The Hollybush - Harborough

A group of four of us had a great experience at this restaurant. The server, a friendly woman, served us beers along with four delicious plates of pub food - two orders of fish and chips, one from the pie board, and garlic chicken. We were not from the area but felt welcomed by the locals. Overall, it was a satisfying pub meal that met our expectations.

We've been coming here for family meals for at least 10 years and its always been a guaranteed hearty meal. Today unfortunately was not. The last few trips here weve noticed a steady decline in quality and increase in price. Our latest visit resulted in an outright argument from the waitress (arguing that a stale defrosted roll was actually a ciabatta) the staff were utterly rude and unhelpful, offering an alternive meal at a wait of 1 hour. No hospitality or consideration given at all. We will not be returning.

Oh dear. Well unfortunately everyone…..I was excited to find what I thought was a lovely golden gem in the beautiful countryside of Leicestershire. I was sadly mistaken. To say the hospitality was rude is an understatement. We were greeted kindly, seated well but then it took a turn for the worst. What I thought was a kind and friendly house of front from bar staff and the land lady was eventually met with rudeness and meals underprepared, time consuming (for what I would only class as an acceptance from a hungry horse establishment) ever ending excuses and a ruined meal for my lovely family. The place was absolutely freezing and when asked if the fire could go on we were met with a resounding no as they were closing soon for the the break from lunch. It’s such a shame we had to endure this type of service from a mediocre pub. The food was utterly delayed (to a level I’ve never experienced) and when questioned about this, I was confronted with a very rude member of staff giving many excuses to why this happened and most of them being my fault. To wait so long for ‘home cooked’ food to be greeted with this kind of response was an absolute disgrace. It’s safe to say that myself and anyone I know will not be visiting here anytime in the future.

We waited for over an hour and only received one starter. When we inquired about the delay, we were told we had not been waiting that long. We had the exact time of our order on our receipts to prove it. The staff was very rude and the chef even came out to shout at us for no reason. After explaining, he apologized. The restaurant was uncomfortably cold. We asked for a refund as we had not eaten anything, but they refused and threatened us. We will not be returning. Overall, it was a horrible experience.

We had a fantastic welcome for our walking group last Friday at lunchtime. Although we only had coffees and the delicious cake that was specially provided for us, we appreciate the hospitality and look forward to returning for evening meals in the future. The atmosphere at the Hollybush Cosby is wonderful, making it a true country pub. Thank you to everyone at the Hollybush Cosby for hosting the Friday Walkers.