The Carrington Arms

We had an amazing family meal on Sunday. 3 of us had roasts and they were incredible. Other menu options were available (and highly rated by my brothers) and even smaller meals for the 2 children we had. We felt really welcome and the kids were looked after all the way through. Thank you so much for a wonderful evening, we were already planning our next visit before we'd left!

Went to The Carrington Arms this evening for a birthday celebration. Very nice place in the Cranfield (Bedfordshire) countryside. There is plenty of seating choice for different occasions. A very pleasant outdoor seating area, or if it's a tad cooler, you can sit in the Garden Room, a more casual reading area (where service is kept timely and convenient by using an electric button system, which worked really well). A very nice restaurant area if you want something a bit more formal (which also offers a butchery/ meat counter for selecting your choice of steaks). We sat in the Garden room, our young grandsons choice. He also enjoyed playing with the giant garden chess before we ate. The service was excellent, yes it was early evening, but still excellent. The photograph I posted was of my dessert, which was lovely, a combination of complementary flavours and textures. I would recommend The Carrington Arms if you're in the locale whether it be a fancy occasion or a simple celebration, or quiet evening meal.

This place has been our go-to spot for steak since 2016, and it never disappoints. The quality of the food has remained consistently excellent over the years, which is rare to find. What makes Carrington Arms stand out is the unique experience of choosing your own cut of meat and deciding how large a portion you’d like. It feels personal and tailored, and the staff are always happy to guide you if you’re unsure. The steaks are cooked to perfection every time; juicy, flavorful, and exactly how you ask for them. The sides are just as impressive, with fresh, well-prepared options that complement the main dish beautifully. Whether it’s the crispy chips, seasonal vegetables, or sauces, everything feels thoughtfully made and delicious. Beyond the food, the atmosphere is warm and welcoming. It’s the kind of place where you feel comfortable whether you’re celebrating a special occasion or just enjoying a casual meal. The consistency in service and quality over nearly a decade of visits speaks volumes about the care and pride the team puts into what they do. If you’re a steak lover, Carrington Arms is a must-visit. It’s rare to find a restaurant that delivers such high standards year after year, and we’re always excited to return knowing the experience will be just as good as the last.

Incredible place to visit. The ability to speak with the chef to request your cut of steak, the weight and sides/sauces is such a nice experience and both times I have eaten here the food has been sublime. (Can't comment on the hotel, as we visited only the restaurant)

Had a lovely Burns Night meal in the Garden Room tonight. Each course was delicious and very well balanced. The deep fried Mars bar went so well with the whisky cream (which was like a syllabub on it's own). Our server, Liv, was lovely. Friendly and efficient.

+1

Excellent meal at the carrington arms, we had a couple of cuts from the meat counter, cooked perfectly to our order with some really tasty sides. Drinks and dessert also very nice, and a reasonable bill for what we had. Great service from Hannah throughout.

I'm quite surprised to read some reviews about the quality of the food. Me and my wife both had a ribeye steak and it was lovely. The rest of our party really enjoyed their food. Quite a large drink menu. Service was great and it's a lovely building.

Absolutely beautiful food.. Probably one of the best steaks I've ever had... Was served by grace.. Looks after us and a great service

Friendly staff, great steak dinners, lovely clean room, comfortable bed, great shower, great view across the fields and lovely setting. Looked after by Leon from start to finish! Thank you, relaxing stay before our Salford Village Macmillan Breakfast morning. We’ll do this again and stay with you next year!

We now regularly frequent to the Carrington Arms. We are always greeted with a friendly welcome. The service and food is always exceptional. We love the open kitchen and desert in the garden room after an evening meal. Please don’t change guys. You are awesome.

Restaurant - My tiger prawns needed another minute on the grill, as the shells needed a little persuasion to remove, moving on, my steak 14oz ribeye was lovely and id happily go back to this restaurant, lovely setting, good food, 2 courses, quality steak mains £130ish that's completely reasonable imo.

Incredible food, excellent service from Ella. Highly recommend, will be back again soon.

we absolutely love this place, food, staff and rooms all fantastic. we had a great Whitsun bank holiday at the Carrington Arms and would highly recommend it. The food was exceptional, and the owners should be proud of their staff and property.

