The Pippin, London Road, Maidstone

Looking for a top quality Sunday lunch in a traditional pub? Look no further the The Pippin on the outskirts of Maidstone. A much extended and improved old building now boasting a conservatory and large bar area as well as a comfortable booth style dining room, The Pippin provided a warm welcome and excellent service.

The first thing that made me smile was the house beer. How many pubs have their own ale on draught these days? Well, Pippin Ale by Greene King is 3.9% and absolutely delicious. Other Greene King beers and a selection of fizzy drinks and wines are also available.

As luck would have it we chose to visit The Pippin just after they launched their new winter menu. The manager was very keen to explain the new dishes and told a delightful story about eating slow roast pork shanks in Austria while on a Harley Davidson club road trip round Europe and thinking "we've got to do this!". Well I for one am very glad he did, it was quite superb! Normally you might expect a lamb shank (they do that as well, and roast beef, all the pub classics, children's meals, etc etc, but a crackling coated pork shank with all the trimmings was just too good to pass up) but out from the kitchen emerged a large wooden trencher with a lovely looking pork joint on it impaled with a sharp knife and served with mash, roasties, parsnips, red cabbage, buttered kale, a home made Yorkshire pudding, gravy and a generous serving of apple sauce. Nicely cooked, nicely presented, well done everyone that had a hand in getting it to our table. An unusual dish, highly recommended.

If by some staggering chance you have any room left after all that, and you really can't decide which of the delightful sounding home made deserts to try then order the selection board. But make sure at least two of your friends will help you finish it, because there is plenty on it. On our board we got a kilner jar of ginger and red fruit cheesecake that was light and tasty, a chocolate torte sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts that was thick and rich, a huge apple and fig crumble that was delicious and piping hot, and a selection of Loseley ice creams and some creme fraiche. It was all absolutely delicious and rounded the lunch off perfectly.

In summary then, nice atmosphere, friendly service, great food, good beer. What more do you want? We'll be back there again soon, I'm sure.

Froggies at Timber Batts, Bodsham, Kent

My apologies for the long gap since my last blog entry, I hope it won't be this long until my next one!

Timber Batts is a lovely old country pub between Ashford and Canterbury on the road out of Wye.  It's tucked away in the tiny village of Bodsham (no, I'd never heard of it before either!) and it's well worth the effort of finding it for yourself.  There is plenty of seating inside at an eclectic mix of tables, but if the weather permits you might want to sit outside and enjoy the rural views from the quiet garden to the side of the pub.  Froggies is, as you might expect from the name, run by a French father and son who have done well to retain the traditional English pub feel while adding their own Gallic charm to the place.  There are a number of wine case lids from some of the grand estates decorating the beams, and every shelf and sill is covered in empty wine bottles that span generations and vineyards of the world, mostly having been drunk by the owner!

We stopped in for a quick lunch (and maybe a swift half!) on the way home and were genuinely delighted with the food.  Although the lunch menu is short, it is full of good options including a home made burger (more on that later), various baguettes and sandwiches, moule frites, or simply ham egg and chips.  Something for everyone then!

I was feeling pretty hungry, so I went for the homemade burger, which comes with french fries and a small green salad on the side.  It's a good job I was hungry, because there was plenty of it and it was delicious.  The difficulty with very thick burgers is cooking them right through without letting them dry out, something the chef managed very nicely indeed.  There was a generous side order of the thinnest fries, and the salad had a light drizzle of house dressing that just helped cut through the big flavours in the burger.  The ham and chips looked very good too, the ham was lightly smoked and thinly cut, while the baguettes were big enough to feed even the hungriest mouth.

One of my favourite things to finish a meal is a café gourmand, usually a shot of espresso with two or three mini deserts just intended to give you something sweet to finish your meal, so I was delighted to find it on the menu.  It came with a couple of home made macaroons and a glass of café liegeois (espresso coffee poured over coffee ice-cream and topped with whipped cream served in this case in a shot glass).  A close second choice for me was the trio of deserts, which included an apricot tatin, panna cotta,  and a raspberry melba.  The desert for people unable to decide what to have, but delicious none the less.

Easy to find?  No.
Worth the effort?  Certainly.
Worth the price?  Yes, I think so.

