The Shires Inn in Harborough

We have been twice in the last 4 weeks the first time there was a large group of 18 of us. Food was fantastic on both trips but the service was slow. To give them the benifit of the doubt we went again just 3 of us the service was even slower. We were seated and ad rinks order taken but then just forgot about we waited 20 minutes and ended up having to go and find someone to take our food order. We were a little disapointed that the table behind us of at least 10 that arrived and were seated and order taken after us had there mains come out before we had even received our starters. Once we had finished 2 of us made our way to the carvery which was fully stocked, hot and smelt delicious. We waited a while for the plates to be cleared and to order deserts when they went off but didnt return we saw another waitress with the giant desert board walking around with it and tried to gain her attention. 15 minutes later we gave up waiting and ended up paying the bill at the bar and leaving. The resturant is lovely and as mentioned the food is fantastic but its just the service that lets it down. The novelty of the giant desert menu board is ok for quieter services but in my opinion I think just having regular printed desert menus would be more than ok for busy days. We will prehaps go again but we are not in any rush to go back. Had the service been quicker and more attentive I would 100% give them 5 out of 5.

Service (considering it's a self service carvery) was poor. Bar service slow, no acknowledgement & no eye contact! Queuing for Everything. Food. Booking in. Drinks at bar. Even to pay! Quality of the food, only just kept it above basement level. Maybe Sunday lunch wrong time to visit but the place is a renowned restaurant & should have their act together by now?

Best sunday carvery in Leicestershire great prices

Great food and lovely atmosphere

Been twice, first visit was good but the second last Sunday was a noisy bad experience. Apperently they stopped catering for small eaters now without any warning so we won't be going there again.

Had a fantastic family meal. The carvery (£18.95 per head) is 10/10!!! Absolute quality food, really tasty and delicious. Lots of different joints to choose from and you can have mashed potato! Proper homemade Yorkshire's too and all the veg was so fresh tasting. Self-service was very quick so the food was lovely and hot. We also had steak (£26.95) and Fish (£18.95) and whilst on the pricey side, was very good quality again, tasty and well presented. The young staff were ever so helpful and friendly and it really was a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. Would definitely go back. Thank you.

Incredibly tasty meal with family of 14 for celecration. Staff did a remarkable job of coping with a starving famly and did so professionally, very smartly dressed and gave great service. Personally I highly recommend the boneless lamb, utterly worth 5 STARS.

Very good carvery, quality food and options of meat were lamb, pork, turkey, gammon and beef. Very busy with families with small children and car park was full. Can’t really fault the dinner apart from the mash not being 100% smooth. However we would go back. It was just difficult to pay when we were done. Lots of young waiters and servers but no one wanted to sort the bill out. Its a good job im an honest person because i could have just left and no one would have blinked an eye!

We had a birthday party dinner. No table service was offered when we first arrived, so we all went to the bar to order. The server then came over and asked to take our order. There was no upselling, just what do you want! We all had carvery Good choice of meats 5 in total 👌 Roast potatoes and parsnips lukewarm and greasy, Homemade lumpy mash potatoes. Funky tasting red cabbage, very sweet. Cauliflower cheese, but didn't taste cheesy. Carrots, there's not much to say. Yorkies good The server cleared our table and asked if we wanted to see the dessert board. The poor server carried this massive board over, which we had to hold up so everyone could see! (Maybe print this out so everyone car read) Glasses left on the table missed upselling opportunities for more drinks. Also, it was so HOT in the pub that people were sweating eating dinner, no windows open, and no servers to ask! For about the same price for a carvery and 5 minutes more travel you can have a better experience on a Sunday 🪿

Booked a table for the Sunday carvery and can honestly say it was one of the best I have had in ages. Service was excellent. No waiting at the table unlike other places, where you are told when you can go up to carvery, even though it was very busy. Didn't get rushed either. Very generous meat portions with a good choice of vegetables, which included cabbage, which I love but can't think of anywhere else that I have been to that serves it. Great big homemade yorkies. I will definitely be returning. A little bit more than I am used to paying for a carvery but very happy to pay extra as you get what you pay for and it shows in this case.

Outstanding pub restaurant. I have been going with local family members on an annual basis for the last 10/15 years since I was a young child. Food is all handmade, large portions and of high quality. I wish they would have good value food restaurants like this in Cambridge where I am from. I would thoroughly recommend. The menu has a good range of choice for all. Lunch menus are very good value for money. See you next summer!

