The Kings Arms is a small but very cosy village pub located in Cardington, close to Bedford and St Neots and home of the two famous Cardington hangers where the Batman films are now recorded. They specialise in freshly cooked food and have recently undergone a change of Management, who have really turned the place around. They are open everyday (11 t o11 Mon-Sat and 11 to 10:30 Sun) and food is served everyday after midday.

Me and my partner recently visited there for a run of the meal dinner, we had visited the pub previously but only for a few drinks, never for a meal, before the new management took over it was never really much of a restaurant, more of a drinkers pub. Upon arriving there is certainly ample car parking, we had no problem finding a space and were just outside the front door, excellent considering it was raining. Upon entering we were amazed at the transformation, the eating area looked like an upper class restaurant with a wood lodge theme throughout and the pub area looked like a lounge with very modern looking furniture and fittings.

Unfortunately we did experience poor service upon entering; we had booked a table and were expecting to be shown to that table. We did however stand there for a few minutes without any assistance, in the end we grabbed one of the waitresses and asked where to sit. She asked our surnames and said that the table was reserved over by the tall lamp, when we got there it said reserved for 'McNelly', well our surname is Barker so clearly not ours. In the end we went back to the bar and asked where to sit, the gentlemen said anywhere, so we approached the more upper class looking room, with solid wood tables and chairs; it was also slightly offset from the pub area and produced a more secluded romantic feel which we preferred.

From then on the service was great, a waitress approached us within a minute asking us for drinks which arrived only a few minutes later. She gave us our menus and left alone to choose our meals, after 10 minutes or so she returned and took our order, I dislike it when waiters come back after two minutes and expect you to have chosen, luckily at the Kings Arms it was not the case. After she had taken our order she left us again and didn't return until the food was ready, she always had a smile on her face and was extremely helpful whenever we asked her a question regarding food/ drink options etc.

I am pleased to say the food was very good, the portions were generous and offered a wide choice, you can have a pub meal, steak, healthy options all at a good price, expect to pay £8.00 for a pub meal like my Bacon cheese burger with Chips and £13.00 for a steak, very reasonable. The burger was actually the best I've had and I have had a few of them in my time from a large number of pubs. The chips were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, and it also came with a variety of refreshing salad to counter the unhealthy aspect of the meal.

The desserts were equally as tasty, I had a treacle sponge pudding which cost £4.50 and my partner had a lemon cheesecake which I could tell she enjoyed by the pleasing sounds she was making (also cost £4.50).

We had our table booked for 7:30pm, at the time the atmosphere was peaceful, by the time we were eating however it had picked up and all the tables were full. It wasn't the kind of noise that distracted you or got on your nerves though, it was just background noise which made you feel a little less alone. After we had finished our desserts the waitress collected our plates and we asked for the bill, two minutes later she was back with the card machine ready for me to pay. The meal cost around £37 altogether which I was happy to pay for a great evening and great service apart from the opening incident.

I would defiantly recommend the pub to anyone in the area, the new décor is lovely and really makes it feel like you are in an expensive restaurant, the food is also delicious and tastes freshly made. In summer you are able to sit outside in their beer garden which has plenty of benches and areas with shade for those who aren't fans of too much sun.