Ascough’s Bistro

I had Ascoughs recommended to me by my partners Mum who had been there for lunch. We were looking for somewhere to go for our 4 year anniversary & needed somewhere with a decent price (who doesn’t these days!) So we booked a lunch for Ascoughs, at £8.50 it sounded excellent. We weren’t disappointed! We arrived and we seated straight away in a lovely table by the window upstairs. The menu all sounded delicious & I would have gladly tried at least four of each course! The starter of welsh rarebit, poached egg & crispy pancetta was lovely, but the main courses were outstanding! I had the farmhouse chicken with, sweet potato and black pudding purée. And my partner had the Vennison. Both meals were fabulous, really high quality and the sides were alot bigger than expected! in hindsight we could’ve shared one side of veg but we’ll know for next time.
Only downside is that I was too full to try a dessert. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again!
Looking forward to going back to Ascoughs with family & friends. With excellent food, service & price I can see us coming back for a long time!

Not Child Friendly and Cold Food
24 Sep 2011 omaha₁₁
If you have children and are considering dining at Ascough’s my advice is DON’T BOTHER!!! The place is not child friendly at all if a little one so much as cough’s the staff are all over you asking for the noise to be kept down. My family and I were humiliated in a restaurant full of people by the weekend boy (manager too afraid to do his own dirty work) for having our child playing with a toy on their high chair and were reprimanded within no more than five minutes of arrival. When we later sought the manager out for an explanation we were plainly lied to our faces and told a story full of inaccuracies the best being our child sounded like a workman hammering! He also said he did not expect a child with our party despite the high chair being laid out for our arrival! I might add they need workmen in there as the place is too hot– no air con it seems– some of our party needed to leave the venue during our meal to cool off outside such is the humidity. Furthermore, the food was not the best and some had to be sent back for being cold. And, as for the poor excuse of a manager (Saturday afternoon staff), if you wish to raise issues with Mr Aloof, then do not bother as it is all in one ear out the other. If you are considering dining at one of Market Harborough’s restaurants (of which there are many), I suggest you consider an alternative venue (especially if you have children).

We have dined at Ascoughs on a number of a
occasions, and always found the food to be of high quality and excellent value for money. They are let down only by a lack of attention to the niceties.
We had booked for 7:45 and had that confirmed by telephone. We arrived at 7:44, to be told that we were booked in for 8:00. We were shown to our table and ordered pre-​dinner drinks, which took ten minutes to arrive. We were not offered «intros» to accompany them, and were left on our own for a further quarter of an hour before anyone came to take our order. The wine came almost immediately and was opened even though we were still drinking the pre-​dinner drinks.
The diners at the next table were heard to complain about a 25-​minute wait, and on the other side a chipped plate had to be sent for exchange.
When the food came it was of the usual high standard, but for some reason, although the waiters attentively removed empty plates, they ignored the empty drinks glasses, which were only removed when asked, at the end of the main course.
It’s a shame that such simple things turned a splendid experience into simply a pleasant one.
Here’s hoping they pick up on this and earn their fifth star.

I recently enjoyed a truely lovely meal at Ascough’s. Great menu, Great Staff and Great atmosphere

