The Five Bells in Central Bedfordshire

Lovely traditional English pub serving up great food with half decent beer in a lovely location. I'd love to see a little more craft beer on tap (perhaps a Verdant?!)

Have been here previously for a wedding, thought we would try the Sunday lunch & it didn't disappoint. Really lovely service and the food was delicious. Cooked fresh so expect a small wait for food. So worth it!! Can't wait for a return visit

Appalling service. When spending £600 plus on a meal would expect a pleasant friendly service. Instead we left feeling unwelcome and guilty for being there. Was my daughter’s baptism meal and was ruined by staff with serious attitude towards everything we said or politely asked for. My husband and I pride ourselves in being friendly and polite and we definitely deserved better than this. It’s a shame the waiters and bar staff let the chefs food down as we will not be coming back.

I visited Five Bells to celebrate my daughter’s christening with a group of 12. The food quality didn’t match the high prices, and the service was disappointing. A waiter in a white shirt was especially rude and condescending. It’s a shame to see a nice venue let down by poor service and unfriendly staff.

I went to Five Bells to celebrate the christening of my daughter and we booked at table for 12 people. The quality of the food was very good, but the service and specially the staff was very bad. Having a table with 12 people, celebrating an important day and spending a lot of money I’d expect the staff to be at least a bit more friendly but they were very rude and condescending. It’s sad to see such a good place with a poor service and unfriendly staff.

Staff really friendly and food was absolutely gourges

Was recommend to visit the Five Bells and wow, the food was incredible. I had a T-bone steak and it was unreal, perfectly cooked. Our son also really enjoyed his lunch. It’s a step above most pub restaurants.

The roast dinner was delicious,hot and most enjoyable,we were greeted on arrival and taken to our table,the staff were a delight,

Food decent, would have been excellent if the chef had not gone overboard with salt, wow! Good food ruined. Expect better for the price. Good menu, good variety, starters excellent, deserts too big( honestly, I did finish it though), The over salting of the sauces, sides and main ruined a good meal, staff excellent.

Amazing dog friendly pub. Some of the best fish and chips I've eaten in a pub. Very friendly staff I would definitely recommend

Amazing pub really friendly staff ,very welcoming .if there was more then 5* I would have put more .

Meal was going well until puddings. Inaccurate menu allergen listings led to two diners getting itchy lips and sick at the restaurant after one morsel. Sickness continued after getting home. Diners NOT asked about having allergies. Avoid if you have allergen intolerances and allergies!! The manager refunded the two diners' meal and drinks, not helpful for addressing the unsettling feeling after being sick

Met a friend for a light lunch and a catch up. Asked for the sandwich menu and were told the only sandwich was Fish finger focaccia (priced £14.95) but there were other meals on the lunch time menu..... We had the fish and chips which was OK, but definitely not what we had planned eating for lunch. I used to enjoy visiting the 5 Bells but won't be going again........

Lovely friendly service and great food. What more could you hope for?

Always great food and a wonderful atmosphere. Staff always welcoming and friendly.

Every time my partner and I are going there, is always a welcomed atmosphere The staff is very friendly, pets allowed, drinks always refreshing and atmosphere friendly

Excellent family Sunday lunch out. Great place.

Food was good, staff friendly but incompetent. Tables sticky and not the cleanest place. Portions normal, not huge. A bit pricey.

First time going to the Five Bells, very friendly staff, very attentive and welcoming, nice selection of drinks, and the food was just amazing, highly recommended.

Six of us came for Saturday lunch. Very warm welcome, excellent service, went above and beyond to cater for our dairy-free friend, with a ‘deconstructed / tidy’ version of an Eton Mess without the cream! The food (BBQ) was brilliant, and the garden was well kept and expansive. Really lovely pub. Would love to go again.

Hadn’t been here for a year, and the new management has hugely improved the quality of the food and service. Had a perfectly cooked medium rare ribeye with blue cheese and the truffle fries were bangin! Seafarers on tap does the trick as well.

We arrived a bit early on Saturday evening but were shown to our table with no fuss. Our dinner of Roast Lamb and Seafood Linguine was delicious, and the service was impeccable. In particular Macey was delightful, being bright, helpful and efficient. What more could we want? Her two male colleagues were equally helpful and friendly, and overall we had a very pleasant evening.

This pub has always been a firm favourite place to eat whether it be as a couple, family or with friends but our last few experiences have been disappointing - service is slow, orders incorrect. Visited today for Father’s Day - service was painfully slow (despite the restaurant not being full and it not being peak time for food) and portion sizes for what was being charged was a joke. A cheese board costing £10 with 4 crackers and 3 thin slices of cheese is not reasonable… Will not be rushing back as we have tried and tried again - wishing it was the pub it once was.