Very welcoming atmosphere, friendly staff. However whilst eating my prawn dish , I found that one of the prawns was off. It smelt really bad & I had to spit it out onto my napkin. The shell was also very smelly..i didn't want to make a big fuss out of this but my friend called one of the waitresses to let them know. Minutes later a more senior staff/manager I presume came to our table, she told us that there was no way the prawn could have been off as they were all frozen. No apology given.. I know my food, I have eaten prawns in a lot of restaurants and I have never had a reason to complain. I wouldn't have had a reason to write this review if my very politely raised issue had been addressed by a simple apology. I didn't want a replacement dish but just an apology and not to be brushed off. The other issue that clearly annoyed me was that nearly 4 different staff members came to our table within a space of 30mins asking if we had finished our desserts whilst we were still clearly eating. Wrong order of drinks as well I would recommend that staff receive more training. However enjoyed their white chocolate & berry cheesecake 😋

Good value for money on the food [lunchtime sandwiches] and the ale well kept. Service friendly and prompt.

Wow, one of the best meals I've had in a long time. We were a large party of 11, at a lunchtime and the service was outstanding. All the food was top quality and portions were more than genourous.

Greated by a lovely waitress who knew what largers they sold without having to go to the bar and look. We ordered a fish dish and a pork escalope dish. Chips were the default but we changed to new potatoes and dauphinoise. The food came and kept coming. The main plates and then a bowl of vegetables, a bowl of many new potatoes, a bowl of dauphinoise and also a bowl of chips. It was lovely tasty food, no complaints there. HOWEVER, it was just too much, we ended up with taking a lot home in boxes after feeling we just could not manage another morsel. SOLUTION: Why not off a small plate option, this would result in less waste and give the customer what they want.

Another absolutely fantastic meal, the Shires never fails to impress with quality, choice (loads of options for vegans and gluten intolerant types too) and gargantuan portions! Lovely staff too, highly recommended ❤️

A fantastic pub in a beautiful village. A truly excellent choice for vegetarians. Generous portions, loved the side dishes of 3 different types of potatoes & vegetables bought out for the table. Friendly staff. Recommend booking as it's popular.

We had been to the outdoor theatre near by and wanted somewhere to stop for something to eat on the way home. Found this place on Google maps and gave it a try, the food was absolutely beautiful, if we lived closer we'd go more often.

Fabulous food , big portions Good vegetarian options available

Delicious food and great service

Fantastic choice, huge portions and great quality

The best carvery I think I've ever had. Every part of it was delicious, hot and fresh. The meat portion was very generous and this carvery did NOT lack in any way shape or form. Very impressed and will definitely return.

Nice meal, not the cheapest but quality and quantity made up for it. A couple of issues with the service, but all dealt with and the 5 of us left happy with the meal.

Don’t eat here if you have allergies! Chef was ‘too busy’ to check what was safe for our kids to eat, no allergy information written down for kids menus, and chef ticked multiple dishes as ‘safe’ despite their key ingredients clearly being one of my kids allergens. Also don’t let them play on the play area - we found so many shards of glass down there (4 hands full from one small area!) and didn’t even get an apology! So disappointed, needless to say we left and ate elsewhere.

Really lovely restaurant and grounds. Very spacious outside seating area with small playground for little ones. Service and food were faultless. Highly recommend.

We have dined here several times , attended with a party of 5 for Father's Day . Great service , most of us had the carvery which had a good selection of meat & veg . Just a nice relaxing atmosphere & will return in the near future

Lovely food as usual. Excellent for the cost. Friendly helpful staff.

Always great came here for my birthday great food as always.

Difficult to rate this one. We went there yesterday as it was voted 7th best pub with a children’s playground in Leicestershire. The beer garden is huge and has a great climbing frame 5-stars. Portion sizes were great. Food tepid 3-star. Some of the older staff did not seem overly friendly 4-star. Over 4 I think is fair…

What a fantastic place. Superb food at reasonable price, huge portion size too. Big car park so no fighting over space. Thoroughly recommend.

Everything about our visit to The Shires was first class. The food was just excellent. It wasn't the cheapest Sunday lunch, but it was the best.

Lovely place to eat, went at lunch time we had a 2 course set lunch! Very reasonably priced.

Great restaurant, superb service. Lovely friendly staff.

The best Sunday carvery in Leicestershire

Lindo lugar para visitar en familia, la comida excelente y abundante. Los precios están bien y es apto para niños. Variedad de vegetales y carnes

Nice place to visit with the family, delicious and abundant food, recommended.

Very nice pub in excellent setting... Carvery is superb. Thank you very much

Beautiful food, Good size portions. Friendly staff.

