Olive Branch

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#1 of 1 Restaurant in Clipsham££ - £££, European, British, Vegetarian friendly

+44 1780 410355+ Add website

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Hours

Sun

8:00 - 18:00

Wed

8:00 - 15:3018:00 - 23:00

Thu

8:00 - 15:3018:00 - 23:00

Fri

8:00 - 15:3018:00 - 23:00

Sat

8:00 - 15:3018:00 - 23:00

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MICHELIN

What is Travellers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ratings and reviews

4.5

1,190 reviews

#1 of 1 Restaurant in Clipsham

Travellers' Choice 2024

MICHELIN

View more on MICHELIN Guide

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Food and ambience

Local cuisine, European, British, Pub, Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options

“Delicious 3 course meal in a charming beautiful pub”

“Our roast beef arrived in a huge Yorkshire pudding, jug of gravy, piles of ve...”

“First night a la carte where the slow cooked beef comes highly recommended!”

Location and contact

Main Street, Clipsham LE15 7SH England

+44 1780 410355

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MICHELIN Guide's Point of View

Characterful village pub made up of a series of small rooms which feature open fires and exposed beams. The selection of refined British dishes changes...

Read more on MICHELIN Guide

Is this restaurant good for breakfast?

Yes

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Details

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About

Award winning village pub with rooms. Good Pub Guide County Dining Pub of the Year 2014-2020. Top 50 Gastropubs 2020. The Times Top 20 Outside Dining Pubs.

PRICE RANGE

£0.00 – £55.00

CUISINES

European, British, Pub

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

Meals

Lunch, Dinner, Drinks

FEATURES

Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Private Dining, Seating, Parking Available, Free off-street parking, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Wine and Beer, Mastercard, Visa, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service

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4.5

1,190 reviews

Excellent

780

Very good

220

Average

122

Poor

Terrible

Stewart J

Cambridge62 contributions

A very pleasant evening at the Olive Branch after a number of years absence

Aug 2020 • none

A group of eight of us had dinner to celebrate a double wedding anniversary in the outside gazebo in the garden at the Olive Branch and social distancing was not too obtrusive. We hadn’t visited for nearly ten years. The ambience was a delight and the food was excellent - both quality and value for money. I had the scallops for starters and roast Cornish Pollock for main course with sticky toffee pudding to finish. The pre dinner drinks were reasonably price and served at a separate table and the service at dinner was extremely good - prompt and professional. The whole experience of three courses plus three bottles of house red and pre dinner drinks worked out at £60 a head with tip and everyone’s food was just right. I would recommend the Olive Branch to friends and family for a proper dining experience without the need for a second mortgage!

Written 15 August 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

BacardiMan66

Marple491 contributions

can i give 6 stars ?

Jul 2020 • none

Our first adventure out for lunch since lockdown. Amazing the way they have set out the garden in a socially distanced way. Food, service, wine was excellent and some great cocktails to complete the event. My battered cod was amazing, didnt need any salt/vinegar which highlights the quality of it. We will be back in the area in April, i will be booking for Sunday lunch this time. Highly recommended, you will not be disappointed as the price paid is excellent value for money.

Written 6 August 2020

MB0912

Oakham4 contributions

Louise saved the night.

Aug 2020 • family

I feel quite deflated writing this review. Me and my family had looked forward to coming here for months, to be greeted by what I can only describe as the most hostile reception I’ve ever experienced in a restaurant. We were welcomed by a face that didn’t smile once, the member of staff explained the menu very similar to the way I’ve heard an order of service at a funeral explained. I’m already very sure that customers who have dined here before and left similar reviews know the exact member of staff I am describing. In fact, I think the other members of staff can, because they looked as uncomfortable as us, and I’m pretty sure we were one of the first tables of the evening. Anyhow, I feel as though I should mention the many positives of our meal. One of which being the absolute pleasure of being waited on by Louise. She was brilliant, nothing was too much and her knowledge of wines and ingredients in our 7 course taster menu was exceptional. The food.. where to even start? Just amazing! I’d recommend every dish I tried, something’s familiar, some I’d never tried and some a little peculiar but still so so good! My favourite dish was definitely the paddock chive toastie! I’d also like to compliment the restaurant on their hygiene practices, everything felt very thought out, clean and safe. Unfortunately the meal was tarnished by the beginning as it’s just not what you’d expect from a Michelin recommended establishment and it left us feeling like naughty school children.