The Stile Bridge, Linton / Marden

How nice it is to come across somewhere new that ticks all the boxes!  Having asked for suggestions earlier in the week (see my last post) I got a handful of suggestions, many of which I'd tried before, including a couple of ringing endorsements for The Stile Bridge at the bottom of Linton Hill on the way to Marden.  It's well over ten years since I last visited The Stile Bridge, so I thought it was probably time to give it another try.

The Stile Bridge fronts right onto the road between Maidstone and Staplehurst in the middle of nowhere.  It's a welcome sight on a cold, dark, winters night, a feeling that grows as you enter to find a roaring open fire and a busy little bar.  The walls and ceilings are covered in pub, brewery and booze memorabilia, including a fine collection of miniatures in a nice old display cabinet and a collection of printed pub mirrors.  There are five real ales, several unusual lagers and one cider on draught and a selection of more than forty bottled beers from which to choose.  Sorry about the blurry picture, but you get the idea...

Having ordered our drinks (a pint of Horsham ale for me!) we were seated straight away in a cosy side room just off the bar.  The menu was short enough to suggest minimal use of the freezer, but long enough to contain a number of unusual and interesting choices.  I'd never heard of Onglet steak before, but the waitress was able to explain that it is a cut of beef taken from just behind the rib.  I'll give it a try on our next visit, sounds good.

We started with deep fried brie with cranberry sauce for Liz and chicken liver parfait for me.  The brie was rich and creamy, and the parfait was as light as a feather.  We were off to an excellent start.

As well as a well balanced menu there were a number of specials on offer, including a pie of the day.  Now, I have a real problem with what most pubs seem to think passes for a pie.  (For the record, a bowl of stew with a flaky pastry lid is not a pie!)  Imagine my delight, then, on being told that the special was a short crust pastry mixed game pie of generous proportions!  How could I refuse?  It was lovely!  If I was being hyper-critical, it could have had a bit more meat inside, but it was delicious, filling and definitely a real pie.  The accompanying veggies were cooked to perfection and the skin-on chips were crispy.

Liz chose the lamb leg steak with rosemary butter and roasted winter vegetables.  This turned out to be a big slab of melt in the mouth lamb smothered in melted butter with a stack of mixed beetroot, potato, carrot and parsnip chips that added a lovely earthy dimension and a few unusual flavours.  We also had a bowl of the best beer battered onion rings either of us had ever had to share.  As it turns out, there was no need to order side dishes as the main meals were more than filling enough, but we'll certainly be ordering them again, maybe with a house special burger or freshly made pizza next time.

We both chose desserts from the specials board, in the hope that we'd manage to squeeze them in.  Liz fancied the chocolate pot, which was dark, delicious, and came with a lovely little filo basket of red berries to cut through the richness.  I had a blood orange posset with shortbread, mostly because I'd never had it before. It was sweet and creamy with a citrus twist, the perfect end to a very good meal.

 I think it won't be long before we're back.  The beer was excellent, the food was good, the staff were friendly and knowledgeable.  I'm told there might even be some house brewed beer on offer soon and I'd certainly like to try that.  We are very lucky here in Kent, we have a number of genuinely nice pubs that go the extra mile.  This is certainly one of them. 

Goddard's Pie & Mash and Greenwich Market

Greenwich market is one of those places I can wander round for ages. I love the variety of stalls and little shops around the edges, the mixture of arts and crafts as well as clothes and antiques is always interesting. But the thing I like most is the huge variety of food available there. A truly international mix of authentic street food stalls at the river end of the market provides a mouthwatering scent in the background as you pick your way between the rows of stalls. More of that later though.

Pie, mash & green liquor is about as regional as food gets. Peculiar to East London, traditional pies are minced beef in flakey pastry. Personally, I like two pies, one mash and plenty of green liquor with a liberal sprinkling of white pepper and vinegar on everything. Originally the liquor was made using the juice of the eels that had been jellied, but these days it's pretty much just a gravey-like parsley sauce. Goddard's and Manzie's have been the two main rivals in south east London since the 1890's, both have their fans and both have their strong points. I always thought Goddard's had better pies but Manzie's did better liquor. It's been many years since I've had either, so when Josie suggested pie & mash for lunch today I was delighted! Inside Goddard's was exactly as I remember the Deptford shop looking nearly thirty years ago, with the traditional refectory style long wooden tables and benches, cream tiled walls, and real fast food. Josie chose a steak & kidney pie with mash and gravy, while Dee opted for a chicken & mushroom pie with mash and gravy (philistines...gravy. Really?) while I stuck with my traditional choice. It was every bit as good as I remember, and as good as I hoped.

