We went here for Sunday lunch. It used to be a pub called The Hare and Hounds with a pub restaurant attached. It has been re-vamped and is now still the Hare and Hounds but the attached restaurant is an Italian called Angelo's. Except that on Sunday, when we went, it was serving English Sunday lunch, not Italian Sunday lunch, if there is such a thing.

This review is therefore going to be a bit confused because the only Italian dish on the menu, by which I could judge the quality of the Italian cuisine served for the rest of the week, was the minestrone soup, which was excellent. However, my roast lamb and veg were not. Seriously bland, all of it, even when drowned in mint sauce. English food has suffered such a bad press over the last half century or so that more culinarily confident nations like the Italians probably think they can knock off one of our traditional dishes, like a roast, with one hand tied behind their backs. Alas, no. A good roast is fiendishly hard to do, which is why even the English can't hack it that often. Especially Yorkshire pudding. Except, of course, that at Angelo's the Yorkshire pudding was the one thing they did get right. I told you this was going to be confused. My friend wanted a pate ploughman's but they had no pate so he had a cheese one instead. It was alright but by no means great. Service was erratic. The one waitress was doing her best but there needed to be another one. I asked for a pint, got a half etc. etc. I don't know why it is but East Kent pub restaurants seem to have a rule that only school kids can be used as waiters and they are often left to sink or swim. It's probably character forming. What else? The music (Italian) was too loud and there were just a bit too many tables for the space. Having said all this, that minestrone was excellent and the view of the garden, including grape vine with grapes, was very easy on the eye. The pub bit is very nice as well. I think Angelo's may have potential. Just don't go on Sunday lunchtime. Harry