Written 1 September 2020

h4nko

Bourne24 contributions

Disappointing

Jan 2020 • none

Visited the Olive Branch with my wife for her birthday. My wife had 40 Day aged beef tartare, lovage, artichoke, smoked egg yolk and Roast Breast of Chicken (Churchill Farm), hen of the woods, parsnip, young leeks, spinach, dauphine potato, which she was happy with apart from portion size, she had 3 potatoes which were the size of oxo cubes. I had Heritage beetroot, slow cooked ox tongue, fresh cream, dill, apple marigold and Winter truffle risotto, mascarpone, parsnip, crispy onion. Mine was absolutely shocking, again the ox tongue was 3 or 4 pieces, and they were smaller than small oxo cubes in size. The Risotto was disgusting, it tasted awful, slimy texture and was gone in 4/5 mouthfuls, (i ate it because i was starving) I realise that it is supposed to be fine dining, but the portion sizes are tiny and when you're paying around £10 for a starter and £15 - £35 for a main, it would be nice to have a bit more please! Our food bill was £54.40, but the owner knocked off the Risotto due to me complaining. Beer was good and priced fairly, unfortunately, the wine was overpriced if you was drinking in the pub. We purchased a bottle of NZ Sav Blanc Dog Point for £20 from their shop, yet if you wanted a bottle with your meal, it was £45. £25 for corkage??????? but UK average is around £12. On the plus side, the pub and surroundings are beautiful, the staff are very attentive and vey friendly, and it was good that they knocked off the cost of my risotto - which i didn't request. Would we return? probably not.

Written 12 February 2020

Rasik

Stamford25 contributions

Evening meal with friends

Feb 2020 • friends

We went for a meal with friends and yes, we had a table booked and given the very positive reviews.. we were looking forward to a delightful evening with awesome food. To be honest, the service was poor and some of the dishes on the menu were not available!! A real shame as two of the four were vegetarians and eventually they decided to go with the vegetarian risotto, seemed like a good option... but the risotto was made using not the normal risotto rice and as such was very disappointing...for the price charged, one expected very high of meal. In addition to this, the sides were saved as an after thought, thus making the overall meal / experience less than satisfactory. Having now experienced the meal and given the prices charged, I would really struggle to recommend the restaurant to others and I firmly believe that there are much better eateries within a radius of 15 miles of this restaurant. Other friends have already asked on the evening meal and it would be wrong to give anything other than an honest account of our experience.

Written 21 March 2020

David W

1 contribution

Birthday Celebration

Jan 2020 • none

We have always enjoyed the Olive Branch but had not dined for some time. A birthday treat for my wife on a dismal wet day. A welcoming log fire and a pretty full house radiated great atmosphere and lifted our spirits. Excellent service throughout and a very good lunch-interesting rolled hock starter, perhaps the best Sea Bass ever and a lovely sticky toffee pud to round-off an excellent visit for a very reasonable price. We would have stayed longer but I had arranged a small surprise birthday party which beckoned. All in all, a lovely visit and we shall be back very soon.

Written 15 January 2020

notacouchpotato

491 contributions

Very posh pub

Mar 2020 • none

We stopped for lunch and was amazed to find that, even on a Monday, the place was buzzing with the great and good of Rutland/Leicestershire (it's billed as the Good Pub guide Leicestershire Pub of the Year. So much so, that we were unable to sit in the extensive dining rooms and had to opt for the bar area, which was perfectly fine. We found the atmosphere a little starchy and the staff a bit standoffish (perhaps we weren't dressed right!) but there was no problem at all with the food. We chose the very good value lunch menu which for £18.50 for two courses was a bargain when most mains were £16 or over. If you included a glass of not bad Spanish wine then that was an extra £4 - again excellent value. Between us we ate everything off the starter and mains menu and I simply loved my black pudding and poached egg plus calves liver. Partner had whitebait and sea bream with shellfish - also very enjoyable. thinking about returning and staying the night in order to have dinner there.

