We ended up here by chance due to our original eatery choice being jam packed with a wedding (in the middle of January!), as was
the British Larder when we arrived.
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| The British Larder |
But not a problem, the very friendly waiter/barman assured us of a table if we were willing to wait for an expected 45 minutes, although
I'm sure it was eventually a lot less than that. To be honest it mattered not on what was a chilly January night. With the choice of beers, accompanied by an excellent wine list in the snug and warm atmosphere of this refurbished pub, it was a very affable wait with good friends. It also gave us ample time to look at was an exceptionally mouthwatering menu. Alas the extra time still made the choices difficult.
Unusually for me I went for a vegetarian starter, Red Wine
Poached Pears and Binham Blue Cheese Filo Crisp Tart, Professor Bakers
Pickled Walnuts and I have to say the flavour combination was out of this world and I think Mr Lineker & co should create some crisps with this combination!
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| Obligatory chef's cook book with signature dish on show |
From this I went on to the chefs signature dish, so I was informed, the one that won him second place on Britain's Best Dish. Yep, totally understand that and glad that I wasn't a judge. Pheasant Kiev; Pheasant and Prune on
Horseback, Pheasant Scotch Egg, Truffled Pearl Barley and Roasted
Parsnip, Pickled Blackberries. It may sound a mouthful and yes, I have to say it was, but you just wanted to try everything on the plate and it was all bloody excellent.
The sad thing was that I was so full after my main I could not manage a dessert, even though they all sounded just so good. Two desserts were more then enough for the four of
us to share, but all I was allowed in the end was a small taste of a lovely cranberry mess.
During the
meal I could only hear superlatives from everyone on our table including praise for
the excellent wines even at the lower end of the price scale on the wine
list. Add all this to extremely good service, with a smile, overall
good value and a comfortable and relaxed feel, this was an excellent
place to spend a January night with friends. As usual once we had decided to take a cab home we were the last to leave, tripping over the cleaners on the way out (not quite true as the staff seemed more than happy to leave us chatting).
It was also interesting to note that this restaurant really wants to stick to using local produce even to the extent of asking locals to bring in their own home grown produce for which they were happy to pay for, as you can see by the scales on the bar in the below photo.
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| Bring your own |
More info at
