Restaurant in Wymeswold, United Kingdom
Michelin-noted tasting menu, village setting, serious kitchen.
A 2025 Michelin Plate restaurant operating out of a former village forge in Wymeswold, Hammer & Pincers delivers technically precise, seasonally driven modern cooking at £££, well below the London equivalent. With boutique rooms above the restaurant and a 4.8 Google rating across 434 reviews, it is the most compelling tasting-menu booking in the East Midlands region.
If you are comparing Hammer & Pincers to a country gastropub with a decent kitchen, you are looking at the wrong category. This is a serious tasting-menu restaurant that happens to occupy a former village forge in Wymeswold, Leicestershire, and it earns a 2025 Michelin Plate for cooking that would hold its own against destinations drawing far more attention. For food-driven travellers willing to make the drive from Loughborough or Nottingham, the combination of ambitious modern cooking, boutique rooms above the restaurant, and a price tier that sits well below comparable tasting-menu destinations makes this worth planning a night around.
The cooking here is technically precise and combinatorially adventurous in a way that distinguishes Hammer & Pincers from most village restaurants in the East Midlands. The menu is seasonal and changes to reflect the kitchen's sourcing priorities, but the approach is consistent: dishes are constructed with multiple components that are each doing specific work. A blowtorched mackerel paired with crab, oyster mayonnaise, and watercress coulis is not just a surf-and-surf combination for its own sake; the fat of the mackerel, the brininess of the oyster element, and the sharp green cut of the coulis are genuinely calibrated against each other. Similarly, a main course built around steamed turbot with prawn mousseline, asparagus, fennel, Anya potato, and prawn nage shows a kitchen that understands how to use a sauce as a unifying element rather than an afterthought.
The vegetable-forward options show the same precision. Brik rolls filled with butternut squash, served alongside tahini labneh, pomegranate molasses, burnt aubergine, and a red pepper and walnut purée represent the kind of dish that requires careful sequencing of preparation; the components are too perishable and too temperature-sensitive to survive a disorganised pass. That they arrive as an integrated plate rather than a collection of garnishes suggests a kitchen with real organisational discipline.
Desserts carry the same ambition. A cheesecake made with Sharpham Cremet cheese, served with grape compôte and nut brittle, is the kind of course that treats cheese-adjacent flavours as a dessert opportunity rather than a consolation. The chocolate plate with muscovado ice cream offers a richer, more direct close to the meal. Neither reads as a safe finish; both fit the register of the menu that preceded them.
The beef Wellington is worth singling out. It is presented and carved at the table, which provides a moment of considered service in a room that is otherwise warm and relatively informal. Tasting-menu restaurants at this price tier sometimes struggle to balance technical ambition with relaxed delivery; here, that balance is handled with experience rather than effort.
The dining room sits within a building that retains traces of its former life as the village forge, including a water pump visible from the back. Inside, the aesthetic is dark walls, exposed brickwork, low rafters, and bare tables. It reads as comfortable rather than austere, and the service runs with what the Michelin record describes as natural warmth from its experienced owners, Danny and Sandra Jimminson. The room is intimate, which suits the tasting menu format; conversation carries without effort, and the pacing of courses is managed attentively.
Wine pairings are offered to complement the grazing and tasting formats, with the bottle list opening at £22. For wine-focused visitors, the pairing option is a practical choice given the number of components in each dish; matching a single bottle to a menu this compositionally active is more difficult than it sounds.
Two boutique guest rooms above the restaurant make this a plausible destination for a short stay rather than just a dinner booking. For travellers using Hammer & Pincers as a base to explore the Vale of Belvoir or the Charnwood area, see our full Wymeswold hotels guide for additional context. The rooms are limited in number, so booking early if you want to combine dinner and a night is worth factoring into your planning.
Reservations: Moderate booking difficulty; plan ahead, particularly for weekend tasting menus. Price: £££ per head, positioning this well below London tasting-menu equivalents at ££££. Dress: Smart casual is the appropriate read for a room with low rafters and bare tables. Getting there: Wymeswold is a small village outside Loughborough; a car or taxi from Loughborough station is the practical approach. Rooms: Two boutique rooms available above the restaurant for overnight stays. Wine: Pairings available; bottle list from £22.
See the comparison section below for how Hammer & Pincers sits relative to peers in the Modern British tasting-menu category.
For more options in the area, see our full Wymeswold restaurants guide, our full Wymeswold bars guide, our full Wymeswold wineries guide, and our full Wymeswold experiences guide.