Written 9 March 2020

Bestoftheexpats

Grantham10 contributions

Totally underwhelmed

Jun 2021 • none

On arrival I thought a festival encampment had been set up in the garden area as there were a lot of scruffy looking tents only to find it was an outdoor dining venue. We fortunately ate inside as it was cold, we were looking forward to a revisit as previously we had eaten very well here, what an utter disappointment it was to find that the menu was totally fine dining, neither of us fancied anything on the starters menu. My partner had steak as a main course, this was served with two onion rings, half a cold tomato and 9 small chips, I went for the chicken ballotine, which came with 10 peas, half a mushroom a squirt of potato purée two halves of an onion and half a spring onion with a dribble of some sort of sauce, the meal was lukewarm anyway and the bacon surrounding the tiny piece of chicken was only half cooked. For dessert I had possibly the worst sticky toffee pudding ever, it was either stale or overcooked, I couldn’t tell, with some bizarre flavoured ice cream on top. Such a shame as this place used to be so good, unfortunately the menu now is way too cheffy, it’s a small country dining pub, please don’t try to be a 5 star London hotel as it really doesn’t work.

Written 5 June 2021

OliveBranchPub

Such a shame you didn't enjoy your meal with us, on the night you said you enjoyed it, just commenting the menu was 'ponsy'. Maybe the food would have been hot if you had eaten it rather than counting the number of peas on the plate! Judging by your other reviews you haven't found anywhere good to eat, but I am glad we achieved 'Totally underwhelmed' rather than your usual 'Underwhelmed' reviews. Maybe you would be better off going back to France?

Written 7 June 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Harri G

2 contributions

Not the food it used to be.

May 2021 • couples

Such a shame the kitchen is not up to the standard it used to be; starters were great but both main courses, and the accompanying sides were cold when served. And I didn’t actually eat my desert, it was a horrid sugary concoction. I even tried ordering petit fours to give the kitchen another chance and even those weren’t very nice, just sugary. When we mentioned the cold mains (as no one came to check during the meal) we were given a discount of £4.50 for one of the sides. We spent £150 so that really was a poor show! I used to go here for special occasions and really rate it, but post covid the food is really lacking. So sad to see.

Written 18 June 2021

Cambridge Guru

Cambridge857 contributions

Wonderful lunch and exceptional service in a super country pub

Feb 2020 • none

This was pub food at its best and made my birthday extra special. I thought I had booked a table for 1.30pm. But when we turned up for lunch, there was no record of my booking. Despite the pub being all but full, they bent over backwards to make room for us. And we were glad they did. There is a special lunch menu, with two courses for £18 (three courses for £23). And whereas in some pubs, where the lunch menu can be a bit to cheap, our choices were perfect from first to last. I had the gorgeous crab cakes to start, a wonderfully presented chicken breast for the main course and an amazing sticky toffee pudding for my dessert. And this was all asked down well by the local Olive beer. This is an amazing pub and currently the best place I have enjoyed lunch in 2020.