If pie & mash doesn't appeal then wander along to the river end of the market. There you will find such a variety of food stalls I guarantee you'll find something to tickle your taste buds. There is everything from paella to dim sum, pizza to Moroccan cuisine, crepes to sushi, cupcakes to South African wurst. On a previous visit we tried the teriyaki, fresh tempura prawn and cooked to order chicken teriyaki on sticky rice was the stand out choice. Next time we're there I think I'll try the dim sum, it all looked so good it's really difficult to choose though. It's great to see some slightly more unusual food on offer as well, with Italian fried rice balls stuffed with all sorts of fillings, Ethiopian vegetarian dishes, Moroccan fusion food, as well as some slightly more mainstream things like fresh crepes and fruit with chocolate fondue poured over the top. There is a cupcake stand featuring a vast array of full sized and miniature vegan cupcakes, all beautifully decorated and presented, and a really good baker selling lots of different breads, cakes, pastries and macaroons.

Churros are Mexican straight donuts. Very tasty, covered in sugar and cinnamon.

The guys on this sushi stall were making california rolls and maki rolls while we watched. If it wasn't for the fact that we had sushi Saturday night I would have given it a try.

The food being produced on this dim sum stall looked particularly good. A wide variety of steamed buns, fried and steamed dumplings, char siu pork, all sorts of yummy looking things.

Greenwich is certainly worth a visit just for the history. The National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory, the Royal Park, and soon to reopen phoenix-like from her own ashes the Cutty Sark (one of the fastest tea clippers ever to set sail) in her fully restored glory are all worth the trip alone. Grab lunch from one of the market stalls, or perhaps one of the little independent tea rooms or restaurants around the town in preference to the generic chain places like Nandos or Zizzi. I don't have anything against them, it's just that there is better, fresher, more imaginative food available at very reasonable prices right there in the market.

Imaginative, fun, interesting food at last! Mu Mu's in Maidstone

At last! Really fun, really tasty food - and it was right on my doorstep all the time! Last weekend I went out to help a couple of friends celebrate their birthdays. When they told me they were holding it at Mu Mu's nightclub and bar in Maidstone I thought twice about going, I'm not really a nightclub person, but a few people told me the food was really good and how can you say no to a birthday bash, eh?

At first I thought £35 for three courses was a bit on the steep side, but actually it turned out to be an absolute bargain. We had a couple of drinks in the bar while we waited for everyone to arrive, draught Japanese lager seemed the best bet from a fairly limited choice, then we were shown to the restaurant in what was once a pub next door. The birthday girls were seated in gilded thrones in the middle of our long table, in a room decorated in a gothic style - could have been a bit tacky, but it wasn't and I loved it.

We had chosen our food in advance, so things started to come to the table fairly quickly. First of all we were given a tall glass of rum and fruit punch each (included in the price of the meal) and then a waiter came along with a massive teapot. He poured us all cups of cucumber water to refresh our pallets during dinner. A bit odd....and we did wonder if it was for cleaning our fingers with rather than drinking, but as it was served in an eclectic mix of bone china teacups on mismatched saucers we eventually plumped for drinking it.

I had chosen fish cakes on wilted spinach as my starter, which arrived very quickly. It was nicely presented, and very tasty indeed. As soon as the smoked chicken wings starters began coming to the table I knew I'd chosen the wrong thing. They were on a wooden base with a long metal frame attached, from which hung a skewer of wings. On the base was a little jar of barbecue sauce and a large lidded jar full of smoke. Yes, you read that right, smoke! The idea being that you tip the smoke onto your wings to make them as strongly smoked as you like. Great fun!

And the fun didn't end at the starters, either. My burger came on a large wooden board covered in interesting stuff. The burger itself was big and juicy and came on a brioche style bun with a heap of coleslaw, some salad, cheese, crispy bacon, a tub of sliced pickles, a dish of ketchup and a little bottle of burger sauce - allowing you to build the burger just how you like it. There were a a couple of crispy onion rings and a mini frying basket of absolutely delicious chips on the side. The basket looked just like the ones they get cooked in, but a fraction of the size! Paul said his burger was a bit dry, and it did look like it was a bit more well done than mine, which was just about medium and tasted lovely. I would order the burger again without a moments hesitation.