Good food , fantastic service, a lovley meal indeed. Let's start with the good. The lady who served us tonight was great , super attentive, as well as honest . I found the atmosphere to be really nice . The lighting was perfect In my opinion; the art on the wall I thought was really nice too The bathrooms were clean, and the bathroom doors had no gaps, which is always nice . The food was overall quite nice, but I have some criticisms . I had the 5 cheese board . Most of the cheeses were really nice, and the goats cheese was delicious. As well as the stinken bishop, but the brie was just disappointing. Really flavourless. We got a chutney with our meal too, which was nice as well as some grapes and crackers. It was good for the price, but I think some honey , a different chutney, and some different crackers would have been a really nice addition. The meal was very good non the less and I would absolutely recommend to a friend! :)

**Update 26th April 2024** Amazing service, delicious food. From start to finish, every mouthful a delight. Thank you for a lovely experience, every time. Beautiful experience on 2 different occasions. The food was perfect, every dish full of flavour and delicious. Extensive gin menu, wines for all tastes and budgets, dessert wines if you want to indulge. We shared the porterhouse steak on our first visit and that was incredible. On our second visit we tried the venison special and the pork belly. All very good and consistent. Service also fabulous even from the new member of staff who was training.

I don't often write reviews nowadays but the experience we had at Carrington Arms last night was so exceptional I thought had to. 1. We booked a room for our employee and partner and every interaction to make it special for them, champagne in room etc was exceptional. 2. the restaurant. We arrived early, table wasn't ready but they were excellent in making ourselves and our guests totally welcome in the snug. Bar service exceptional. 3. The meal. Totally superb. Mostly young people serving (which was great) and took pride in the customer service they provided. We had one GF person with us and the young lad was amazing at helping make sure what was chosen fitted that. 4. The manager here clearly has high standards and trains staff well. I used to own/manage high end hospitality establishments and can honestly say this is one of the best experiences have had since moved back to UK. Well done to the manager and the staff

A wonderful dinner tonight with lovely and friendly service from Becca - I’m a fussy eater and she was really helpful and such a star. She’s a real asset. A huge shoutout to the chefs who did an amazing job with our food and the drinks were superb! Thank you so much for all the staff on tonight, really made my grandads 80th special! I would recommend this place over and over! Thank you guys seriously!

Thanku for a lovely afternoon sent ln the restaurant for my pre birthday together with family making memories thanku again Nick

Came for dinner and absolutely loved it! As a vegetarian I wasn't sure there would be enough options but I was pleasantly surprised! Delicious gnocchi, and the steak counter was a fun touch! Hopefully next time I'll have room for dessert!

Absolutely superb. Stayed here for one night as was travelling forneork. Check-in was seamless with directions to room given and a warm welcome. The room was warm, spotless clean, well equipped with amenities and in overall great condition. The car park is large, well lit and has electric charging points for those who require it. As there was a Rugby match on I opted to enjoy a beer in the garden room. Service was top and kept on top of things. The menu boasts plenty of local/uk ingredients an absolute bonus for someone like me who is from overseas, the menu is clean and easy to read..no silly shouty graphics. Food arrived promptly with service checking in on me, recommending add-ons or bringing me more drinks. 2 more guest stouts, it was time for bed. Despite my proximity to carpark and main building I had a peaceful sleep, woke up and checked out for 6am. I didn't have breakfast I would absolutely return here and perhaps stay longer next time Well done to all the staff, management, kitchen staff and all in between

Really enjoyed the food and the location is great. Would definitely recommend. Only downside was that the table we were seated at was very small and uncomfortable to sit on. There was not enough space to sit comfortably and enjoy our food.

Really nice atmosphere and a really nice place to be. Love when you order the steak you get brought to the chef to choose your cut. And the Chef was very welcoming and helpful. Service wasn't brilliant. We waited about 10 minutes before someone took our drink order. And once we were finished we waited another 15 minutes before someone cleared our plates. However it was a very busy Friday night ! Food was good but not amazing ! My Fillet was a bit fatty and the chips felt like they had been laying about for a while before they were served. Overall I would recommend it to people. But not somewhere I would go out of my way for.

A short drive off the M1 will take you to this hotel. I stayed for work and arrived late, so did not try their evening menu. However, breakfast was delicious. I had the Eggs Royale on sourdough instead of brioche. They were happy to accommodate the change. I felt well looked after, and any queries were resolved in great time.