Had a really lovely meal at the 5 bells tonight. Went with my partner and mother. Food and service was perfect. Thanks very much to the team. Highly recommend.

Exceptionally good Sunday roast! We had one chicken roast and one beef roast. Both meats were cooked to perfection. Generous portions of really high quality, fresh ingredients. Roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings divine! Plus plenty of fresh vegetables, and gravy. First visit in a couple of years, and totally exceeded our expectations, we will be back soon for sure! Fabulous location, decor and amazing service - but the food was really the star on our last visit. Thank you to the staff for a lovely lunch, much appreciated.

first time visit to the Five Bells Stanbridge whilst up working in and around Leighton - beautiful character building both inside and out and lovely gardens - I took a longstanding client / friend for Thursday lunch - we went for the chicken, ham, mushroom and leak pie with mash and the locally farmed Totternhoe sausages and mash followed up by Sticky Toffee pudding and ice cream - the food was excellent in all respects plus there was a good selection of wines and beers. Finally, a special mention to the lady behind the bar who went above and beyond in looking after us - she is a real credit to the business - looking forward to visiting again soon.

Great pub, great food. Partner had cheese pie and extra chips 😔 I had lamb rump. Cooked very nice and not too fatty. Both had puddings, choccy orange tart was lovely, very rich. Toffee sponge was lovely, prefer custard over ice cream though as that was only option. Still. Lovely food

Great lunch and venue for my dad's birthday

Lovely open space outside to enjoy a warm day!

Lovely old pub. Good range of beers. Great garden for the summer. Lots of events too!

Terrible. arrived to find kitchen closed. no phone call even though I'd called ahead to say we'd be 15 minutes late. allowed me to turn up only to be told not serving food. Why I was allowed to make a booking for 6.15 when the kitchen closes at 6.30 baffles me But guess the owner / chef doesn't care, otherwise he would have called me back while I was on route and I know he had my number because I had a text reminding me of my booking Dreadful experience - wasn't even offered a free drink upon arrival to compensate for time wasted.

We went for dinner in Asian Evening. Set Asian menu but could have a la carte also. Restaurant was busy, good vibe and decorated in Asian theme. Food was lovely, we weren't expecting it to be so good. Mixed starters were lovely, the satay chicken was delicious. huge prawns. Salmon miso was delicious and the desserts so yummy. I should have taken photos! Only downside, it was so busy service was really slow with drinks. So we just popped to the bar. The Singapore sling was their speciality cocktail but some bar staff didn't seem aware and said it wasn't on the cocktail menu! Strange but maybe briefing bar staff on what's happening in restaurant would be good. Its Spanish night soon, I'd give it a go.

Worst experience I’ve ever had! Overpriced, lamb was served raw not pink as expected! Service was appalling even though restaurant was virtually empty, table strewn with empty glasses by end of night. Order was taken and then needed to be retaken as running 2 menus with similar dishes! Staff not interested in discussing issues raised! Very pretentious, mediocre food and in small portions, went home and cooked myself a meal! Will not be returning or recommending!

I ordered a kids sausage and mash not expecting a singular sausage and a dollop of cream service was very good but food was in very small portions

Food was amazing, staff brilliant. We were a large party, over 20, everyone received their each course, within a short time frame, no one was left waiting for their food, whilst everyone else had theirs. Very attentive.

This pub is great again. For years it never had consistency but now it’s back. Great food. Great service and a bustling atmosphere. Will definitely come back.

We had a lovely afternoon in the garden

Sadly no log fire to take the chill off today but we did receive a warm welcome from the staff. I certainly recommend today's special deep fried soft shelled crab, a delicious light and spicy lunch, followed by an extremely tasty rhubarb creme brulee

Nice pub, dog friendly. Fitted us in without booking even though they were busy. Had a nice Sunday roast

Like the place, food is good, drink and service good... cannot fault though will say... the bar and surrounding area is really great... but the restaurant is very large and if there are 3 or 4 tables taken, it feels empty... can curtains screen off the lower half? cosy it up... I might suggest.

Excellent. Food good, service good

We went there for mother's day. The place was very busy as you would have expected. The food was excellent and will definitely be back.

Excellent service lovely environment and the food you will have to try for yourself it is amazing I would fully recommend going to this pub for food 💯💯💯💯💯💯

We have just come back from a really delicious meal at The Five Bells, food was fresh and tasty, service came with a smile and sense of humor it was just a lovely evening. Thank You x

Nice food. Good service. Relaxed atmosphere. Quite expensive!

