for a fool was not . I failed to see how you can include something that is green, and something that is black in a cream sauce, and still end up with a cream coloured sauce.

Second visit after going for the pre Xmas lunch which was very good. Well it lived up to expectations again and it was excellent. Had three courses and could not fault anything. Well done Colin (owner)

Absolutely blown away with everything. Staff were super attentive and friendly, food was amazing.....highly recommend the pork belly. Just an all round great experience and will definitely be back as its on our doorstep

Lovely pub, ruined slightly by a rude restaurant manager

We are travelling to Scotland for New Year and decided to break our journey. We chose The Finch’s Arms more because of its proximity to get back on the motorway. Our surprise and delight is that it is somewhere we would come back to. The...

Excellent meal, excellent service, a faultless evening. Very much recommended. We shall be back very soon. Thank you.

Dropped in and had an excellent lunch.

Overnight stay with dinner and breakfast. Fabulous place to stay. Beautiful room, bars, lounges and dining room. Service, friendly and efficient. Food was first class. Both my wife and I loved it.

Lovely Christmas lunch. Excellent food and good service as usual.

Stayed overnight following an afternoon wedding at the venue. Room 10 was quite basic, given the £160 room rate. We dined in the evening with 2 other wedding guests, and they got the order wrong, one person had to wait another 20 mins for the correct dish, by which time the rest of us had finished eating. The restaurant was not overly busy, so not sure why this was. Breakfast service was without a smile, and when we came to check out, we were informed we would have to wait as they were 2 staff down, and other guests were in front of us (having breakfast). After about 10 mins I approached the member of staff again to see if we could check out, and begrudgingly she completed the process, which took less than 2 minutes.

One of the best things about the Finch’s Arms is the absence of music. The babble of contended customers is quite enough.

our Daughters wedding reception was on Saturday , it was the perfect setting for her great day we would love to thank all the staff for making it all run so smoothly.wonderful food beautifully set out room , all the family stayed overnight in the...

Just popped in for lunch after a long walk. Very cosy/inviting and great food 👍🏻👍🏻

Have not been for a while but heard there was a new chef. The 3 course set menu was very good and had my first turkey meal of the Xmas run in. All delicious with good service and as I was not paying even better!...

Went for an evening meal with a friend. Firstly the car park is a mess, couldn't get in & huge holes filled with water meant even after we parked on the road getting through the car park in the dark was an issue. The restaurant itself is lovely, beautifully set & had a good atmosphere. The service was erratic - the head waiter was gruff & unfriendly, we were left for long periods with no service & little things like, no table water offered (even though the glasses were on the table), being given the wrong meals, not being offered coffee & after asking for the bill no one returned for us to pay meaning in the end we left & paid at the bar, somewhat spoiled the experience. The food however was excellent, both our starters & mains were exceptional some of the best food I've had in a long while. It will be the food that brings me back & hope that the service issues will be ironed out in time.

Our daughter's small wedding breakfast was here. The food was excellent and very good service. A lovely venue.

Not amazing to be honest. Made to feel a nuisance!!!! Won't go again. Food good but management needs reviewing!

Lovely pub with great atmosphere and wonderful views at the rear over the water. I had lunch with 2 friends at this pub after walking around the Rutland Water peninsula. The pub is in the charming village of Hambleton. The food was nice and freshly...

A rarity - Every visit is consistently excellent: great food quality and choice - from full lunch to sandwiches and everything in between, lovely pub with flagstone floors or modern dining room or sunny terrace overlooking Rutland Water and great service. Thank you.

We had our wedding breakfast here and couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Lois was amazing at helping us plan this, the food was amazing all our guests were very complimentary!

My wife and I went for lunch on the spur of the moment as we had not been to this pub/restaurant for many years. It is unfortunate that this venue has poor parking facilities. The car park was full. and the nearest available unrestricted street...

A group, of 16, friends called in for a lunchtime drink after a long walk around the peninsula. We were welcomed very warmly and friendly with drinks being served quickly. As we hadn’t arranged a venue for dinner in the evening we perused the menu...

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Today we had a Sunday roast at The Finch’s. The roast was exquisite – perfect meat, crispy roast potatoes, and lovely vegetables. The service was expectational, they also went above and beyond to help our little daughter. Thank you Finch’s

Always great food, good atmosphere. Excellent service and wonderful views over rutland water

So many things caused us to be very disappointed with our Saturday evening dinner. Here's the list of issues we faced during the evening: * an unfriendly barman giving us daggers as we arrived and approached the door we've used before to be told it...

Fantastic menu and food at this hidden gem. Great service, book in advance to avoid disappointment.

The pub is set in the most picturesque village which attracts a lot of walkers/tourists hence parking is tight and no doubt annoying for the residents. However if you want to visit an amazing location then there are comprises. The pace of service suits us,...

We always love a fantastic meal at the finches and are never disappointed, the service is amazing and the food is delicious, dog friendly too :)

Stayed at hotel and had dinner + breakfast. Fantastic views of rutland water from our room. Great modern British food

Beautiful drive to the countryside to this outstanding restaurant. We were treated like royalty! The food And drinks were outstanding. The view of the lake is beautiful. Cool Rolls Royce in driveway, gives you a sense of the class. Prices were quite reasonable though.

One Plant-based/vehan option for each course Really lovely atmosphere, Nothing too much trouble for staff Did not stay over in accommodation only attended for dinner We will be returning 😋

Lovely old pub in a beautiful setting but with a modern restaurant to the rear. Attractive garden with comfortable seating. Interesting menu with more variety than the usual pub range - this is a step up. Food and drink very good quality. Service was generally...