Had a lovely meal here for our 47th wedding anniversary. Food was superb and service friendly and efficient. The only downside is it's extremely noisy and the constant loud hum from the extractor fans (I'm assuming as we were seated very close to the meat counter and cooking area) was really quite disturbing and made conversation very difficult. But we would definitely go again but ask to be seated elsewhere.

So mixed impressions of The Carrington Arms. I didn’t stay there, just dinner with friends. I’d booked a restaurant table but the weather was warm and sunny with tables available outside but they wouldn’t let us sit outside as we had a restaurant booking! No debate! Don’t get me wrong, the ambience, features and style were lovely but when we tried to open a window as it was so warm, we got scolded and told we couldn’t open a window and “…it’s more than my jobs worth to let you open it!” Aside from this, the menu (food and drink) is awesome and the food incredible. One of our party tried a rib-eye steak for the first time and said it was the best steak they’d ever had! Lots of choice, perfectly cooked and great taste. Sort the customer service out and you’d get 5 stars!

We've loved the Carrington Arms for years and it is our go-to for special occasions. We've not been in a couple of years and so on this visit we were surprised to find the menu had not changed (or at least not from memory), although the food here is always excellent so this wasn't a problem. They've added a glass-conservatory-type space on the back of the building which provides extra seating since we last visiting, but we weren't sure whether this was just for hotel guests or whether we could eat out there (signs were a bit confusing). Interior looks like it could perhaps do with a bit of an update so the overall look is more cohesive. All this being said, the food was beautiful and the service great so we will continue to visit.

I stayed overnight for work, the rooms are excellent and comfortable. The staff are friendly but the automated at table ordering system takes away some of the experience. Thankfully I didn't pay the bed and breakfast rate. Although advertised as breakfast from 0730, I waited until 0745 and the building was locked up, as I was working I could wait no longer, that was disappointing, otherwise comfortable.

After reading so many great reviews we decided to visit the Carrington Arms as soon as we could. Unfortunately it is also most likely the last time we will. It was well over an hour from sitting down to receiving our main, we only ordered bread as a snack to start so it’s not like we had a starter to eat and clear before the main. After querying the wait we were asked if we’d like another drink under the assumption that maybe it would be complimentary after sitting with nothing for 30 minutes. It wasn’t. For the main itself we both ordered a filet steak that in all honesty was disappointing. Approx 1cm thick at 8oz it certainly didn’t come from a better part of the tenderloin. At a medium rare level it lacked moisture inside and the sear was minimal. The sides were good but minimal. A poor service experience with average food. Disappointing.

Very disappointed with my recent visit to the restaurant and found the general standard had really dropped. The waitress first of all couldn’t answer any of our basic questions about the food or the drinks- when my rather expensive steak was served it was very chewy ,although it was replaced by another steak of the size I had left) the senior staff were dressed extremely casually and the overall atmosphere was very below standard - I think it will be a while. Wrote I return given the competition available in BBC Milton Keynes

Spotlessly clean room and lovely staff. The service in the restaurant was great, However, I was overcharged £60 due to an apparent error in their system. I only noticed this after I'd checked my bank statement. Reimbursement was quick but I'd advise others to always check their bank statements if their card details have been submitted on line.

We were a table of six ordering both food and drinks, and overall we expected a decent experience. However, when my partner ordered a Negroni cocktail, was served a glass of spirits with no ice and nothing close to the actual cocktail. When we pointed this out, the staff insisted that “this is how they do Negroni,” and their attitude was dismissive and unprofessional. For a group dining and drinking, this kind of response was completely unacceptable. A simple acknowledgement or willingness to correct the mistake would have gone a long way.

I wish I had read the reviews prior to booking the Carrington Arms since the common themes are accurate. Top dollar prices with food that doesn’t match up. It’s really just pub grub, extra small protein portions (fish portions especially) and steaks that are pitched as premium cuts which looked like supermarket cuts, and come over cooked. My filet was more sirloin and overall disappointing. Plates delivered red hot, clearly being left under a heat lamp for an extended period resulting in over cooked meat and fish. Location was lovely with lots of character. Can’t rate the hotel as didn’t stay, but it did look nice from the outside.

