The Cat and the Fiddle, Hinton, Hapshire

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money
Standard of Menu	Good
Atmosphere	Good
Standard of Service	Average

Advantages:	Pleasant food and atmosphere, 'free' salad and children's desserts, bar area is nice and desserts are delicious
Disadvantages:	Food is nothing out of the ordinary, can't book tables, quite expensive for a chain pub

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

When Harvesters first came onto the scene, probably ten years or so ago now, they were something quite new and special. Yes, we had Beefeaters and Berni Inns (remember those?!) but the idea of a chain pub was still in its infancy, and with its salad cart, ice cream desserts and wholesome, country-style food, Harvester was an innovative idea. Their customary “Have you ever been to a Harvester before?” line (which, being pedantic, is grammatically incorrect, as you should never finish a sentence with a preposition!), which featured in all their adverts, and was actually repeated by staff when you arrived at the restaurant, furthered the concept of the Harvester experience being something new and a little different.

On visiting my local Harvester (The Cat and Fiddle at Hinton, Hampshire) at the weekend, I was disappointed not to be asked whether I had ever been to a Harvester before – or ‘before today’ if we are being grammatically correct! It soon dawned on me, however, that ten or twelve years on, probably the majority of the population who would want to have been to a Harvester before, would have done so by now. Also, and possibly more importantly, the concept no longer seems new and original, in fact it is tired and rather lacklustre!

Prior to my visit, I had telephoned to try and book a table, but to no avail. I was told that bookings were no longer taken, and that I should just turn up at the time I wanted to eat. I enquired as to whether there would be a long wait for a table for two at 8 p.m. on a Saturday night and was told “No, you’ll probably be okay.” On arriving at 8 p.m. we were in fact told that there would be a wait of up to an hour, which turned out to be around 30-45 minutes in the end – not TOO bad, but I would have preferred to be able to book. Considering it is a family restaurant, and the wait for family-sized tables could easily be a lot longer, I had visions of a large number of hyperactive children becoming impatient and wanting their dinner whilst their parents try to have a quiet drink in the bar! As it was, however, my friend and I, having not seen each other for some time, were able to sit and have a nice drink while we waited (despite the fact that we struggled to find a table in the bar, as the world and his wife also seemed to be waiting for a place in the restaurant!)

When we were eventually seated in the restaurant, we consulted the menu. As most of you know by now, I am a vegetarian, and was pleased to see a separate section on the menu for vegetarian dishes, which contained three choices. The main section consisted of various chicken dishes, fish, steaks, grills and combos, all served with fries or jacket potato. In the old days of Harvester you used to have a choice of fries, jacket, or potatoes of the day, but now they make your mind up for you, allocating a certain type of potato to each dish! I opted for “Pancake wrapper”, a pancake filled with vegetables and pasta and topped with melted cheese and salsa, served with a jacket potato and sour cream. My friend chose “Original Spitroast” – which was confusingly described as “A whole half chicken”. English has already proved not to be Harvester’s strongest subject; clearly neither is Maths! We decided not to have starters (if I had wanted one, I would only have had one suitable option anyway!) as all main courses come with free visits to the Harvester Salad Cart (this was one of the gimmicks which set Harvester apart in the early days). If you do want starters, it is fairly standard stuff: soup, grilled mushrooms etc. A children’s menu is also available, with a fairly comprehensive range of options, rather than just the normal sausages, chips and beans. Impressively, each child’s main course includes a free ice cream sundae for dessert (although like the 'free' salad I am sure the consumer pays somewhere along the line!)

On visiting the salad cart I was pleasantly surprised to see the addition of three new items: pasta salad, potato salad and Harvester’s own coleslaw (which looked nothing like any coleslaw I have ever had before, but was actually very nice!) Previously, the salad cart has only included ‘dry’ ingredients i.e. nothing in a sauce, and the usual lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, beetroot, onion, pineapple, sweetcorn, carrot etc. were still available, as are rolls and butter (these used to be brought to the table!) There is also a choice of dressings; I opted for blue cheese.

The idea is that the salad accompanies your main meal, but we were so hungry by this point that we had polished off most of ours by the time the main courses arrived – despite there not being a particularly long wait.

The main courses were cooked satisfactorily, and I could find no fault with them, but they were pretty average chain pub fayre – although at £7.95 for the pancake and £6.95 for the chicken (these being at the lower end of the scale), a little more expensive than the Brewer’s Fayres of this world! My pancake was twice the size it needed to be, and the jacket potato was definitely surplus to requirement, especially as with pancake and pasta already on the plate I felt an overdose of carbohydrate coming on!

Despite the fact that I was very full up and should know better, I could not resist the dessert menu. Although I hadn’t eaten in the Harvester restaurant area for a few years, I must confess that a group of friends and I often meet in the bar of the Cat and Fiddle of an evening and occasionally indulge in a dessert or two! The basis of the dessert menu seems to be Harvester’s soft ice cream, which is thicker and creamier than Mr. Whippy style, but still comes out in swirls! The menu includes various sundaes, trifles, crumbles (all served with ice cream of course) and bombes, but my personal favourite, and one which has been on the menu for as long as I can remember is the Rocky Horror. This is a bowl of chocolate fudge brownies and chocolate sauce, topped with ice cream, cream, chocolate flakes, a cherry and a wafer. I personally don’t like cream and ice cream together so normally ask for extra ice cream instead of the cream – a request which has never yet been refused! As usual my Rocky Horror was spot on! My friend opted for the Arctic Bombe, a choux pastry concoction with ice cream, chocolate and butterscotch sauce. Sadly, the choux pastry seemed to be overcooked and fairly inedible and I did spot her coveting my Rocky Horror a couple of times!

The service in the Harvester was satisfactory – the waiting staff are fairly attentive and return at regular intervals to ask if everything is okay, but you do get the feeling this is more because they have to than because they actually care! The surroundings are pleasant, with an old world country type feel – all beams, farm equipment and old photos – and the kitchen is open which allays any fears about hygiene standards. The Cat and Fiddle in particular is a lovely pub – it is a thatched building which has been there for hundreds of years. I am actually surprised it was ever permitted to become a Harvester – indeed many locals objected to the big green signs, one of which was later replaced by something more in-keeping with the pub’s style – but the Harvester theme does fit fairly well with the external appearance of the building. One advantage Harvester does have over other chains is that they keep the bar area totally separate from the restaurant and most are pleasant pubs to visit in their own right.

Our meal came to £22.90 including a couple of soft drinks – not bad considering we had effectively had three courses (if you include the salad cart) but when you consider you could do the same in a one-off Indian or Italian for the same price or slightly more, it does seem expensive for a chain restaurant. I won’t be rushing back to the Harvester, which is a pity, as I used to see going there as quite a treat, but times change, and the idea is tired. I think, as is often the way, things are going full circle, because after the proliferation of chain pubs which have sprung up, the majority of people I know would actually prefer to visit a good old fashioned independent pub. Let’s hope a few of them stay that way!