I eat out quite a lot but never really tended to visit the Harvester in Loughborough until I got invited to two celebrations there in one week! Ever since then I have been back a few times.
There are around 150 Harvester restaurants around I have visited only the one in Loughborough but would gladly use a Harvester elsewhere. They are normally situated near holiday inns or quality inns for some reason. Harvester is a subsidiary and brand name of Mitchell's and Butler's plc. Harvester is open at 11am 11pm Monday to Sunday serving food from 12 noon till 10pm Monday till Saturday and 11am till 10pm on a Sunday. If you would like to see the full Harvester menu they also operate a website with everything you need to know about every meal and price.
THEME The restaurant is very much a BBQ American type ranch theme. All the waiters and waitresses wear black trousers and pink and blue check shirts, which look nice because they are different and colourful unlike other places. The tables are set out in table and chair style in some areas and booths in others The main types of food they serve are platters, a lot of chicken dishes, burgers, flame grills and BBQ dishes which are accompanied normally by a corn on the cob (which is about the size of a plum they are that small) and seasoned chips which are really yummy there is nothing better than not having to season your chips because they taste so perfect if someone else has already
done it for you. I absolutely adore BBQ sauce and was so happy the first time I visited the Harvester because once you have ordered your meal three sauces are bought over to your table tomato, mustard and BBQ!! I like this because you can hardly get BBQ sauce in restaurants unless it comes as an accompaniment with your meal.
SERVICE Once you arrive at the hosting post a waiter comes and takes you to a vacant table, you are then given really big menus that take over the tables so much you are nearly knocking your drinks over. One you have been seated you are asked if you would like drinks and your waiter goes to fetch them. Once they bring your drinks over you are normally ready to order. Once they have taken your details they explain about the saladbar and then your left to your own devices. Your meals are cooked by a chef on view or in the kitchen near the salad bar and bought over to your table. Once you are finished your plates are taken away your bill is bought over to your table. I really appreciate service like this because now in so many restaurants you are left to go to the bar to get your drinks then go and order your meals its such a hassle. I know waiter service can sometimes take longer but its well worth the wait it think.
SALAD BAR This is one of the selling points of Harvester restaurants if you order from the main meal or the kids menu you can help yourself to the fresh salad bar which is made up of all the salad bits you can think of with potato salads, coleslaws, sultanas, pineapple, an assortment of sauces and bread rolls. It's not over exciting but its good for nothing. You can go back as many times as you want as well so you can either have it as a started or a meal accompaniment.
EARLY BIRD MENU This I think is a real unique selling point for the Harvester because we have all heard of cheap pubs doing buy one get one free menu's or get two for a tenner but do you actually feel like your making a saving because these are offers that stand all the time. Harvester has come up with a unique way of making you feel you've saved a couple of quid. They give you 1/3 of menu prices if you are dining in the day rather than at night. It works on weekdays as long as you have ordered before 6:30pm and on Saturdays as long as you have ordered by 5pm on a Saturday, unfortunately it doesn't apply on Sundays or bank holidays and on some meals it doesn't count but only a select few and also on the puddings it doesn't count either. I think it really is a good idea and it makes everything on the menu seem really reasonable in price for example if you were to have a prawn cocktail for starter instead of paying £3.75 you pay £2.50 and if you were to order the original spit roast instead of paying £7.99 you pay £5.33 and you can still help yourself to the salad buffet!
CATERING FOR KIDS The Harvester is a great place to take kids its really child friendly there are even seating areas especially for having a highchair. There is a special menu for kids up to the age of 10 years old every meal on the menu is 3.99 and very similar to the adult's menu for example you can get a 3oz rump steak or a gammon steak etc. The menu is well thought out with special nutritional info on each dish. There are even specially designed fruit cocktails to choose from off the YG drinks menu for £1.20 to £1.30 each.
PRICE RANGE The Harvester isn't expensive on a lunchtime you are looking at spending around £8pp including a drink and then probably about £10 to £12 depending on what meal you order. There is something that suits every pocket if you want economy you can go for something around the £6 mark but if your looking on spending that bit more your looking at around £15. The meals are really filling and if you take advantage of the salad bar you don't even need to have a starter. If I am not too hungry I'll always go for a starter and pudding, which is always plenty for me because I am not a really big eater.
