The Geese & Fountain

This rural pub is very much a part of the community, set in the heart of the Leicestershire countryside, but it is really a cut above your average boozer. 

With a seemingly endless beer garden, and robust, simple decor it’s a welcoming and simple premises, but it holds many exciting secrets!

While we were there it was jam packed with CAMRA members, so predictably they were running through real ales on the bar like it was going out of fashion. Equally predictably, given their award-winning status, their beers were well kept and showed some interesting variety – including both local and lesser-known more far flung breweries.

The real gem is the menu, which features a huge commitment to high quality, locally sourced ingredients. Look out in particular for the David Cox Lincolnshire sausages, and ice cream made from produce from Belvoir Ridge Creamery, as well as regularly changing specials board.

We couldn’t resist the Dexter beef burger, locally sourced, that Nick the landlord described so temptingly. In fact all four people on our table ordered it and it was well worth having. Extra chunky duck fat (not goose fat sadly) chips were deliciously light and fluffy with a perfect crisp on the outside, and a carefully dressed salad were perfect, simple accompaniments to an unfussy dish which really allowed the local meat to shine in all of its glory.

The two small patties were cooked to a perfect medium, allowing them to be juicy and flavourful. They did end up much smaller than the soft bun, but this was my only slight criticism of the whole meal, so I’ll take that.

Our party also enjoyed the desserts, again simply but beautifully presented, like the lemon posset pictured above. Overall it is an unfussy menu, that looks like standard pub grub at first glance but is actually surprisingly thoughtful and beautifully sourced and executed in reality. Even the bread basket was freshly baked and served with high quality condiments.

It’s well worth a trip out to the Geese & Fountain, although if like me you don’t drive, you may wish to consider booking out one of their rooms for the evening since it’s literally a marathon’s worth of a cycle away from Leicester! You’ll find the geese are just as welcoming as the staff team, and don’t forget to keep an eye on their Instagram to follow the adventures of the pub cats!