Beautiful old building (must research the history next time I'm there) Food was superb!

Great place to go for a meal. Friendly staff.

Doggy friendly, delicious food and friendly, fast, efficient staff. Loved roast beef, crumble and atmosphere. Definitely recommend and will return soon.

Just had drinks but lovely atmosphere and crowd. Dog friendly

Lovely pub in the countryside and a delicious Sunday roast.

Good fish and chips, good beer, nice place

We went to a Burns Night evening. The staff were very welcoming and all our meals were delicious. It has been a long time since we went here, but we all thoroughly enjoyed it and will come back.

Oh dear. Food was either cremated or undercooked....dangerous when it's pork & chicken. Inedible roast potatoes and chunky chips. Had a good buzz but they need to get on it more with food. It's pricey. Drinks are good and varied, staff pleasant but the food let's it down everytime.

Hi a lovely pub shame about the service I think we were put in a corner and forgot about, had to tell waitress that we were ready to order, waited over 1hour before ordering when others had ordered and received there meals that came in after us, then when received the food the chips were burnt on one meal the rest was good mentioned to waitresses offered some more but declined.at the end complained but came up with excuses depending on what you order as to how long you have to wait ( people got served there food before we even ordered) ask for money off but refused, only got offered free complimentary drinks, you pay a lot of money to eat out, then to have to prompt staff that we’re still here waiting to be served when others have come in after us and been served , and received there meal not on, won’t be returning guys.

Good pub food and a good selection of beers on tap. We visited recently as a group after a family funeral. They looked after us exceptionally well. Thank you.

Food wasn't what was advertised on there website woman behind the bar was rude when I asked for a certain cider was told never heard of it in a rude way

Pre Christmas meal for six people. Five of us having beef rib which was amazing and the turkey and trimmings was huge and on a par with any Christmas day ! Great service and atmosphere. Excellent traditional village pub

We have just had the most amazing Christmas dinner here .... Big thank you to you and all your amazing staff for such a fabulous day And thank you for giving up your Christmas day for us ❤️ See you on new years eve 🥂🍾🥂

The 5 Bells Stanbridge is for me the go to pub! Under new management [Father and Son/ Ruben and Joe] demonstrate their preexisting experience by bringing to the 5 Bells a much needed restoring of what existed years ago and what I've long wished would return to the 5 Bells. The menu/food is delicious (Sunday roasts recommended) seasonal and well presented, but the real reason I return frequently to the 5 Bells is the service! Because for me unless you feel welcomed and looked after with that personal touch it won't matter how good the food is! So add to that the history the presentation the aesthetics of this wonderful pub I'm hopeful it will only go from strength to strength and grow in its popularity and attraction to the surrounding populous as their 'go to' pub. Well done Joe/ Ruben and team.

Had a company Christmas lunch here, excellent food, excellent service and everyone had a great time. Thankyou to all the staff for a memorable function!!

This pub is one of my favs ! Take our word for it and give it a visit this Christmas time. Great Food and personality. Love it and my little dog is welcome too.

Fab pub, great atmosphere and the food is amazing! Staff are very attentive. Deffo coming back!

Stopped here for a great meal and some beer

Visited with my partner mid week for dinner and I was very impressed with the atmosphere of the pub. Lots of space, beautifully decorated with lots of candles. Staff were very welcoming, polite and accommodating. I ordered the special of the day which was pasta with beef cheek meatballs but unfortunately it was a bit disappointing. The meat itself was very good but my pasta was over cooked and was a bit mushy. The sauce was definitely from a jar and sadly a cheap brand as it was overly sweet and masked every other flavour. I did expect more from such a nice pub and since it’s the second disappointing dish I had there I won’t be visiting again for food.

Revisited after a very long break. Went with my sister who had the fish and chips. Fish very fresh batter light and crispy not greasy and lovely chunky chips. I had the lamb was told it would be pink and I wasn’t disappointed. The lamb was tasty tender and delicious. The veggies with it were just the right amount. Two very nice meals. The staff were friendly and attentive and listened to us reminiscing as we were born and bred in Stanbridge. So for us a lovely trip down memory lane.

Six of us had a lovely 3 course meal at the Five Bells yesterday. The food was delicious, perfectly cooked and plentiful. Staff were friendly and welcoming. Beer is excellent. One of our go to places. Looking forward to seeing the log fire burning now it’s turned colder.

