Lee suggested we try a new pub for our date day. We’ve driven passed this place countless times but never actually made it inside. We arrived at a tiny car park but roadside parking further away. As you walk in, the bar is right in front of you, and a single row of seating surrounds the bar. As you walk around, more seating is available. There is additional seating outside, but as we’re in the depths of January, we sat inside and were greeted by the manager, who gestured for us to sit very close to the bar. (Something I regretted as it felt like we couldn’t have a private conversation when we sat at our table). We perused the menus as we ordered our drinks. The pricing is in line with a gastro pub, and from what we had seen on their limited social media, the food looked good.
There wasn’t a dessert menu on the table, so we opted for a shared starter and a main meal. For starters, we went for the focaccia flatbread with pesto and garlic buttes; it was tasty, not what I was expecting with focaccia swimming in butter, but that’s not usually a problem. It was edible, but I think it could have been much better. For mains, I chose the ribs, and lee went for the house special of haddock and chips.
My ribs were unusual; they were a mess on the plate and mushy, so mushy you couldn’t tell what was meat or little shards of bone until you were eating it. I’m not sure I’ve ever had to sieve through a rib soup to find the cartilage. The source was quite sharp for bbq, with lots of vinegar and lacking the signature sweet cameral stickiness. The chips were ok, nothing fantastic, bog-standard frozen ones.
Lee’s main wasn’t much better. Unfortunately, his haddock was well-cooked but had a reasonably fishy smell. His chips were the same as mine, but his tartar sauce was also vinegary. The food was edible; it was more in line with the chain restaurants that reheat, not a gastro pub cooking with some dignity. We were fed but not wowed; we won’t be returning or recommending it. Unfortunately, this place is so overpriced for the experience we had. Disappointing.
