Location: 129 Chesterton Road, Cambridge, CB4 3BA

Web site: http://www.theportlandarms.co.uk/mbbs2/

Telephone number: 01223 357268

Date of visit: 16 May 2012

Approx. cost per head:

Comments on wine list/beer:

Review:

In the current climate the local pub is closing at a ridiculously high rate. I love a local pub & so do not like to see a former favourite become a block of flats.
However in reality we have to face the fact that we are not only in a recession & therefore money for leisure is not as free as it once was but also the fact is big business now rule our world meaning the smaller business is left to compete.
Last night was my first & last visit to the Portland Arms on Chesterton Road in Cambridge. Now, bear in mind I’m 43 & this was a Wednesday evening. I am not an 18 yr old making a nuisance of myself on a Friday or Saturday night. I can state with no doubt that I have never been spoken to as disgustingly as I was last night by the so called landlady of the Portland Arms. I am more disgruntled by this because it simply wasn’t warranted & in the current climate this ‘lady’ is deluded if she feels her attitude makes a great place to be or would ever encourage repeat custom.
The Portland Arms competes directly with the Old Spring – a great pub just across the road serving lovely home-made food, great wine, has a big garden & is lovely & clean inside, there is also the Boathouse with a large outside terrace & views overlooking the River Cam & the Tivoli if you fancy cheap & cheerful.
The Portland on the other hand has not been updated since the 1800s & certainly hasn’t had a clean since then! The fact that it was empty is no surprise considering the landlady’s attitude. If you choose to go into the hospitality industry it is simply not acceptable to view human beings (who pay hard earned cash for what you are offering) as vile creatures. I have absolutely nothing good to say about the Portland arms & would bet good money on the building becoming  flats within a year – it has nothing to offer, no parking, no charm, every table was sticky, the ladies toilets were vandalised (no seat, no lock, no paper etc). Then there’s landlady Hannah who can verbally deliver a punch in the face then stomp off feeling she’s won. Sadly Hannah, there are other far better places to spend money than the sticky, broken, grotty Portland Arms – RIP the local pub!

Jenny

Address:  Church Street, Ardington , Oxon OX12 8QA

Parking:  Car park round the side

Telephone: 01235 833254

Website: www.boarsheadardington.co.uk

Date of visit: 16 May 2012

Costs:  set lunch £14.50 for 2 courses. Most dishes are under £10 at lunch time. Menu is more complex in the evening – allow £20 plus for 2 courses

Wines and beer: Hook Norton and Top Totty on tap at £3.50 a pint. Normal pubby wine list, reasonably priced and nothing special. There is a large array of wines that you can have by the glass from around £5

Likes and dislikes: Huge portions, low prices but wines need improving.

Cuisine: Modern  British Cooking

Summary:

Ardington is a pretty little village between Didcot and Wantage. The place is pristine and orderly. Even the signs are of a uniform design – brown lettering on cream background. (Just did some research on this: Most of the “new” part of the village is built on Lord Wantage’s estate. He laid down strict convenant (100 years ago) regarding the look and feel of the place).

The Boar’s Head is around 300 years old and the inside is one long room with the extension laid out for dining but you can eat anywhere. The place is listed in the Michelin Guide, Sawday’s and the AA gave it 2 rosette. An interesting but irrelevant fact is that Sawday’s and AA use an identical photograph of The Boars Head. I checked and cannot  find a similar situation for any other Pub/Restaurant.

There were 2 beers on show, Hook Norton and Wiltshire. I asked for a pint of Wiltshire and was told its finished and the new guest beer is Top Totty – banned in the House of Common for having a bunny girl as the image and the name Top Totty was also seen as derogatory to women. Top Totty has since gained enormous fame and it’s a pretty good pint – blonde bitter.

The lunch menu was chalked up on the beam in front of the bar and it had dishes such as: rollmop, crispy ducks wings with 5 spice salad, bubble and squeak with fried egg, soup with Boars Head bread etc. I settled for the goujons of Haddock  (£8.95) with a side order of skinny chips (£3).