We’ve been to Ascough’s a couple of times as part of a group of six. The first time we had a very enjoyable meal, the food was tasty and soo we returned for a family birthday celebration.
The difference was, sadly, huge:
The menu didn’t seem as well thought out or as appetising as our first visit, but there was still a good selection available.
The staff seemed somewhat aloof from the start, but nothing to worry about compared to what followed.
For some unknown reason, even if you’re ordering their (very tasty) steak, you’re not allowed to have it with chips, unless you buy their (again very tasty) ‘twice cooked chips’. The menu states that mains come with ‘potato dish’ which when asking for chips with my steak, we were informed that the potato dish was new potatoes. Asking to change to chips, I was told that I could only have chips AND new potatoes, not chips instead. So, a little miffed, I ordered chips AND new potatoes, which I was eventually quite happy about, as you’ll see later.
For the start I had ordered the Parma ham, caramelised roots, pickles and truffle focaccia (for an additional £1 on the set menu price).
What arrived was some, albiet quite tasty ham, I’m pretty sure was not Parma ham. But the focaccia was nothing like what you would expect. It was a slither of toasted bread — along the lines of a melba toast!
A few of us had this option, and whilst there was nothing wrong with it as a dish (ham, some salad leaves, two slithers of beetroot and a slice of melba toast) it fell a long way short of the, quite appetising, menu description.
The waiter did ask if it was OK, but not wishing to spoil the celebration I let this slide, but sadly things did not improve.
When the main course arrived, the person who’s birthday it was had ordered the Pork Loin, Cauliflower Purée, Vanilla Apples & Light Jus. She was quite upset as the meat had really no flavour at all. We all tried a little bit and agreed it was just bland pork, if very tender (and a bit pink too).
The waiter did come over and he made an excuse about it being local free-​range pork, so it was very tasty — which it clearly wasn’t.
She asked if she could have the steak dish instead — as there was nothing else on the menu that she fancied.
The steak was extremely tasty, and it came with kind scallops, however they cut the scallops in half (presumably to make them go further) so you only got one and a half scallops on the dish, which seemed a little stingy to me.
The new potatoes that we all had to have, were tiny new potatoes, all peeled and had a hint of garlic and herbs. They were also slightly mushy, and given their size and that they were peeled I would hazard a guess as to say that they were out of a tin.
They weren’t terrible, but they were not great either, so I was glad I had paid by extra £2 for the very nice twice cooked chips.
Just as we were all finishing our mains, the birthday girl’s replacement main course arrived which took them approx 20 minutes to cook, so they clearly didn’t pull out any favours for us there.
The desert was pleasant and tasty and there was a good selection — no complaints there.
However the additional time they took to bring the replacement main course out had clearly thrown their timings out as when they presented us with the bill the waiter said they needed the table in five minutes!
On inspecting the bill, they had charged the various supplements; £1.00 for each of the melba toast starters, £1.50 for each of the Assiette deserts and £5.00 for each of the steak dishes — including the one that came out instead of the flavourless pork.
I asked the waiter to remove that supplement and he refused, saying that he had checked it with chef, who is also the owner and that the supplement was being charged.
I don’t personally feel that is appropriate; we were not asking for the whole price to be removed, just the supplement, so suggested that we should like to discuss the matter with ‘chef’.
Chef did indeed show up about fifteen minutes later, and said they replaced the meal so they would not remove the £5.00 supplement and went to walk away!
This was and is extremely disappointing;
Firstly, it’s hard enough to find a decent dining experience around here anyway, so we were looking forward to visiting Ascough’s on a regular basis — which I will now absolutely not do as a matter of principle.
Second, as the owner of (a hopefully more customer focussed) business, I am staggered that in this economic downturn that any business owner can be so arrogant as to wholly ignore the customer feedback and to resolve any issues before they become serious problemswhich this now is to me.
Sadly, over the principle of a five Pound supplement (out of a £150 bill), we will not be returning to Ascough’s Bistro in Market Harborough.

I had lunch here recently — 3 courses for £9 — but book a couple of weeks in advance because this place is busy!
The menu is interesting, and the skill of the chef is readily apparent — in everything from the choice of dish, the quality of the produce, the presentation, and of course the cooking! I would say, in general, you’d be hard pushed to find better quality food in the area.
I have only a couple of qualms. Firstly my dessert was, frankly, quite disgusting — it was a treacle tart with no sweetness, just sickliness, and the pastry was stale. Not Good.
Secondly the staff, though professional, seemed somehow world weary and without personality.
They need someone there to inject some life into the atmosphere.
Still — my first course of potted shredded duck, with a lovely creamy horseradish, bread, salad and pickles was muchos tasty!
My main of sea bass with cauliflower mash worked very well also.
To give you an idea of sorts of wide ranging foods you can expect — the soup of the day was borsch! =)
Anyway I’d definitely go to Ascough’s again. Their style is to serve smaller portions — but at an excellent price, and allow people to experience excellent cuisine without breaking the bank.
It works really well, and it’s no surprise this place is always packed.

Best place in the area. Serving modern European cuisine with something to suit everyone’s taste. Warm and welcoming staff and very reasonably priced for the quality of food. Their monthly menu change ensures I come back regularly.
Highly recommend to anyone.

Absolutely lovely. Have eaten here at lunch times on several occasions and attended a networking meeting this week upstairs. The food was amazing, not what you tend to get at this type of meeting. Can recommend with confidence.

Ignore the name — what is that! — and you’ll be in for a real treat. The set menu lunches are the best in town. Good food and fantastic value. I was never a fan of set meals before this. A real ladies who lunch place. Lovely service.

I love this place and this my most frequented restaurant in Market Harborough. This little bistro has just the right blend of everything which brings back customers time after time. It is sometimes difficult to book a table as a result. The food is delicious and is the menu inspired. The combinations of food always surprise me and I’ve never had a bad meal here. The best thing is the price — a 3 course dinner for £17.00! You would expect to pay double this, maybe more, for the food that you get. The service is always good and although the restaurant is small, if you give them advance notice, they can accommodate large-​ish parties. I love the décor which is fresh and modern and the atmosphere is always great, whether you are there for a romantic meal for two or a celebration with friends. The menu changes monthly and has a number of choices — if it wasn’t for the credit crunch, I would be eating there each week to try everything, as I can never make my mind up! Fantastic place, long live Ascough’s!

A real delight offering both quality and value, Ascough’s is the finest restaurant in town.
A 3 course dinner is just £17.00, but don’t be fooled by the low cost, the food here is quite excellent, sticking to a sensibly small menu (which changes every month) to ensure freshness and quality.