We were fortunate as it was a wonderful evening weather wise for visit to this rural location. They have a decent size car park and a pleasant garden if you have small children. It has a nice ambiance of a country pub. Warm welcome and this continued for the whole of our visit with attentive service. Food was excellent fish & chips , sea bass, beef wellington. It has been a while since we last visited and we were very happy to find it is good as previous visits. I think our next visit will be quite soon.

Good service. Excellent food. Kids loved the playground. We'll be back!

Each year we had a Family meet up around Easter time then COVID hit. The shires then had some renovations done ( I think) so we found another venue, but nothing compares with The Shires. Today we went back and what service we had…brilliant. From the first phone call everyone I have spoken to have been so accommodating and helpful, look forward to seeing you again..

Lovely pub for food, always busy especially on a Sunday! So I think booking is essential, also car share if you can, as although it has a big car park it does fill up. The curry night is my favourite, it's brilliant.

We went midweek for lunch as a couple of people had recommended after I had asked for suggestions. The place itself is in a beautiful location but in areas a tad tired looking inside ( curtains hanging off the rails etc) . After opting for a turkey lunch I was sad to say my disappointment set in . The meat was welded to the plate with an over salted gravy that was thick enough to fill in potholes on the roads to the venue . The Yorkshire pudding was so overdone it was totally inedible . My daughter had the chicken Kiev which itself was gorgeous but sadly served with three quarters of a plate of slightly brown lollo lettuce . The side dishes of vegetables however were lovely and fresh and the staff were great but given the chance I would sadly not return .

Saturday evening service slow waited over 20 mins for veg and chips to come with our mains course already arrived so food was cold .waitress didn't know what the house red wine make was but also didn't find out either desserts was not good quality and expensive

Food was as described but far too much of it so there was a lot of waste and even the waitress clearing our table said that she rarely sees anyone finish all their food on the table! There was a long wait between courses with us being there for 3 hours for a starter and main course. Obviously understaffed for the number of covers. Big menu with lots to choose from caters for everyone’s wants. It’s cheap food but good food and lots of it!

We came here on curry night, it was all lovely food as usual and service was good and pleasant with it aswell.We will definitely be returning here again soon.

Luke was a very attentive server, always checking back with us to see how things were and his recommendations of dishes were brilliant which shows great product knowledge and enthusiasm for his job here. he made the experience very memorable! The food portions were outstanding to a point where we were unable to finish the mains but the food was very well presented, well cooked and had great value for money. Will definitely come here again in the future! The atmosphere was very calm and pleasant with very friendly staff aswell :)

4 Aussies dining with English rellies, the Sunday carvery was magnificent. The size of the yorkies blew us away.

Our first visit with friends. Food choices for weekly lunchtime menu were very good. Portion sizes good and all food clearly homemade. Highly recommended and we will be returning.

Nice food if anything the portions were oversized. One order came wrong but was replaced quickly and without fuss. Service was good. Would go again only would not have starter as main was sufficient

Fabulous meals, lovely plesent staff and excellent service, visiting from Hampshire and a overnight stay in the village, will certainly recommend this to anyone in the area ,a big thanks to All

Went on valentines. Staff were friendly and nice. Staff was a little slow removing plates , empty glasses. Took awhile for them to bring new cutlery. Prawns were nice put too much salad and onions. Food is nice. Would recommend going.

The best carvery in county, bar none. The Shires staff certainly earn their money on a Sunday! Always a treat 🙂

I've been going to the shires for years and usually nothing to complain about. This time on my 55th birthday was very disappointing. The meat was all overcooked, vegetables undercooked and lacking in choice. On top of that we ordered drinks to have with the meal which didn't arrive. Eventually we managed to get drinks and when the bill came, we were charged for the drinks we never had. I complained to the girl on the till and her answer to my complaint for the food was "I don't cook the food". Not really the answer I would expect. This is the last time I will be going there unless I receive some kind of formal apology for the rudeness of the staff.

Very good Sunday roast carvery and a decent pint

On first impressions when you walk in its a really nice looking place. We was seated by the buffet for Sunday Carvery and was boiling hot and had to keep nipping outside to cool down. All the waiting staff seemed very young and inexperienced. Didn't know what type of lager was on offer and no idea what a lager shandy was. Drinks took ages to come and when they did arrive some were wrong. Food was ok, the only plus point for me. When you come to pay you then get stuck in a little hallway with other people trying to pay and also people trying to be seated. Wont be rushing back anytime soon.