Very disappointed, this was a birthday meal with the family, first of all the menu is very limited especially the children’s menu. starters were ok to be fair, however the mains were awful Grandson could not eat his burger as it smelt terrible and tasted even worse, my wife and daughters lamb was so rare it nearly walked off the plate and had to send them back, however this put my wife off her mains and could not eat it, the puddings were ok’ish but the crumble was so sloppy and tasteless. The service was awful 2 1/2 hours to have our meal which we had to chase. When the manager was spoken to he was aggressive, defensive and dismissive. Although we live in the village we will not eat there again.

Great food and service a notch above your regular pub food I would say quality service and food

Lovely lunches today. Staff were very thoughtful in finding us a quiet table. All four of us were delighted with the mains and desserts. Highly recommended.

Nice pub have been a few times £27.95 ribeye Was disappointing And came with cheep fries and 2 mushrooms I understand a 45 day mature meat isn't cheep but came with nothing.its too expensive for what you got. And the the stake was very thin. Ive cooked much much better ribeye on my bbq. When the food came out i looked at the plate and looked at my wife and said is that it. Honest feed back. I dont mind paying extra for quality but in this case it realy isn't the case. Lovely pub and staff Im just being truthful. Still 5 stars dont want to give less because i wasn't impressed with my meal. Because it wasn't bad just not alot. Would be nice to see that dish made better. Hopefully this comment.. will help. My bbq services are available from april till September 😁😁😁😁😁😁 Hi 👋

Beautiful evening! Food was amazing staff were excellent!

Booked for 4 pm and couldn’t believe how popular / busy it was. Packed in the restaurant. Unexpectedly found this pub a few years ago when visiting family in LB and so thought would try again on way home. Found it to be ok. Quick service, big portions (half a chicken!!) and quite tasty. Was full so couldn’t have a pudding. In fact in and out in an hour…perfik!!!!! Loved the previous review about the chicken; who needs butchery skills from a chef when you can hack it off yourself 🫣much more fun 🤢

Although really really busy with Sunday lunches and a birthday party you still cannot fault the service today. Amazing roast and amazing service even though I had to re arrange our table time last minute due to myself double booking sports and dinner.

Great lunch here today. Food was good and the service was good. Nothing bad to say.

Had a lovely Sunday roast here, and mussels and chips for my dining partner! Plenty of friendly staff on shift, and Claire in particular really looked after us on our visit. Enjoyed the 0% Thatchers cider that was recommended... and really, it's such a beautiful pub with all the beams.

Fantastic food and decent sizes. Dog friendly seating in bar area and separate restaurant area that doesn't have dogs. Lovely atmosphere and friendly staff.

Just got home after Sunday Roast here today and have to say it was gorgeous. Fussy son loved his beef. Service was excellent. Will be going back real soon.

Love this pub! Food is amazing and so is the service.

Lovely pub, fantastic food and service we will definitely be back. Highly recommend. 10/10

Went to the five bells for a Sunday roast and it was hands down one of the best roasts I’ve had, service was fantastic and a really lovely atmosphere. Highly recommend and will be returning very soon.

Great atmosphere and the food was first class. I tried the haddock and chips and they were excellent. I'm from Scarborough and wanted to see how they compared and they were right up there with the best I've eaten!

If the food had been nearer to half the price, then it would have been fair value. The Yorkshire pudding was 3" high and only just saved from burning. The cabbage and carrot, were scarce and the latter - overcooked. The chicken was somewhat dry and followed the common, and labour-saving practice of serving half a chicken as described. The issue here is the extra effort required by the customer. That allows sufficient time for the whole dish to cool all too quickly. Consequently, the whole dish rapidly cooled rendering a substantial portion inedible. I should have removed chicken from its bone, etc. first, then asked for the whole dish to be reheated after first removing the Yorkshire, which may have been a step too far for the carrot. Fundamentally, amongst other reasons for dining out, there is the one that relieves the diner of meat preparation immediately prior to eating. I used to think that chefs were valued for that skill even in eateries such as this exemplar of the kind.

If the food had been nearer to half the price, then it would have been fair value. The Yorkshire pudding was 3" high and only just saved from burning. The cabbage and carrot, were scarce and the latter - overcooked. The chicken was somewhat dry and followed the common, and labour-saving practice of serving half a chicken as described. The extra effort required by the customer allows sufficient time for the whole dish to cool all too quickly. Consequently, the whole dish rapidly cooled rendering a substantial portion inedible. I should have removed chicken from its bone, etc. first, then asked for the whole dish to be reheated after fist removing the Yorkshire which may have been a step too far for the carrot. Amongst other reasons for dining out, there is the one that relieves the diner of meat preparation immediately prior to eating. I used to think that chefs were valued for that skill even in eateries such as this exemplar of the kind.

