The Stag - Carte

The Thorold

➤ Main St, Grantham, United Kingdom

Carte • Fish • Wine • Coffee • British

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"I had Sunday lunch there for the first time and was very impressed with both the food and the service. The roast beef and pork shoulder were cooked to perfection, just like the roast potatoes and parsnips. Overall, it was an excellent meal. We will definitely be returning. Rooms: 4, Service: 5, Location: 5."

The Stag

➤ Church Street, South Kesteven, United Kingdom

Carte • Meat • Steak • Salads • Chicken

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"The Stag Inn is a delightful looking pub overlooking the small green in the village of Barkston near Grantham. Internally the pub is clean and tidy with a range of two and four seater tables with New England shades of light blue on the painted table legs in the restaurant area. We didn’t venture into the pub side so can’t vouch for the decor in there. We arrived unannounced just after opening time of 12 and were offered a table with no difficulty. There was a menu of the usual offerings of fish and chips and a range of burgers together with roast salmon, chargrilled pork chop, a leek and cauliflower cheese pot pie, ham egg and chips and a vegetable lasagne amongst others. A specials chalkboard hung on the far wall and the crab and prawn salad with Mediterranean bread sounded so good we both opted for it. That was a mistake as we were to find out. The meals were reasonably quick to arrive and were served up in two large bowls with a dusting of paprika round the edges. What hit me immediately was the large flaccid green lettuce leaf draped over the edge of the bowl, together with a whole half-a-lemon that we each had. A small wedge would be perfect. The bread tasted sweet and was as far from the Mediterranean as it could possibly be apart from the occasional input of sundried tomato. What irked me most though was that the bread was delivered up pre-buttered with what looked like some bright yellow catering spread. A small ramakin of real butter between the two of us would work so much better. When asked if everything was okay I mentioned this and was told that chef would be informed. Having said all that the crab and prawn salad was full of flavour and sat on a nice mixed salad of red peppers, lettuce, red onion and cornichons. A word of advice to the wise….. don’t sit at the table near the restaurant counter as this is where the pub’s phone is located. On at least two occasions the phone was left to ring unanswered by the staff, presumably as they were busy elsewhere (the pub was by no means full) and was right behind my head! The volume of the ringer was high and it would have been a more pleasant experience for us if, firstly, it was answered and, secondly, the volume was turned down. On the plus side the staff were polite and helpful but the food not so great."

Harry's Place

➤ 17 High Street, Great Gonerby, NG31 8JS, South Kesteven, United Kingdom

Carte • Fish • Lunch • French • British

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"This has been an enormously successful restaurant over a number of years and is mentioned in the Michelin guide for the quality of its food. The experience is enhanced by the feeling that you have been invited to a private dinner party and the dining room is very personal to the owners. I liked the modest sense of theatre about the whole evening and the welcome was warm and service very attentive without being over-bearing. The food is very accomplished and the only small criticism I would have is that if you only offer two main courses then it is unwise to wince if a guest wants the meat cooked to their taste and not the chef's. It was done perfectly as requested. We were being treated to this meal so I cannot say how much per head with wine and aperitif you would have to allow but my suggestion is around £70 a head. If you are expecting a complete knock-out meal at this price then I think you may be disappointed. If you want something slightly unique then I think the cost is reasonable for the high standard you get."

Claret Jug

➤ Belton Woods Hotel, South Kesteven, United Kingdom

Carte • Full • Steak • Cheese • British

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"I visited recently with my partner in order to get dinner, and we were not disappointed. Although not necessarily table service, the staff were friendly and chatted with us, which made the whole experience feel very personal. The menu has a good range of options for all, and isn't overly expensive. The food arrived quite promptly, and the portion sizes were very respectable, so much so that I couldn't finish my meal. The atmosphere was light and breezy, the music and television not too intrusive, and all in all it was a lovely way to spend an evening. I have visited the Claret Jug before, and I certainly will again."

Belton Woods

➤ Belton, Grantham, United Kingdom

Carte • Tea • British • Chicken • European

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"We were on holiday in one of the lodges on site so booked to eat at the restaurant on two nights as a family get together. The service was very good, but the choice of meals was disappointing. We were told as soon as we arrived that the main restaurant was closed as they were very quiet, but could eat in the bar area. So sat down only to be told the LIST of things unavailable, so for me personally it meant that I was very restricted. Having been forced into ordering a burger and fries I felt let down so decided to enjoy a dessert, but was let down again when after ordering the waitress advised one of party that the ice creams he wanted they were out of stock. That made me question her as that meant part of my dessert wouldn't be complete so asked what they intended to replace it with. The response was a shock as a hot treacle pudding with clotted cream ice cream would have been replaced by salted caramel ice-cream which I hate as they didn'teven have any vanilla! So I suggested they replace it with custard or cream which they did. The following evening the same thing happened again with the waitter advising us of a whole list of things unavailable and again still no ice cream. The only flavours available were obviously the ones people really didn't want and no attempt had been made to purchase a vanilla, or many other flavour ice cream. Even the waiter said that they hadn't made much effort to get the missing items, stating if he'd been in charge he would have sent a member of staff out to the local supermarket for at least the vanilla flavour. Having had a burger the previous night my only option was a salad! As nice as it was, it wasn't really a meal. I dare say we'll try them once more the next time we visit that area but if they haven't up their game then we won't go again."