Saturday 3rd February 2024. Family of 4. Our first time having dinner at the Shires Inn in Peatling Parva, Leicestershire. First impressions were the dining area was bright, with tired tables and chairs and the room was full of tat on the walls, which the wife and I both commented on at the same time ! Not at all like the photos on the website, which shows a spacious dining room. A large and varied menu, oddly with steaks on the back page. The menu for the mains was unclear since it was not obvious the meals included potatoes and vegetables. We both ordered medallions of fillet steak which arrived swimming in sauce/gravy instead of served with the meal. When paying the bill I went to the bar area, a lady, possibly a manager took payment and asked how everything was. I explained I didn't particularly like my £25 steak swimming in gravy. Her response was "well our customers like it that way" and "some you win and some you lose" So you lost our custom and we won't be going back !

Wonderful food,a superb place to eat out

Very busy on a Sunday but the carvery is amazing and the staff were fab for my 30th birthday. Always recommend this place!

Awesome 'local pub'. Beautiful building full of character and with a lovely carvery. Has a large grassed beer garden with wooden climbing frame for the littles. However it gets VERY boggy after any rain so be careful before they charge down to it and end up coated in mud! Amazing carveries.

I was disappointed with the free from menu. It did not offer anything but vegetarian options that left my Grandma ordering something she didn't really like as she's celiac. Other than that, the atmosphere was good and the staff were lovely.

We were a party of 36, such a fantastic and varied menu. The food was cooked to perfection and such good quality. Half of us chose the carvery, half from the festive menu. The trio of partridge breasts and Duckling in black cherry sauce were particular favourites with our dinners. Amazing service considering how busy the restaurant was. A big thank you to all the staff, who were fantastic 👏

Christmas Day at the Shores Inn was a pleasure, the staff were attentive and helpful,the food was good and considering how busy they were, we were served promptly, it must be said it's not easy to get all of those things right when there's no room at the Inn. Well done everybody.🥰

Pippa and the team made us very welcome. Lovely food and good portions

We had our Christmas party here yesterday. The Shires did us proud, the food, staff and venue were brilliant, couldn't have been better. We had a great time, thank you so much, we'll be back. Merry Christmas to everyone at The Shires. Cosby Friday Walkers (40 of us)

Great food great service, good parking great facilities.do I recommend yes I do all home made and cale for money.

Came here on 22/12, had the pheasant. Exquisite! Big portion wrapped in bacon, with haggis inside a pastry casing, a pheasant Wellington if you like. Delicious herby sauce, potatoes and winter vegetables. Great service and a wonderful lunch.

Date of visit 22/12/23.Very disappointed, haveing been here in the past and had nice meals. However on visiting withy family and having ordered for the 4 of us only 3 of the 4 dinners arrived. When my son's steak arrived it was raw and cold in the middle. Sent it back and they cooked the same steak and then brought the same steak back over cooked this time when ordered medium rare. Sent back for a 2nd time. By the time he got his dinner the rest of us had nearly finished. The onion rings were really greasy. I ordered the Surf and Turf and the plate come out swimming in melted butter and only 2 large prawns. No idea why I also had what looked like chillies in dressing for the steak. We ordered 3 Steaks with chips, Ham Eggs and chips and got given 1 bowl of chips between 4 of us. Then one of the staff asked if we would need more.....well erm yes. Final insult it cost me £12.20 fo 2 pints. Poor food, High prices very disappointed 😞😞

Popped in for lunch. Food was excellent and staff were great. Highly recommended!

Excellent seevices and food. Very unique experience of a rural restaurant. The owner went above and beyond for hospitality .

I have just visited and me and my family were delighted by the large menu, fast service and friendly staff. The portions were huge and absolutely delicious. Would definitely recommend!

Freezing cold and the food was appalling. £25 for a steak of which most of it was fat. Will not be returning.

The food was good quality, the service was friendly and brisk but it was too busy making it sometimes uncomfortable

Great place food brilliant staff really friendly and helpful definitely going back

Does a decent carvery on a Sunday. Pretty popular so it's wise to book

Pre-covid this was an excellent night out. Not so good now. Food OK but expensive for that. Used to be more special. Had 3 courses with 4 friends and at each course someone's food was 10 min later than rest. It's a good 3 star now.

Lovely country pub in a great providing quality food with friendly service. I was as pleased the 2nd time I visited for a family event, as I was the first time

Had a lovely time celebrating my son's 18th birthday. The carvery was fab & so were the other meals chosen from the main menu. The staff & service was also very good.

