White Swan Shawell in Harborough

We have dined here many times and it never fails to disappoint. The lunch menu was delicious and reasonably priced and the staff were all very friendly and attentive.

Had the lunch menu today, great value for excellent food. The smoked bone marrow mash in particular was banging. Sad to hear it's closing soon, will be missed. Make sure you go while you still have the chance!

Lovely food, great friendly service and a lovely atmosphere! We visited on Father’s Day and had the most wonderful beef lunch. We’ll be back. One very small point….a larger dinner plate would have been welcomed as I had limited room to manoeuvre my food around the plate. By no means did this however prevent me from leaving a glowing review and recommending the restaurant as a fantastic local eatery.

Went here on 7/6/2024 for our wedding anniversary. We had the 6 serving Tasting Menu and food food, as you would expect from a fine dining restaurant, was outstanding and everything was cooked to perfect and was bursting with flavours. A number of the dishes were also very original with actually the bread at the start being one of our favourites, it was a truffle bread with marmite butter! The rest of the courses, as you can see from the pictures were excellent and were served by the chef who gave you an overview of what they were. I was toying between 3 and 4 stars due to everything else around the experience. We have dined at a number of other fine dining restaurants and i think what let the White Swan down was it didn’t have that feel to it. It felt more like a very nice pub/restaurant. It wasn’t busy at all, with only four tables occupied and because of this the atmosphere was pretty non existent, with only very low background music playing. I have to say it was also extremely cold in the restaurant, clearly it’s June and there should’ve been no need for heating to be on but it was a cold day and they didn’t take that into account. A number of people kept their jackets on! I would also say that from start to finish the whole meal took 2 and a half hours and the gap between courses felt very long, considering the portions were quite small less of a gap between them would’ve been better. Due to recent surgery I couldn’t drink but Sparkling water was included free which was a very good touch, although having to pay an extra £9.50 each if you wanted a Stilton dish after dessert felt a little cheeky. The staff were very pleasant and attentive enough and even though there were only two waiters this was fine due to the low amount of diners. Overall, I would definitely recommend the food but at £185 in total I would’ve expected to come away more impressed with the whole restaurant.

We hosted the reception for our joint wedding and son's christening over a 6 hour period using the whole of the White Swan restaurant. The team were helpful beforehand helping us to tailor the event to suit our needs and develop a bespoke menu for our guests. The team helped us to set up the restaurant with some of our own decorations and were ready and waiting for our guests with welcome drinks and canapes of our choice. They expertly served a yummy 3 course meal plus drinks and extras to all 56 of us. The timings all worked smoothly on the day, the car park is large so all of our guests could park easily and the restaurant made a perfect location for our do. We have eaten at this restaurant many times before, as well as getting take away meals from them during lockdown and absolutely love this place.

Went for Sunday lunch. On that day, they serve the main menu plus roasts. Had beef and also chicken. Food was great and hot and fresh. Interesting plates that are slightly smaller than a dinner plate. For dessert we shared the rhubarb dessert and was super. Will come back again to sample the other dishes or a set menu

We had a lovely meal for Wednesday Wine & Dine. Pleasant ambience, attentive and efficient service. We enjoyed each of the 3 courses & the truffle bread with miso butter to start was extremely tasty.

After hearing excellent reviews we had been waiting for a special occasion to visit, but will definitely be back! Can’t believe this restaurant is on our doorstep. We had an outstanding meal on Friday night, and the food was out of this world. Service was top notch and friendly without being stuffy. Thank you for the special touch for our celebration. Hope to be back soon!

This was our second visit for a set menu evening - I believe this is their Wednesday Wine and Dine event - and it should appear as the number 1 choice in Leicestershire! The chef has an exceptional talent - one to be expected from someone who has worked under Angela Harknett. The value for money for a three course set menu was stunning - and the food was too. We had three meltingly good courses - and quite honestly, one would struggle to find a meal more sumptuous in any 3/4-star restaurant. In fact we recently celebrated a birthday at the Cinnamon Club in London - and this was on a par...! The flavours were amazing, the wine pairings were lovely, the service was at least as good as the food, and we will CERTAINLY be going again!

Great value Wednesday wine + dine. Wonderful flavours and a great experience. Loved the wine pairings too! Will come back

Another lovely wine and dine Wednesday early evening meal. Great food, each dish beautifully prepared and a lovely team of people.