Desert was also a fun take on a classic dish. I had a selection of three mini cornettos, served in a little lacquered wooden rack, with a selection of toppings to roll them in. There were little piles of hundreds and thousands, chocolate vermicelli and finally (and best of all!) popping candy. The three chocolate waffle cones each had a little scoop of a different flavour ice cream inside. Don't ask me what flavours, I don't know, and it doesn't really matter because they were all very tasty.

The staff were friendly, the food turned up in a timely fashion and was both interesting and tasty, and the meal finished with an ice cold glass of limoncello liqueur. We weren't exactly rushed from our seats, but we were aware that there was another party booked in after us so we didn't linger at the table. The £35 per head covered the rum punch, three courses chosen from a fairly short but interesting menu, the glass of limoncello and entry to the nightclub afterwards with use of a private booth big enough for all of us.

The birthday girls had a great evening, everyone enjoyed their food, and one or two of us had a glass or two too many in the process. It's a long time since I enjoyed a meal this much. I've eaten fancier food, but nothing as interesting or as much fun as this. Go and have a look for yourself, order the wings and the burger, enjoy yourself and see if you laugh as much as we did.

The Landgate Bistro, Rye Scallop Festival Weekend

Oh no! Surely not more scallops? I'm afraid so, folks! Last ones for a while, I should think, I'm pretty much scalloped-out!

Our second visit to Rye this Festival, this time to a little bistro we know quite well already on The Landgate. If you only visit one place during the festival week, make it this one. As well as their usual a la carte and set lunch menus they offer a special choice of scallop dishes available as starters or main courses. There were eight of us in the party for lunch, which must have been a bit of a challenge on the last weekend of the festival as the little dining room was full, and indeed our meal was not a swift one, but that was fine with us. The food came out hot and everyone got theirs at the same time.

The Landgate Bistro is a delightful little place on the very edge of Rye, essentially made out of two small cottages. The set lunch menu is excellent value at £12.95 for two or £15.95 for three courses. I recommend the potted rabbit with homemade piccalilli and sour dough toast, it is tasty, light, and different enough from the norm to be worth a try even if you're not keen on rabbit. It is pretty to look at and absolutely delicious!

The jewel in the crown here during the festival is the trio of scallops starter with fortified wines to accompany them. This includes a scallop in red & green pepper sauces with a glass of Madeira, scallop tartar with lime juice and tomato with a glass of oak chipped white port, and a bacon wrapped scallop on caramelised onion with a glass of pale sherry. Our waiter made sure we all understood which glass went with which scallop, this turned out to be important because each was chosen very carefully to match and enhance the various flavours of the dish (which were quite distinct, but came together very nicely). You could order three of any of these as a starter in its own right, or six with a selection of seasonal vegetables as a main course.

We thought we'd be a bit unconventional in our ordering, which can't have helped the kitchen but they took it entirely in their stride. Some of us ordered the trio, then a starter, then a main course, but some ordered just a single dish from the light-bites section of the menu. Can you guess which group I was part of?

We liked the sound of the potted rabbit, so we slotted it neatly between the trio and our mains, and this proved to be an excellent decision. Now, I like piccalilli, I like rabbit, I like toast, so I was clearly onto a winner here. It was as light as a feather, creamy but meaty, and topped with a sweet sauce a lot like hoi-sin. Lovely!

Between us we ordered an awful lot of scallops on Saturday. Several of us (me included) chose the main course versions of the scallop starters, but my Mum went for Romney Marsh lamb done in a Moroccan style with couscous, Anthony had fish cakes, and Bex went for fillet of sea bass so there was quite a variety of flavours, colours and textures on the table at once. Needless to say, the scallops were perfect, the bass had crispy skin and lovely white flesh and the lamb was just pink enough to be really moist.

I'm sure there were lots of different deserts on the menu, but I declined the chance to look as I decided I was quite full. It therefore came as a bit of a surprise to hear myself about a minute later agreeing to share a chocolate brownie with pouring cream! The waiter told us that the brownies were made to order so there would be about a twelve minute wait for them, which suited me just fine. Let me tell you, I'd wait an awful lot longer again for a chocolate brownie as good as that. It was supposed to come with brandy soaked plums, but they had run out of plums and were serving it with kirsch soaked black cherries instead. I don't think it's over stating it to say that this was the best brownie I've ever tasted. Gooey in the middle, a light crust on the outside, rich, light, tasty....mmmmm! Wish I'd ordered my own, to be honest.

