I wish our village pub served such good food. And this is a proper pub – not a restaurant in a building that was once a pub. So, there’s a biggish room for drinkers, with another smaller room, nicely set out for eating. The dining room dates to 1498 (that’s not a typo). It’s one of those old, cold buildings so, even though it was August, a log fire had been lit. Nice touch.
It’s a very short menu. Just two dishes at each course. You understand the need for this when you realise that Richard Johns works on his own in the kitchen. And these are generally good dishes – elevated pub food if you will. Several notches elevated at that.
So, to start, there’s a slice of toasted brioche, topped with a generous portion of duck liver parfait. Slices of caramelised orange provide a spin on the classic duck and orange combo. For the other plate, there was treacle cured salmon and king prawns. Alongside, an apple and fennel salad, given a “coronation” dressing. The curry flavour of the dressing just didn’t hit the bullseye but everything else was really nice. Shame that the dressing detracted from it.
The seafood theme continued with a thick fillet of cod, poached in butter and given a scattering of grated truffle. A perfect bit of fish cookery. Alongside there’s wild mushrooms, spinach and truffled chips. It’s all brought together with a green peppercorn sauce. A plate of what you might call “pork two ways” was a big lad. A ten ounce chop, with a thick rim of fat and a bit of crackling. And a few slices of moist fillet. There’s fondant spuds, tenderstem broccoli and a spoonful of cider and apple puree. They should bottle the red wine sauce. It’s everything you want from a sauce. A deep, savoury flavour, glossy and neither watery or gloopy. I liked it. A lot.
Only one of us wanted dessert. A passion fruit and raspberry pavlova which was OK but needed much more fruit to balance the large, very sweet meringue.
I don’t often mention drinks in reviews but it’s worth a mention that they have a decent selection of English wines, including a Yorkshire fizz which my companion in life enjoyed. Back in the day when I drank alcohol, I used to enjoy Theakston’s Old Peculier. Well, now there’s Nowt Peculier – their alcohol free version which tastes just like I remember the “real thing”.
