The Fox at Willian

Venue ambience was good. Service was questionable. Staff kept calling one of our guests “darling” which annoyed them. Food had to be sent back as it was cold. Portions were small. Venison comprised 5 small 50p sized medallions for £32. Had a nice evening with our company but not because of the food or service. Disappointing.

A big, comfortable pub that was packed when I visited. This place is renowned for its Sunday lunch, and rightly so. The roast beef I had - though perhaps slightly overdone - was very tasty, and the portion size was spot-on. Special mention for the service, which was attentive, efficient and friendly.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A truly welcoming country pub! The Fox Inn at Willian is a fantastic place to relax, enjoy great food, and feel genuinely looked after. The atmosphere is warm and inviting, and the service is always spot-on. A special mention to Irmina, who is always smiling and goes out of her way to make guests feel welcome. She’s attentive, friendly, and incredibly helpful — a real credit to the team and one of the reasons we keep coming back. Highly recommended for anyone looking for great food, excellent service, and a proper village pub

We’ve stayed here for 2 nights, the room is clean and cosy. After midnight you have no hot water running, the AC only blows cold air, although you set the temperature for 28 degrees on warm. We had a burger on the first evening and it was dull and tasteless. I would not recommend eating there, it took over 30 minutes for the burger to arrive. On our last day we waited nearly 40 minutes for 2 english breakfasts and a porridge, when they had about 8 tables in, so not busy at all. I would not recommend this place. Sorry

Stayed a night here and thought it was really lovely, very comfortable beds, manager and all staff really pleasant and accommodating, the only reason I can’t give 5 stars is the shower! Went from absolutely scalding to freezing intermittently. and when I complained about this was told they are aware as other guests had complained! Really dangerous and unacceptable that this has not been sorted as a matter of urgency!

Finally came here for a Sunday roast after reading about this place for many years. Very good food and on the pricey side. Went for the lamb for my wife’s birthday, which is what she loves and it happens to be on their Sunday menu on their website. To my surprise when I got there the lamb was gone. Service was slow and disorganized. Ten plus minutes to get a menu. We asked someone who said “today they put me on glasses so I can’t give you the menu” - continued waiting. Once the food got to us everything was good. Asked for chips as an appetizer and it was delivered at the same time as the rest of the food. Asked for the desert menu twice and after 15 minutes when we finally got it, we were ready to leave. Overall a good experience but I was expecting a lot more given the prices.

Visited last night for dinner, disappointing food across starters mains and desserts. Steak cooked to liking but it was tasteless and seemed poor quality, the burnt kale they serve with it slightly ruins the dish. The service and welcome from the staff was excellent however and made up for the food, overall a nice enough experience with good atmosphere but we won’t be returning soon.

We came for dinner with friends on a quiet Thursday night after reading some of the better reviews. However unfortunately we didn’t have a great experience. The service was average. I had high expectations for the food but overall it was bland. The crab and avocado starter lacked texture and flavour and was essentially a small bowl of cold mush. The lamb cutlets, although not burnt, had a charred burnt taste that ran through the dish. My partner’s steak was cooked well but again, lacked any flavour. Overall a really disappointing dinner and definitely doesn’t warrant the expense. We won’t be returning any time soon.

Great pub to drink and socialize - we had a blast there and made two new friends! The whole little village there (Willian) and the church next door, is quaint and beautiful. It fancies itself as a gastro-pub but like a couple of others that experienced on this trip we were somewhat disappointed with the food, the menu etc somewhat pretentious, they try too hard and end up with no stellar result to validate the term gastropub in my opinion. That said - I will be back for drinks on my next visit to the UK

The Fox is an up market restaurant/pub set in the beautiful village of Willian, near Hitchin. Their food is absolutely amazing, and the service is great to. This is my favourite place to eat! It's quite pricey, but very worth it for a special occasion. They specialise in fish dishes, but their non-fish dishes are fab too. The only down side to their menu is the fact that they tend to only have one vegetarian option, so I don't think it's the best place to eat at for vegetarians.

Just on the edge of Letchworth, Willian is a pretty little village. The Fox combines a pub and restaurant next to the village pond, specialising in seafood brought in fresh from Norfolk, and meat from the farm next door. This is a restaurant that takes full advantage of the freshest, seasonal ingredients, and the service is good too. I haven't tried their fish and chips yet, but they won the award for the best fish and chips in the country at the Great British Pub Food Awards 2010. I'll be trying it soon! As a bonus, in a little building at the back, you will find a farm shop, containing fresh fruit and vegetables, wine and an excellent fishmonger. I'm a regular visitor, picking up Cromer crab, sacks full of mussels, plaice, monkfish, mackerel, or whatever else came in fresh that morning.

This is a top class restaurant and gastro pub in the lovely little village of Willian. It's run by the same people who own the White Horse restaurant in North Norfolk which some people may know. It's a regular entrant in the 'Good Food Guide' and other restaurant review books and rightly so. The food is lovely, beautifully cooked and presented. The wine and beer list are extensive too. The atmosphere is congenial, not at all snooty and the staff are attentive and friendly. But cheap it is not - in fact it's quite pricey. I wish I had the cash to eat here more often but for me it's definitely a special occasion type of place I go to maybe twice a year. Maybe when I win the lottery I'll go more often ...

Love this pub!!! Every time I visit my sister we will always come here. The food and atmosphere is great, the pub is clean, the staff is amazing !!! Just love it .

Excellent country pub with a restaurant. Food is to a high standard and bar area is also great.

Amazing food and a great choice of drinks. So many wines by the glass. You can choose between the restaurant bit or the more laid back bar. They also do great one off events and the menu is always seasonal. A great place to reward yourself after a walk around the arboretum! Or just a walk from the car!

Lovely mealinteresting menu and the food was well prepared and quality high. The service was good, but a bit confused at the bar. We ate in the lovely garden, a good setting for lunch. Food was £20-25 per person for lunch, two courses.

Been there for lunch a couple of times, it is a lovely gastro pub, that serves wonderful food... im sure ill be back again!

In over twenty visits, we've encountered close to 100% consistent delivery of professionally cooked and presented food. Service has been variable, but has been OK to excellent, never poor. And we come for the food, mainly. The menu changes often enough to give an idea of the kitchen's range. It is, at times, staid, but this may sadly!! reflect clientele's taste. Quality of produce (meat, fish, vegetables) is pretty consistently first-rate. In the past year we've tasted excellent, and excellently cooked and presented, pork, venison, oysters, beef, and lamb here. It is probably worth noting that it is fairly unusual for a good restaurant, even a 'gastropub', to offer such generous portions. There are also, as a 'starter' rather interesting slices of bread. These are all well and good, but our only (extremely slight) complaint would stem from the (apparently recent) drive to use 'British' rapeseed oil where good old olive oil (or British butter!) would have done better.