Still my favourite place to eat in Rye then, The Landgate Bistro looked after us very well indeed. We weren't rushed at all, despite being the last table to leave. Not the most formal restaurant, but very welcoming, very friendly, and well known for serving excellent local produce. We'll be back soon, I'm sure.

My birthday day out in London.

Saturday was my birthday, so Dee took me up to London for lunch, shopping and a good mooch round the West End. We caught the high speed train to St Pancras, then jumped a tube to Piccadilly Circus. At this point I still wasn't sure where we were going or what was in store as Dee had done a great job of keeping me in the dark. We walked round the corner into Haymarket, then turned right into the start of Jermyn Street. Jermyn St is probably best known for its tailors and shirt makers, but there are a number of cute little arcades, shoemakers and cafés as well. Well worth a stroll along if you're in the area and fancy seeing how the other half live!

At the far end of Jermyn St is Franco's, a very upmarket Italian bistro and café where Dee had booked us a table for lunch. We were greeted just inside the door by the hostess, who knew it was my birthday from the booking and made just the right amount of fuss of us as she showed us to our table in the main dining room. The restaurant has a very light, modern take on the 1920's look, with beautifully dressed tables and plenty of space for diners. Much of this space is achieved by the careful and clever seating arrangement, where no diners are required to sit facing a wall. We were sat against one side wall on a table that was a generous size for two, and would have been a cozy fit for four, but because we were sat next to each other we were both looking into the room, rather than opposite each other as is usually the case.

We had a glass of limoncello each to warm us up a bit while we chose from the menu (which had a slightly retro feel and look to it, although the dishes themselves were modern takes on Italian classics). Without having discussed it first, it turned out that both of us had decided to order things we wouldn't usually choose. And yes, before you ask, there were scallops on the menu and no, I didn't order them! I figure we'll have our fill of scallops at the Rye Scallop Festival at the end of the month. Prices ranged from around £8 to £20 for starters and from £16 to £30 for main courses which in Kent would be quite pricey, but here in the West End of London is remarkably good for high quality food. There was a very well balanced selection of dishes to choose from for each course, with seafood very much in evidence along side pigeon, beef, veal and lamb dishes. The waiting staff were almost all Italian, which is usually a good sign, and they were clearly keen for us to enjoy our meals. We ordered our starters, a lobster, cous cous and black truffle dish for me and beef carpaccio for Dee, and chose a bottle of 2006 Barbera to wash everything down with from a very good wine list indeed. My dish was packed with chunks of lobster and had plenty of black truffle shavings on top, like all the best Italian dishes the flavours were simple and elegant. Dee's beef just melted in the mouth, and the pepper flavours from the rocket salad and the truffle shavings were balanced by parmesan shavings and really high quality, wafer thin slices of lean beef.

We both went for really traditional main courses, pasta for Dee and risotto for me. Dee followed my lead from the starter and had lobster linguini. Like all good Italian restaurants, Franco's makes all its pasta fresh every day and it really shows. The linguini was cooked to perfection, just the right side of al-dente with enough bite left in it to give good mouth-feel, and packed with flavour. There was no shortage of lobster meat here either, and with a little very light tomato and pepper sauce to pull everything together the whole dish was perfect. My Atlantic prawn and lime risotto was absolutely delicious too, but was a very different type of dish indeed. If I'm absolutely honest, I couldn't pick out the lime at all, although it is possible that the lime is just there to stop the dish becoming too stodgy and if that's the case then it certainly worked. There were very few pieces of prawn, but the prawn flavour ran deep through each mouthful and was strong on the finish. It was one of those dishes that you're disappointed that there isn't more when you get to the end, even though the portion size was generous. As is often the case with risotto, it wasn't much to look at but is certainly made up for that in taste and texture.