ANY RECOMMENDATIONS I really like the Harvester theme I would certainly suggest going in the daytime because it is such good value and the meals don't lay heavy on your tummy if you were on a lunch break. I would certainly recommended having the starter Harvester festival for 2 if you like combos. I discovered this dish when I was feeling a little peckish and have never looked back I always order it now to myself with a side order of chips to make it a main meal the combo consist of "Flame-grilled BBQ chicken wings, chicken fillets, breaded mushrooms, crunchy corn on the cob and onion rings, with cool sour cream and chives and BBQ sauce" I also love the vegetable fajitas they are much nicer than I have experienced in Mexican restaurants because there cooked in a really nice spicy sauce. If I can manage a pudding I really lurve the profiteroles they are absolutely delicious and I would recommend them for sure to finish off any meal.
ANYTHING NOT SO GOOD? I don't think you can go to any restaurant these days and not be able to say there wasn't anything wrong. I know most places serve processed food but you can't expect anymore when we want such good prices and very fast service. I think the Harvester provides a good waiter service with a nice choice on menu. The one thing I would say Is that they don't provide a Sunday lunch option which I know a lot of people go for they have a chicken day which may suit some people but I like a nice Sunday roast on a Sunday but I am probably in the old fashioned minority. I don't do chips on a Sunday for no one! I haven't tried everything on the menu but I have sampled a fair few dishes and haven't had any complaints so far. The only thing I would say not to order is the Brownie skewers they sound so yummy "Four skewers with pieces of rich chocolate fudge brownie and marshmallows, ready for dunking in our Belgian chocolate dip and served with creamy vanilla ice cream" I think everyone falls for these but at £3.99 they are really not worth it they are so small portions, you would not believe how small the pots of chocolate are. They are quite sickly and the small bit of chocolate you get is very bland.
OVERALL THOUGHTS I enjoy eating at the Harvester and would say it is a really nice place for friends and family to dine. There is a friendly casual atmosphere accompanied by nice finger food, as I would call it. Most of the dished require a bit of hand to mouth action, which I think, is fine when your trying to scoff a rack of BBQ ribs. The service is quick and at the Loughborough Harvester the staff cannot do enough to help you. OK I wouldn't suggest this place for a 5* romantic meal but for a casual "just nipping out for a bite to eat" this place is perfect. The menu is varied enough to accommodate everyone of course not everyone will like the BBQ theme but there are plenty of other dishes like pasta, fish, vegetarian, Mexican and traditional English. I would say my visits to the Harvester have been excellent a definite 10/10.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Congratulations on your Diamond! I have to say that when I went to a Harvester once, I really enjoyed it. Sadly, there isn't one anywhere near where I live : ( Eleanor x
tiddlekins 26.05.2008 21:06
This might be a fair comment for your local Harvester, but I have found them to be very variable across the country - the best, like yours, can be good, friendly, wholesome fast food. And when they get it right, it is a great place for the family. Others have been filthy, poor service, and extremely poor food quality. That said, I love the salad cart (when it's been properly looked after, not when it is manky). About half the restaurants in my experience under-portion - a manager at one of the better restaurants advised me that managers could get bigger bonuses by under-portioning - increasing their bonuses (I should add that we once had an under-5s meal that contained 9 - that's nine - pieces of penne pasta!!!)! I'm glad your local is good, but this isn't reflected throughout the Harvester Brand. At one meal, when we had a view of the kitchen, I did not see hands washed or chopping boards wiped once for the duration of our service! And a Harvester waitress once told me that their manager would not buy "blue roll" to dry their hands with after washing them in order to save costs! That is ridiculous! Your review might present an accurate view of your harvester experience but does not reflect nationwide performance.
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Advantages: Honest, wholesome, value-for-money food. Child friendly. Disadvantages: Some restaurants have very low standards. Not especially couple-friendly.
tiddlekins 26.05.2008 (27.05.2008)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Harvester Restaurants
Apr 19th, 2008
exceptional by (3%):
very helpful by (97%):
