The Leaping Hare

Product Information

I am late to this party, by about a quarter of a century. The Leaping Hare has been in the Good Food Guide for 25 years, and has held a Bib Gourmand, the most interesting award from the tyre company, representing good food at a reasonable price, for more than 20 years. There are hints on the menu of an awareness of the times and their passing. The word “foraged” appears. There are asterisks to indicate that certain dishes are made with ingredients from the estate or from within five miles of it; on others, that the key ingredients are from Norfolk or Suffolk. For the main course, the Sea Bass I had was well cooked, but nothing special. I also tasted both the rabbit and the pork dishes in which the meat in both was overcooked and dry. The desserts also were nothing to write home about. I had the summer pudding which can either be stunning or average. This unfortunately was average. My dining companions had the Choc Pot and Strawberry Granita and various Sorbets and Ice Creams which they all enjoyed. Our recent visit (31st August 2009) to the restaurant was a luncheon myself and my wife were giving as a thank you treat to my brother and sister-in-law for house and dog sitting whilst we were on holiday. Having been to the restaurant a few times before we were looking forward to good food, however, this time I was very disappointed. Despite the collapse of the Jamie’s Italian chain earlier this year, Jamie Oliver is pushing ahead with his mid-market restaurant interests, only outside the UK. He is to launch Jamie Oliver’s Kitchen, an all-day concept, in Bali and Bangkok. According to the company the menu could be ‘easily adapted to local flavours and food trends’. In Bangkok, for example, this will include a soft shell crab burger with green papaya salad. Spiced and roasted, served with golden onion rings’: monkfish. Photograph: Chris Ridley/The Observer