Written 9 February 2020

Pamela A

Stamford18 contributions

Very disappointing

May 2022 • none

The pub, atmosphere and service do not disappoint however, the portion sizes definitely leave something to be desired and so I really do think that future diners should be aware of this. I am not a ‘big’ eater but even I went home feeling hungry having had the two course menu option at £37. I ordered the guinea hen thinking that the spinach it was described as being served with and onions would be substantial enough to fill me up but, sadly the three scraps of spinach in evidence did not do the trick. Sides are extra and it is not clear from the menu that the main meals are so small that one would be well advised that sides are an absolute essential but then, really bump the price up even more. My husband’s meal was even smaller than mine. He chose the lamb which consisted of a minuscule piece of lamb and a sad looking faggot, it was almost laughable had it not been so disappointing. The menu described his meal as being served with asparagus, roscoff onion, fresh peas, white curry and cabbage. Again, one would be led wrongly to believe that this would be a substantial enough main course but it was actually quite difficult to even see the vegetables in evidence. We both ordered the sticky toffee pudding with Guinness ice cream for dessert in the hope that this would fill us up but alas, the portions were tiny and we left feeling hungry and frustrated having forked out over £110 plus a tip for the attentive service. Really in my view the food served for this menu is more of a ‘taster menu’ and is not really fit for purpose and if I ever go to this pub again it will be for a glass of wine, which I have to say was the only thing that did not disappoint and definitely not for a meal.

Written 27 May 2022

Steve B

Stamford67 contributions

Booked here for a treat to celebrate lifting lockdown.

Jun 2021 • none

Well the easing of lock down didn't happen but still so pleased we came. Firstly, our table was set up outside on a not very warm evening in June but not a problem. We were shown to our stylish gazebo with a warm heater fitted above and sides draped with throw overs to stop wind flap. Also, on our chairs were blankets to keep you warm in the event you felt cold. This was all an experience me & my Wife just loved. The menu was restricted as you would expect but still enough to chose from. The Wine list was plentiful. The three or two course meals were not as expensive as others had told us it would be. We enjoyed our food and the waiter was not too attentive but enough to ensure your experience is first class. Overall, our bill was under £100 which included a few supplements and a bottle of Italian wine which for £21 I have to say was superb. We both came away from the Olive Branch feeling spoilt and will most definitely be returning after lock down.

Written 20 June 2021

Janet D

14 contributions

A special night out

Jul 2020 • none

After so long in lock down it was a delight to eat out. We chose the Olive Branch for a meal to celebrate my husband's birthday as we felt confident that everything would be done in a "safe" manner. We were not disappointed - even having our hands sanitised on arrival felt special! We ate in "The Barn" where the tables were very well spaced out and the same waiter served only tables in the Barn. Everything was done very professionally. The menu is limited, but enough variety for most tastes. The food was well presented and was delicious. We both had the trout starter, followed by Guinea fowl for myself and lamb for my husband. My hubby was delighted to see Eccles cake etc on the desert menu. All in all a perfect evening. The service was excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole evening.

Written 17 July 2020

Miles G

Chesterton31 contributions

Seriously over cooked fish

Dec 2021 • none

I arrived at the Olive Branch with a number of friends for lunch and we were taken to our table in a very pleasant dinning room. The staff were friendly and efficient, very professional; we ordered drinks and studied the menu. Lots of very tempting dishes to choose from; duck egg to venison tartare for starters and risotto, fish and meat for mains. I selected the black pudding for my starter; it was delicious, a very small portion, but really, really nice, followed by the roast cod with mussels and cauliflower, again a tiny portion, just one mussel, but also very, very nice. Others, for starters, had the duck egg, the venison tartare and the salmon; all very good. To follow some had the faggot, very good, the duck, very nice and ……. unfortunately, four people selected the fish and chips. The battered haddock was seriously over cooked; the batter was rock solid and brittle, the fish inside was dry, very dry. Our dilemma was; do we complain and sent it back and wait for the whole meal to be re cooked from scratch, maybe 20 - 30 minutes, meanwhile everyone else will have already finished their meal, OR, struggle through and attempt to eat it, which they decided to do. Everything else was just perfect; lovely venue, good company, in the main good food, and friendly service. Would I recommend the Olive Branch; probably, but avoid the fish and chips.

Written 18 December 2021

636wens

Nottingham16 contributions

Fantastic food, Excellent service & delightful rooms.

Aug 2020 • none

We have visited The Olive Branch many times and it is always very good, but our visit last night to celebrate our daughters graduation was fabulous. The food was delicious - better than ever and delightful staff who ensured social distancing was observed - we felt very safe with hand sanitizer available everywhere! The rooms are lovely, comfortable and stylish. Fantastic experience - thank you to Ben & your fabulous team.

Written 28 August 2020

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