I’ve tried to give this place the benefit of the doubt because the prices are high but their food is tasty and especially the chicken and burgers are amazing. We frequently order a takeaway. However today I paid £4.50 for a Caesar salad I’ve had lots of times before, today it had merely pieces of wilted salad. Deliveroo of course did nothing have also been missing a complete burger before which the driver clearly ate so think this is the final straw. Thinking you can charge £4.50 for that is simply taking the mick

I hate to reduce my score from 5 to 2, but I feel as though the level of service our group has been receiving over the past few weeks has been deteriorating, despite being regulars in this restaurant. What’s prompted me to reduce this evening, is one of our members politely asked his pint of cider to be filled to the top of the glass, at which point we were treated with attitude. What makes matters worse, when the cider returned, they had only put more ice in the glass, which I felt was rather insulting given we had politely asked for the drink we paid for to be served correctly. I hope the service improves over the coming weeks, as it would be a shame to stop visiting a favourite location of ours.

We had lunch 4th April and were very disappointed with the quality of the food. My wife had a very small serving of cod in squid ink that was not quite cooked that cost £25. Our friend ordered salmon fillet starter that was not as described, there was no salmon fillet only a small strip of smoked salmon. I had a rather dry meat pie with tough pastry cost £20 that lacked any flavour. We did complain about the shortcomings and the waiter said he would pass our comments to the kitchen, however, we didn’t receive any feedback. I have given 2stars because we enjoyed our puddings. All in all the food did not live up to the menu descriptions therefore not an establishment to warrant a return visit.

A strong meat counter otherwise hugely exclusionary. I visited with a group a few months ago to find that they ONLY do a beef drippings based gravy. At the time I asked if they do a vegetarian alternative they don't, I also asked for those who don't eat beef if there was an alternative - there wasn't. This was months ago and we have a booking coming up. Ahead of this booking, I will be warning any vegetarian and hindu guests re the above - a shame to see a place with high ratings be so exclusionary to two groups. Namely the vegetarians while you can understand to not being able to appease a religious element like the hindu no beef composite its hard to see how an institution such as this has a gravy which excludes vegetarians. I called in to speak to someone about it and he was hugely dismissive and useless. I am flabbergasted that in this day and age we still have to deal with such exclusionary practices such as this all because someone can't make a quick easy alternative. A shame - I will be covering this on my food instagram page to ensure that parties that are excluded by the above are aware in advance.

Rooms clean and very private, although I could hear people in the attached room. Windy and I could hear whistling most the night which was rather annoying, didn't sleep the best. Breakfast starts at 7.30am, not ideal if your working and need to be on the road, even worse if the employee doesn't turn up for 20minutes, making all guests who are waiting out the front late. Poor rushed service asking what you want, yeah I haven't seen the menu. Terrible service experienced. Evening meal - burger with a coke was £24. It was just a burger and chips with a coke. Expensive for below average food. Search and go elsewhere for food is my advice. Unlikely I would return, due to this poor experience, the cost was £200 for two nights so not cheap. Plenty of other options in Milton Keynes to try.

Having visited the Carrington Arms several times this year I had no hesitation in going for Father's day as a treat from my son. We both had stomach upsets for the following 24 hrs and whilst I realise I cannot be 100% sure that this was a result of eating there, the only food we had in common that day was their Risotto with chicken. I had previously recommended this restaurant to several friends however I will update them with my revised opinion. The manager was very dismissive of my complaint, refused to accept responsibility and did not offer an apology.

This is one of our fav restaurants Been dining on an off for past 23yrs no problems until dining with work colleagues last night and being their first experience there Very disappointed in staff attitude Issue being over a cocktail which was t as described to be told it won’t be taken off the bill No attempt to provide any replacement drink or apology Take it or leave it basically and we are not a cocktail bar The bill was over £400 and would’ve given a tip if we had been treated with respect Totally disappointed with the current staff

We went to The Carrington Arms for a good meal for our company. We had high hopes due to previous experiences and reviews, but they definitely left a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, there were very slow. Drinks took 15+ minutes to receive after order and food took forever to be received. Once we finally received the food, we had multiple dishes that were way overcooked (8oz filet supposed to be medium but came out well done, swordfish was over cooked, pheasant was overcooked). The server asked if everything was ok and when we gave the honest feedback, they responded with attitude and blamed us for ordering drinks. Not once did a manager or chef come over to apologize for the delayed service and lack luster food. Definitely disappointing. I usually don't post publicly, but the attitude we experienced by the young male server was unacceptable. I hope they take this to heart and learn from it.

Had dinner there. Very average. Do not order the scallop. You receive only one in a funny slop. Risotto was luke warm. Steak good chips poor and additional veg raw. Never again for me