Earl's Restaurant, Ampthill

We normally eat here 2 or 3 times a year and the food has always been consistent. The starters are always very appetising, the mains are quite plain but always nicely cooked and there is always a good choice of desserts. The young waitress could have been better informed of the menu, but it's wasn't a big deal. I would like to see the mains carry more flavour, but as I said, they are always nicely cooked and presented. Our meal for 2 came to £70, which included 3 courses, a bottle of wine & coffees, which I think is very reasonable and we will return.

A lovely restaurant in the centre of a pretty market town. Excellent food, attentive, friendly service, welcoming and un-rushed. Great lunches too.

We were a party of five celebrating a family occasion. Service was polite but very slow and inattentive, taking 20 minutes before our order was taken and another 40 before the starter arrived. Food quality was mixed. Starters were ok. Most mains were poor; duck was good but spoiled but a greasy rosti and thin tastless sauce. The venison was overcooked and had the same insipid sauce as the duck. Steak was good quality but poorly presented. However, the cod with peppers and chorizo was so good it was if it came from another kitchen. Wine list was good and the red we had was excellent. Overall experience - disappointing.

Beautiful premises but such a disappointment. I don't mind paying through the nose for good food, but for the quality we received this was very expensive. We'd pre-ordered our meals. Despite this the food took a ridiculously long time to come out. When it did it was both burnt and cold. Despite only having one other table of people to serve we saw little of the kitchen staff and had long delays for drinks. Such a shame as the place could be lovely if it was run better.

I have eaten here 3 times in as many years and each time has been a huge disappointment. I visited it again two weeks ago as I thought it warranted another chance....big mistake. The service was so slow, the waitresses didn't know the menu or wine list, my food was cold and poorly presented, the upstairs was cold(other diners were complaining of this too) and to make matters worse the table next to us were very loud and vulgar. Neither the proprietor or the waitresses asked them to pipe down and when I explained to them the reason we were leaving they said there was nothing they could do. So having hoped for a nice evening I was home within 90 minutes £70 the poorer. I would not recommend this restaurant.

Earl's Restaurant menu was very limited & pretentious. Surprisingly the only chicken dish was chickens liver. The food was bland & unseasoned. The pork was really tough & difficult to cut let alone chew. The undercooked steak was served on a wooden board with a large split (ideal for harbouring germs). The chips were blanched & not cooked properly. The fishcakes were mainly potato with very little fish & tasteless. We sat next to the kitchen door which the waitresses could not open & was obviously hindering them.

Even the coke was warm! The meals were expensive for the portion sizes & we went home still hungry. The vegetables were nicely cooked which is the only good comment I can make about this restaurant.

We visited Earls last night for the first time only booking half hour prior. My oh my what a pleasant surprise. We were warmly welcomed at the door and shown to our seats/menu-ed. A lot of the food offered was beyond our comprehension as we are more your typical Beefeater sort although the friendly waitress explained very well in laymens terms! All our food was beautifully presented and sooooo tasty. The cold food was COLD and the hot food was HOT-something you rarely get. The surroundings were very pleasant and the atmosphere happy and relaxed. We went for the Wednesday night fixed price menu and thought it was excellent value, delicious food with good service. Think fast food lower end joints can keep their processed food. Now we have discovered Earls we will defo be back for more.

This is a great country restaurant offering everything you want: good food, lovely ambience, and unfussy service. Reading the other reviews I think they are forgetting that this is NOT a London restaurant with a huge kitchen and staff but a family run restaurant in the countryside. However they can certainly give any London restaurant a run for their money with the quality of food and friendly service. You will not be disappointed.

Having been invited to this restaurant as part of a family gathering, on arrival I was impressed, it looked "the biz". However sadly as the evening progressed this opinion eroded.

It started with little things - no mint sauce with lamb dish, speed of service and general disinterest from staff. As it was a family gathering everyone kept quiet about these minor annoyances, but then other issues surfaced; bones in the sliced turkey, roast potatoes hard as bullets, veg cold, bland soup, small side pieces of bread...

Being classically british still we all kept quiet, However the major issue came with the desserts, there is no other way to say it.. and i still have trouble believing it ...one of the waitress' (an older lady - the two younger girls were polite) made some appalling comments....it was shocking !

In the whole it was lovely to be with some relations I hadn't seen for ages, it always is a pleasure to get together and socialise, we only do this every few years and it was sad that this one stroppy rude waitress could have such an impact on our evening !

We left without leaving a tip !!!

(ps also think a single brandy for £4-50 is a little steep)

Try Earl's Restaurant, Ampthill for yourself.

The food was lovely and you only get what you pay for so maybe it is a little expensive but I thought it was worth every penny. Also,if you like big meals,its not for you...