By now the restaurant was about three quarters full and the atmosphere was building nicely. There were several tables of Italian diners (another good sign!) and some young family groups as well as several other tables of two. There were plenty of members of staff around, so the dining room filling up had no impact on our service and each passing waiter glanced towards us and our table to make sure we were ok. Dee ordered tiramisu to finish, which turned out to be about the size of half a house brick but light as a feather. The coffee liqueur in the sponge base was far from overpowering, and the sheer volume of cream meant that Dee was unable to finish it. After a long and agonising internal debate, I chose the chocolate torta caprese with home made pistachio ice cream for desert over affogato (a shot of espresso poured over vanilla ice cream), which turned out to be a mistake. Torta caprese is a sort of dry, dense sponge cake, a bit like a dry brownie. This one was a little too dry for me and the tiny ball of ice cream did little to change that despite being delicious because the whole thing was smothered in icing sugar so thick that I had to tap it off each fork full before I could eat it. Such a shame, because up to that point the food had been excellent. The presentation was spot on throughout, with my torta served on a glass dish decorated with piped chocolate saying "Happy birthday", a lovely little touch.

We ordered tea for Dee, a strong cappuccino for me, and a plate of petit fours to finish off. Tea in restaurants is such a hit and miss affair that Dee's expectations weren't high, particularly as the Italians are better known for coffee, so it came as a lovely surprise when the pot of tea that arrived was just right. This cheered me right up, because if the tea was that good I had high hopes of a really good cappuccino and I wasn't disappointed. Strong, rich, full of flavour, what a way to end a meal. Another slight stumble though, as the petit fours did not arrive with the drinks. We reminded the waiter, who was most apologetic and rushed off to sort some out for us. We finished our drinks, and still no petit fours. The maitre d' was quite embarrassed, particularly as it was her that took the order in the first place. So much so that she made sure they weren't on the bill, but put a selection in a little box for us to take home.

All in all, we had a wonderful lunch that was packed full of simple flavours and interesting textures excellently prepared. The presentation was excellent, the restaurant itself was delightful (and if you eat from the set lunch menu, very reasonably priced indeed!) and but for one or two tiny things, our meal would have been perfect. As it was, it was the best Italian meal I have had outside of Italy itself, and better than many I have had inside.

The Neville Bull in Birling

We went in search of a new country pub to try at lunchtime today and stumbled across a potential winner! Birling village looks like a typical Kentish village, and the Neville Bull looks like a typical Kentish pub, until you get inside. I've never seen a more eclectic mixture of flags, pictures, ornaments, samplers, bits & bobs and goodness only knows what in one place before!

The bar is filled with a variety of furniture, including a big green leather sofa and a mixture of old dining tables, chairs and benches. Every surface is covered with nick-nacks and every flat wall has a picture or two on it. It could be overwhelming but is actually very charming. There is a real focus on local produce, even behind the bar. There was Kentish cider, wine and beer on offer, including a pale ale brewed in Birling village itself. It doesn't get much more local than that! Unfortunately I didn't discover until we were leaving that they offer a "beer bat", a third of a pint of each of the real ales on offer for those who have trouble choosing. Even the fruit juices we're Kentish.

As well as the main menu there was a fairly large selection of specials written on blackboards in the bar. We ordered two starters to share between the three of us, and it's a good job we didn't choose one each because the portion sizes were very generous indeed. We shared a whole baked Camembert with a basket of about half a loaf of hand cut fresh bread (a starter for one person? A whole cheese! Really???) and a portion of eight large tempura prawns with soy and chilli dips. The prawns were delicious, hot and crispy, but the Camembert was a bit disappointing to be honest. It hadn't been baked enough, so it wasn't runny enough to dip the bread in so we asked them to put it back in again for a while. Unfortunately whatever they did to it made it hotter also changed the texture to something akin to an omelette.

Mum and I both chose the steak & kidney pudding from the specials board, while Dee chose the chicken pie from the main menu. Both came with vegetables and chips, which turned out to be a huge dish of cabbage with bacon and cream sauce, a second huge dish of carrots and peas, and a third huge dish of thick, crispy chips. Probably enough of six, and we certainly came nowhere near finishing them. The puddings were fantastic...about a pound of steak and kidney in a shell of suet pudding that was just the right mixture of light & soft on the inside and lightly crisp on the outside. Ridiculously too much for one person, and again, neither of us managed to finish ours. Dee's chicken pie was not really a pie, in that it was actually a bowl of chicken stew with a puff pastry lid. This seems to be the norm for pub pies at the moment, and it's a great shame because you can't beat a real pie.

Unfortunately I can't tell you about the deserts because we were so full we didn't come very close to finishing the main course. What we had was delicious, traditional pub food in a friendly pub with an open fire and a warm welcome, but like the ornaments there was far too much of it. I'm certain we'll go back there, but we won't eat for a couple of days in preparation!