Sunday lunch - very tasty roast beef cooked beautifully and well presented.. Service was good and some decent real ale on tap. Overall, it was very pleasant and will be somewhere we plan on returning to soon!

It's probably the best pub I've been in for years. Lovely atmosphere and excellent food. Absolutely fantastic. Can't wait to go back ❤️

Went for a Sunday lunch on the 2nd visit to this wonderfully charming little pub. The food and service was superb, waitress was attentive but not too much, the perfect balance. Even with a few large parties to cater for, our food came out very quickly and was faultless. We were seated in the newer part to the pub which is decorated accordingly. The front part of the pub is full of character and it's old style is beautiful. Watch your head though, that part isn't for basketball players let's say. Will be back 👍🏽

Great atmosphere and friendly service 👍

I went there for lunch with several former work colleagues on a monday. First of all the landlord and phoebe who was the young lady serving were fantastic you couldn't fault them. However the lunch menu was extremely limited for example the only sandwich available was a roast beef one in white bread. I don't know what the evening and weekend menus are like but we won't be going there for lunch again. We will stick with the wavendon arms , the fantastic black horse at woburn and the woburn pub and hotel at woburn for lunch all of which are great for a meet up and lunch with friends and have a wide range of food choice.

We visited here after a day out at Whipsnade Zoo. The pub has plenty of parking and is close to the Zoo. We booked a table and this was ready and prepared for our arrival. We waited over 10 minutes after being seated to be asked for a drink (the pub was not busy) and longer following this for a food order. We could see multiple staff stood talking together. We ordered a roast, burger, salad and something from the children’s menu. The roast was the pick of the choices and looked of good quality. However the portion size of the burger and chips was small and the children’s option was larger. As you can see from the picture the salad was extremely poor. A few bits of very dry chicken, two bits of bacon on top of lettuce leaves for almost £20 leaves a lot to be desired. It felt almost embarrassing next to the roast.

6 of us went for an evening meal and wow what a meal it was brilliant the setting was great and the staff were fantastic.

Amazing Sunday lunch, great friendly service. Have been before and will go again.

Recently celebrated my birthday at The Five Bells, such a lovely place full of character and charm, lots of oak beams nooks & crannies. Staff were really attentive and very helpful food was amazing, really good menu, my ribeye steak was to die for, puddings were homemade & really delicious. Fabulous garden lots of outdoor space . I shall definitely recommend this Gastro pub and will be returning very soon.

Recently had my Wedding reception at the Five Bells and I can’t Thank or recommend the staff and venue highly enough! Everything from the planning of our day, to catering for our guests food requirements, to the help in decorating the venue to perfection and the service they provided on the day. Nothing was too much trouble, they were so accommodating and we had so many of our guests complimenting the food. The venue is beautiful with big lush gardens, thankfully the weather also stayed mainly dry as a bonus! Thank you to you Joe and your team. You made our day perfect ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

All the meals were very tasty and well presented 5 adults 4 young children £300 inc all drinks and tip Good portions every course Friendly pub both staff and customers definitely In the top two in the past 3 years regardless of price and it was by no means expensive. I went on a Sunday but they are offering Lunchtime 3 course meal of quality food for £21.00 a head Mon - Fri An offer I intend to take up Children & Dog friendly Large garden for the kids to play Overall very nice experience 👏😊

Overpriced food and rude staff, don’t bother going. It’s such a shame as it was a great place for a Sunday roast.

Food was nice, we had roasts but it was so expensive overall. The service was slow considering it was pretty quiet as well. I paid £10.50 for a large glass of Rioja! Wow! Overall would recommend for a roast but dig deep!

I went here as I was told by a friend that new owners have taken over and that the food was amazing. Me and my partner decided to go Saturday night and I must say this was the best food I have had in a...

I am local and never been a fan of the five bells, however new owner I thought I would give it a try. Very very poor Sunday lunch and extremely rude staff including the manager. Avoid and go somewhere which value your custom.

We went to the Five Bells today for lunch, the pub is in a beautiful setting and very well kept, the food was excellent and the staff are so friendly and helpful. The menu is superb and different from all the other food pubs in...

A transformation under new management. Lovely pub and lovely garden. We went for Sunday lunch with the family and everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meal. The crab starter was delicious and the roast beef was so tender, the meat is a roast sirloin of beef and...