Hop along to the Harrow Hare

A Happy Kind of Lunch at The Hare, Harrow:

A combination of being based in Central London and covering a fair amount of travel means that sometimes I wonder if I’m losing touch with reality.  So, when I got a press release highlighting the refurbishment of The Hare, I thought it would be good to review a ‘local’ pub.  Particular as this local is just a mile or so down the road from my friend The Hedonist’s London base.

The difference between an excellent neighbourhood restaurant and a destination restaurant is, for me at least, partly down to geography.  On the outskirts of London, a restaurant needs to be outstanding to become a destination restaurant because there are plenty of ‘excellent’ central London venues.  And  if you are planning to travel for a meal, it’s generally easier to travel into the centre of town and back home again than take a cross country trip.  So, restaurants like The Hare are probably best targetted at the local community.

And that is something which The Hare does remarkably well.  The Dine with Wine menu of this newly refurbished pub-brasserie offers a good value set menu (£11.95 for two courses before 6.30 and £14.45 after 6.30pm) with your first glass of wine for just £2.50.

The a la carte menu offers a good selection of brasserie classics and a steak board for meat lovers.  I picked the baked Manx queen scallops which were very tasty, though perhaps a little overpowered by the potatoes.

My companion had the pretty and very tasty potted shrimps with nutmeg butter and a toasted baguette.  He was hungry and could have done with a larger portion;)

On to the main courses, his Roast Atlantic cod fillet with salt cod brandade and red pepper and tomato sauce was nicely presented and very tasty.

And my steak with chips was just a beautifully prepared brasserie classic.  The bearnaise tasted home made and the frites were nicely crispy.

We decided to share that old brasserie classic, Crepes Suzette.  While the dish was prepared in the kitchen it WAS flambed at our table, though my action shot was a total fail!

I liked the wide selection of wine by the glass or 500ml carafe.  Prices range from just under £16 to over £50 for a range of what is described as cellar wines.  And, there a range of beers and non-alcoholic drinks on offer.

This is an uncomplicated proposition and one that I’d welcome on my doorstep.

The Hare
Old Redding
55 Brookshill,
Harrow, Middlesex HA3 6SD