For context on the broader UK tasting-menu category at this level, it is worth knowing where Hammer & Pincers sits in a wider national picture. Venues such as L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, Hand and Flowers in Marlow, and Midsummer House in Cambridge occupy a higher tier of Michelin recognition and pricing, but they share the same seasonally driven, tasting-menu format. Hammer & Pincers delivers cooking that belongs in that conversation at a price point significantly below it. For Modern British cooking at a similar ambition level in different regions, Opheem in Birmingham, hide and fox in Saltwood, 33 The Homend in Ledbury, and Restaurant Andrew Fairlie in Auchterarder are useful reference points. For destination-restaurant stays combining food and rooms, Gidleigh Park in Chagford and Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Great Milton are the obvious comparators, though both carry a substantially higher price. The Fat Duck in Bray and CORE by Clare Smyth in London represent the ceiling of the UK tasting-menu category; Hammer & Pincers does not compete at that tier in terms of reputation, but it does offer a coherent, technically grounded alternative for the East Midlands region that does not require a London trip or a London budget. The Ritz Restaurant in London is a different kind of Modern British experience altogether, more ceremony than kitchen ambition, and not a useful comparison here.
Google Reviews: 4.8 out of 5 (434 reviews). Michelin: Plate 2025, indicating cooking good enough to earn recognition without yet reaching starred territory. For a Michelin-listed venue at £££ outside a major city, a 4.8 across more than 400 reviews represents a high level of consistent satisfaction.
Yes, with some specificity. The tasting menu format, attentive service, and the beef Wellington carved at the table provide the kind of considered pacing that works well for a celebration dinner. The room is intimate without being hushed. At £££, it is meaningfully more affordable than London-equivalent special-occasion restaurants such as CORE by Clare Smyth or The Ledbury, which run at ££££. If you are in the East Midlands and want a dinner that will feel like an event, this is the booking to make.
Wymeswold is a small village, so direct local alternatives at the same level do not exist within the immediate area. For tasting-menu cooking at a comparable ambition level in the wider East Midlands and surrounding regions, Opheem in Birmingham and Midsummer House in Cambridge are the nearest serious comparators, though both require a longer drive. See our full Wymeswold restaurants guide for local options at different price points.
The venue is described as intimate, which typically means a limited total cover count. Groups should book well in advance and contact the restaurant directly to confirm capacity and any group menu requirements. For a large group celebration requiring a private dining room, Hammer & Pincers may not be the right fit; it reads as better suited to tables of two to four. Phone and booking method data are not available in Pearl's current record; check the venue directly.
Book the tasting menu rather than grazing piecemeal if you want to see what the kitchen can do at full stretch. Dishes change seasonally, so specific recommendations depend on when you visit. The beef Wellington, when available, is the standout set piece: it is carved at the table and represents the kitchen's technical confidence at its most visible. On the dessert side, the Sharpham Cremet cheesecake with grape compôte and nut brittle is the more restrained and precisely judged option; the chocolate plate is the richer close. Request wine pairings if you plan to eat the full menu.
At £££, it is. The Michelin Plate recognition and a 4.8 Google rating across 434 reviews confirm that the kitchen consistently delivers at a level that justifies the spend. Comparable tasting-menu experiences in London, such as Dinner by Heston Blumenthal or Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library, sit at ££££ and carry substantially higher fixed costs into the price. Here, the cooking ambition is real and the price reflects a village restaurant operating without a central London rent to absorb. If you are driving from Loughborough, Leicester, or Nottingham, the value case is clear. If you are travelling specifically from London for a single dinner, factor in travel time against alternatives closer to home.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Hammer & Pincers | £££ | — |
| CORE by Clare Smyth | ££££ | — |
| Restaurant Gordon Ramsay | ££££ | — |
| Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library | ££££ | — |
| The Ledbury | ££££ | — |
| Dinner by Heston Blumenthal | ££££ | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Yes, and it is better suited to a special occasion than most Michelin Plate venues at this price point. The tasting menu format, table-side beef Wellington, and the option to stay overnight in one of two boutique rooms above the restaurant all add occasion weight without the formality of a London destination. At £££, it delivers a genuinely celebratory experience without the cost or travel overhead of city alternatives.
Wymeswold is a small village near Loughborough, so direct local competition is thin. For comparable Modern British tasting menus in the East Midlands, you will need to look at Nottingham or Leicester, where the format exists but at varying quality levels. If the draw is specifically a destination-dining-plus-overnight format in a rural setting, Hammer & Pincers holds a clear positional advantage in this part of the country.
The venue is described as intimate, which typically means the dining room is small, so large parties should check the venue's official channels before assuming availability. The tasting menu format also tends to work best for tables of two to four; larger groups can find the pacing and combinatorial dishes harder to coordinate. Weekend bookings for groups need more advance planning given the Michelin Plate recognition driving demand.
The tasting menu is the right way to eat here; the kitchen is clearly designed around it, and the value case is built on that format. The beef Wellington, presented and sliced at the table, is specifically called out in Michelin's own notes as a highlight worth timing your visit around. Wine pairings are available and the list opens at £22, making the pairing option accessible rather than a premium add-on.
At £££, Hammer & Pincers sits well below London tasting-menu pricing for cooking that earned a Michelin Plate in 2025 and holds a 4.8 Google rating across 434 reviews. The combinatorial ambition of the dishes — mackerel with crab and oyster mayonnaise, steamed turbot with prawn mousseline, handmade desserts using named British producers — represents a clear over-delivery for the price bracket and postcode. If tasting menus are your format and you are within reach of Leicestershire, the value case is strong.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
