Fox Inn, Kettering

An attractive, stone built pub on the main A605 a few miles south of Peterborough. It’s clearly had a recent refurbishment and is a pleasant enough spot. Whether it’s lost any of it’s character in the process I couldn’t say as I haven’t been in here previously. There is a small courtyard garden to the side, although I would imagine that the road noise would be a little intrusive. The main bar at the front has a mostly slate tiled floor with some rough hessian carpet where the tables and chairs are. There is an attractive stone fire place and a wood panelled bar. The wallpaper at the back is covered in woodland trees, and this leads through to a large, carpeted restaurant area. Staff were pleasant and friendly. The pub clearly has gastro pretensions, and there was an extensive menu in a leather bound folder as well as a page of specials. Most of the main courses were around the £12 mark, so it’s a cut above your usual pub grub. That said, there was also a set menu where you could choose a number of courses which offered more pub like food (one course was £9.95). At lunchtime there was also a range of ciabattas available and these were pleasant and good value at £5.95. Beer choice was a little disappointing with just Bombadier and Eagle IPA from Charles Wells. The solitary cider was Strongbow, unfortunately.