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Apologies for the lack of food pictures - the beautiful
candle-lit atmosphere meant they didn't come out! |
I must admit that, having walked past this little place
numerous times (it’s about sixty seconds from our flat), I rather thought it
was just another gastropub – albeit one with a good reputation. But popping in
for dinner the other day, I was pleased to discover that this is completely
wrong. Although the menu is impressive, stuffed with tantalizing ingredients,
the atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming, with friends catching up at the bar
and extended families taking over the bigger tables. Restaurant manager Rob is
keen to make this a local pub that just happens to also serve great food.
And boy, does it. I scraped my plate clean through three
courses, all of them gorgeous. You’ll have to forgive me for gushing, but this
was genuinely one of the best meals I’ve had in quite a while…
To start, I chose pan-fried scallops with crispy parma
ham. The delicate flavour of scallops can sometimes be bland, but in this dish,
combined with the saltiness of the parma ham and deep-fried parsnip crisps, and
the sweet fruity flavour of the apple and celeriac salad, it was perfect. The
addition of fresh coriander really made the dish for me – it was an unexpected
flavour, with the rest of the ingredients, but added a bit of freshness and
zing to the whole dish.
For the main course, I chose a confit duck leg, so tender
it just fell apart under my fork, served with red cabbage cooked in mulled wine
spices, the ideal counterpoint to such a rich fatty meat. I’m not generally one
for extravagant presentation, but I must say that this dish looked so pretty
when it arrived that I almost didn’t want to disturb it – curled wisps of
vegetable crisp piled up on top of the duck and cascading down like tendrils of
ribbon.
By the time it came to the dessert course, we were
flagging a bit, but we couldn’t resist the gorgeous confections on offer, so we
shared a Baileys crème brulee served with chocolate chip cookies. I’m a sucker
for a crème brulee, but I wasn’t sure how the cookies were going to work until
the dish arrived – I’d been imagining something crisp and crumbly, but the
cookies were actually stuffed with chocolate and nicely chewy. They complemented
the rich and creamy brulee beautifully – a bit like having cookies with a glass
of milk.
The menu changes regularly, but if these three dishes are
anything to go by, you can count on a fabulous meal regardless. There’s a set
lunch menu with a bargain three courses for just £15, and coming soon, steak
night, mussels night, and burger night – so there’s really no excuse not to
check this place out. And considering it’s just a minute’s walk away, you’ll
probably see us in there…
