The Chequers, Laddingford

The Chequers in Laddingford is a lovely looking village pub dating from the 15th century. There are about half a dozen car parking spaces at the front, but no shortage of space out on the road within a few yards.  My first impression of The Chequers was that it could have been really nice, but somehow didn't quite manage it. Although there were three good real ales on (as well as the usual array of fizzy stuff) and the ceilings were dripping with dark oak beams, it simply wasn't a comfortable feeling place. Possibly not helped by the large group of regulars blocking the vast majority of the bar itself, leaving just enough room for one person to be served at a time. Particularly galling as every single table was free.  In spite of this fact, we were still shown to the table right in front of the door to the toilets.

The beer, as it turns out, was excellent! A special brew from a Cornish brewer called Skinners to celebrate the Rugby World Cup, called Splendid Tackle.  At 4.2%, fruity and well balanced, it was so delicious I was forced to try a second pint to check the first one wasn't a fluke!

There was a specials board that included homemade sausages with mash. How often do you see homemade sausages on offer in a pub? I wish I'd tried them, to be honest, but more of that later. The main menu had many of the staple pub-grub dishes, and several interesting alternatives including a choice of three or four sharing platters. On a chilly evening the steak and ale pudding is sure to warm you up. For those looking for a lighter option, there is baked salmon, sole goujons, a burger with a choice of cheddar or stilton on top and a few other choices.   Prices ranged from around £5.95 for the light-bites up to £16.95 for the most expensive main course.  Deserts were all around £4.50.

Dee and I opted to share a starter of nachos, and it's a good job we didn't go for a portion each because there was enough for four to share! There was plenty of melted cheese, large dollops of salsa, sour cream and guacamole, and a generous helping of sliced jalapinos. It wasn't much to look at, but it was very tasty!

We are both big fans of sharing platters (and I'm a sucker for a buffet!) so we opted for the sharing fish, chips & dips platter. When it arrived there were sole goujons, haddock kievs, prawn wontons, prawns in filo pastry and butterfly prawns in light breadcrumbs, along with a huge bowl of the best homemade chips I've had in ages. There were three generous pots of dips, a garlic mayonnaise, a sweet chilli sauce and a homemade tartar sauce that was a little sharp for Dee but fine for me. Unfortunately both the haddock kievs were both cold, so the barmaid took them away and brought us some fresh ones. Even more unfortunately, although these were hot on the outside they were both still frozen in the middle. Although this was disappointing, particularly as it was the kievs I was most looking forward to, there was enough on the platter that we were both close to full anyway. Actually, the chips deserve a special mention, so nice to find good chips in a pub that weren't tipped into the fryer out of a Brake Bros plastic bag fresh out of the freezer!

We chose our deserts from a short menu of about seven or eight puddings. In order to give the kitchen a chance to redeem themselves after the poor effort with the kievs we both opted for homemade deserts. Dee went for the apple and mixed berry crumble with custard (who'd have thought it!) and I chose the pecan and maple tart with pouring cream. The crumble was good, but the tart was fantastic! Absolutely delicious.  Again, not much to look at, but I'd order the pecan tart again like a shot. 

With no prompting from us, when the bill arrived the waitress explained that they had not charged us for the fish & chip platter at all, despite the fact that we ate 90% of it!  A combination of the good beer, excellent deserts and this generosity would certainly have been enough to encourage us to return, but the lack of atmosphere, and if I'm totally honest (and a bit snobby) the attitude and language of the regulars make it unlikely that we will. Shame, because I get the feeling it could have been really nice.