Absolutely love it here it’s my favourite restaurant but this time I invited 10 of my family and unfortunately things are never as you say when it comes to it..it just simply wasn’t as good as usual! Usually amazing tho

Phenomenal restaurant. I can't fault the whole experience, from the staff to the first class quality of food. Simply outstanding & I will definitely be visiting again!

Had to ask a number of times for things had a table booked for 3.30 and had to ask at 4.15 if we can go to carvery and was being charged for 12 and there was only 11 then looking at receipt once home have been charged £6.95 for a 2yearold child ice cream

Staff very young and inexperienced . We were three quarters of the way through our food before we received a check back by who I assumed was the manager, when I said I was disappointed with my Stilton sauce as there was no Stilton in it at all he really didn’t care. Asked if I wanted another but why would I. No apology or offer of anything in recompense . Been a couple of times and not been impressed by service or food. Will not be returning

Delicious food but portions so huge meant terrible waste of food. Please serve smaller portions to avoid terrible waste!

Good food, ok beer just a bit warm

A great place for a birthday meal we all enjoyed our food and service was fantastic

Super food fantastic atmosphere and excellent surroundings

We went as a family (3 adults, 2 kids) on a Sunday at lunch time. The carvery was bang on and the kids loved their food too. As a vegetarian, I was pleased to see there were 3 different options on their Sunday menu. This was tasty too and the portions were very generous. However, we ordered a bottle of white wine but got the wrong bottle. When we raised that issue, we were told they ran out of the wine we ordered. It was annoying that we weren't told that when they brought the bottle over, especially since it was a totally different wine, and £4 more expensive that the one we ordered!

Excellent carvery, comprehensive choice of meat and veg. Lovely staff. Well worth a visit.

Not too expensive but the food is superb. Liver & bacon. Steak & kidney pie with lots of kidney.

Having turned up for the Sunday carvery having booked a table, we stood at reception for nearly 30 minutes with not one member of staff acknowledging use, which wasn't great with with a 3 year old. Finally sat down on a table that was already ready. The carvery itself was great, probably one of the best around. After paying realized they had not taken off my deposit, phoned up and was met by a rude manager who even messed up my refund/deposit. Real shame and wont be going back.

The food was average. They didn't have any goats cheese for my salad and the didn't serve the included beetroot or walnuts. This was sorted but not ideal replacement. We ate outside in a nice garden area.

Booked for our wedding meal . Preordered for 18 of us and as always we had the best time, beautiful food, and fantastic service. We always choose the shires for family meals and celebrations- wouldn’t go anywhere else.

The food is why we keep returning, not cheap but excellent.

Went for the curry buffet. Well prepared, tasty and plentiful. Good value for money.

Decided on going here due to good reviews but most are prob from their club. After being made to wait with my 6 month old son and partner when the people before us were just let straight through who clearly were friends, we got seated after 10 mins of standing there without any other in the queues. The food had been there all day and the Yorkies had gone solid and most the meat was chewy and dry. We wasn’t asked for drinks I had to go to the bar whilst other bigger parties were waited on hand and foot. There were 3 waitresses dealing with one tables deserts and we couldn’t even get a drink. Left the meal half eaten and decided to leave and paid £30 after a deduction of £8 lol. Clearly this place looks after it’s regular or large parties but don’t give a toss about smaller parties or non regulars. Would not recommend this place and will not be coming again . Might as well wore an invisible cape from lord of the rings.

Nice pub, obviously popular with the locals. Carvery was fine but I was envious of my wife's sea bass... The staff were all friendly, keen and helpful. A nice little play area in the garden for children, but very exposed to the sun so became very hot to touch. Meal for 6 people came to £90 with drinks which I thought was very reasonable. We did have a round of drinks before that we paid for separately so don't get too excited by the low price! The atmosphere score was low because of people dressed inappropriately, I don't understand how it can be permitted to have people wearing string vests in a restaurant? Some other customers were also very rude to the staff, manners cost nothing and it bothered me, but the staff handled it professionally.

We had a great time celebrating my hubbys 50th here, food and staff are amazing

We was a large family of 27 it was a very special night as it was a reunion of family fro Australia I explained this. Food was great no complaints by time we all got food it was 1800. So we was extremely annoyed when at 1900 we was told it was closing please pay up. Bars closed .toilets closed and we was literly left standing outside .we want to make night of it in garden .it ruined our night. Never once was I told this otherwise we would gone else where. The pub down road was still open .

Excellent food, great service, will be going again, great food again,

Perfect experience on Father’s Day! Accommodated really well for vegans and vegetarians! The best service I’ve received in a restaurant, beautiful surroundings and wonderful staff!