This was our first visit to the White Swan, and we will definitely be back. The food was absolutely delicious, and the service was warm and friendly. It was to celebrate a birthday and in a nice touch, there was a card on the table.

Absolutely superb experience - staff were great and the food was even better. We'd been told that portion sizes were on the small side, but this wasn't the case at all - with side dishes we were very pleasantly full, but glad we left room for dessert which were also excellent. For main, I had the beef and onion pie (from the specials board) which was top notch, probably the best of its kind that I have had, and I had a 'daring' - for me - beetroot side dish which again was superb. Certainly not cheap, but a great place for a treat - we will be back.

Loved it! So surprised to see recent negative reviews? Staff couldn’t have been attentive enough, friendly and helpful. We were welcomed and my little puppy was fussed over which made him very happy. We had a 3 course meal and loved all of it, my husband said it was the best roast lamb he’s ever had. Definitely worth a visit for a special occasion, a very lovely experience. Will definitely be back. Thank you for having us.

Overpriced food, normal pub standard service, extortionate drink prices, 12% service charge really leaves a bad taste to our special event. Will never return to this place!!. EVER

We’ve been here a lot over the years but hadn’t been recently. Never had a bad meal there until today. The chicken was pink and undercooked. After pointing this out to the waiter - who seemed reluctant to take any action at first - the chef then brought another chicken breast out which was exactly the same only 5 minutes later. I picked off a few bits that looked cooked but it was very off putting and left 90% of it. When the bill came, nothing was mentioned or offered as a gesture of goodwill. Arrogant bordering on rude attitude. We had our young daughter with us so didn’t want to cause a fuss, but it soured things for us and won’t be returning.

Enjoyed the tasting menu with a friend. Great food, particularly enjoyed the inclusion of the “surprise” course. Friendly staff, nice atmosphere. Wines were good and some interesting pairings. Finished with the espresso martini to top off an enjoyable evening.

We had the Wednesday Wine and dine menu and it was lovely. The wine perfectly matched to the dish. The whole experience was a delight, the food, the attention to detail and the service, we will definitely be booking there again

We let the restaurant know in advance via their booking system that I’m Coeliac and require gluten-free. I was given a menu highlighting the food that can be adapted to be served without gluten. So far, so good, however … When my scallop starter arrived and the portion was miniscule. Perhaps a sufficient portion as part of a 6 or 7 course tasting menu, but certainly totally inadequate as a starter. My husband’s main course was a shocker – two tiny pieces of chicken – again okay for a tasting menu but a total joke as a main course. I had two slices of beef and it was really, really chewy. Our friend asked the waitress on three separate occasions for another glass of wine. One did finally arrive after the third reminder but only after he had finished his main course. His cup of coffee at the end of the meal also failed to turn up. The worse for me was on ordering desert. I again reminded the waitress to let the kitchen know to ensure it was gluten-free. Three balls of ice-cream arrived on a biscuit crumb. I question the waitress who initially said it should be okay to eat. As I medically must not eat gluten I asked her to check with the kitchen. It turned out that I had been served gluten. This is so worrying for me. I become really unwell from mistakes like this. Having put my trust and health in the staff this is not the standard I expect, or have previously experienced, from a restaurant overseen by a Michelin trained chef. The staff need to wake up. The meal was overpriced and their attention to detail was derisory. This makes me question if the kitchen has a cavalier attitude towards its customers health. Negligent and shockingly bad. The waitress was no better - her attitude came very close to being impolite. She certainly lacked charisma and served with a total lack of interest or enthusiasm. Just wished that we hadn’t paid the service charge as it wasn’t deserved. All four of us on leaving discussed the meal concluding that we wouldn’t return.

Stunning meal, absolutely beautiful food and venue and amazing service…what’s not to love! It was our first time visiting and we were not disappointed, we thoroughly enjoyed everything and will be looking to come back again in the future.

We were a large party from a large family, but we preordered all our food on their request. We waited over an hour and a half with 7 children absolutely starving and when the meal was served, it was an extremely minimal amount for £21 a roast. To the point I had to make us a supper a few hours later for my family when we got home. The meal was very tasty, but there was not enough food for a child let alone an adult. The menu was changed upon serving and when we received the bill, had been charged more for things we didn't receive (in particular steaks and additional sauces, bread, oils and olives that we preordered and never received). I can only assume that due to the large number of us, The White Swan were not happy with our custom and therefore do not wish for us to return. If this was their wish, it will be granted.