The goujons came as several large of fish lightly bread crumbed and fried with a glass tub of mushy peas. The skinny chips were French fries and came in a large bowl nearly the same size as my main course. It could easily feed three. Both the fish and chips were close to 10/10. The free bread was wonderful and the pieces of fish were presented in an appealing manner.

The meal with two pints – Hook Norton and Top Totty – came to £18.95. Really excellent value. I noticed that the evening menu is much more sophisticated. I need to come back and test it out.

E

Address:  Brightwell Baldwin (off B4009) Nr Watlington, Oxon  OX49 5NP

Parking: car park to the rear of the pub

Telephone: 01491 612497

Website: www.lordnelson-inn.co.uk

Date of visit: 14 May 2012

Costs: set lunch £12.95 for 2 courses.  Around £25 for 2 courses from the a la carte

Wines and beer: Rebellion, Black Sheep at £3.50 a pint. Wines start at under £20 – nothing special. Top red is Chateauneuf du Pepe in a so so year.

Likes and dislikes: Nice place with tip top food. Wine list can do with some improvement.

Cuisine: Modern International – mainly traditional British

Summary:

I have heard a lot about this Pub. It was highly rated by A A Gill (Sunday Times) and is listed in Sawday’s as well as the AA Guide

The Pub is sited in Brightwell Baldwin – a single lane village, opposite the church.

The outside had a light grey painted veranda with tables. Inside are predominantly devoted to dining. There is a large garden to the rear with seats. There is a strange room in the middle of the building under the stairs to the bedroom. It was sort of red and velvety with pictures, settees, curtains  etc . This is very  different from the rest of the 300 year old inn. It reminded me of a Wild West Brothel in a cowboy film.

I sat at a window seat near to a huge roaring fire. As there are glass at the front and rear of the pub, the place is well lit except for the “brothel” under the stairs

Now onto the food and beer. The beer was well kept and at £3.50 a pint, very reasonable.

There is a menu – one sheet – supplemented with specials chalked up on the blackboard. The menu was quite interesting, offering baguettes from £6.95. One of the filling was bacon, egg and black pudding. The starters ranged from tempura of baby monk fish to pan fried scallops. Mains range from fish and chips (triple cooked!), steaks to stir fried vegetables and noodles with blackbean sauce. There was duck a la orange (£18) on the menu that I was tempted to try.

In the end, I settled for 2 starters which I believe is a great way to test the place out.

I had English Asparagus (£9), followed by pigeon breasts with braised chicory, bacon and black pudding (£8.50).

I was first offered a few slices of very fresh baguettes (free). The asparagus – about 8 long stemmed and fairly thick – were fried and it came with bacon, shavings of parmesan cheese and streaks of balsamic vinegar. The asparagus were still firm and there was a bit of heat with it – chilli oil? The asparagus were very nice. Unfortunately, one of them was a bit stringy.

The other starter came in a large bowl with chunks of crispy black pudding – sliced and then quartered, two pigeon breasts still slightly bloody in the middle and very good bacon. The chicory was very soft. All this came in a lovely deglazed brown sauce.

Well, I was impressed with the quality and quantity. The only down side was that I was some 10 feet away from a table of four (65 plus) that were very loud. They were discussing who married whom recently – I heard every word. One of the woman’s nice married a French Jew but she couldn’t bring herself round to saying it. Instead she said that she married a Frenchman whose religion does not allow him to go anywhere on a Saturday. May be he is a relative of the late Baron Phillipe Rothchild.

E

Address: The Bridge, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 2LP

Telephone number: 01491 575782

Website: http://www.leander.co.uk/clubhouse-menus.asp

Date of last visit : 28 April 2010

Date of this visit: 9 May 2012

Cuisine: Modern British

Wines and beers: Brakspear on tap at £3.20, Good wine list at a reasonable price.

Costs: Around £20 for a two course meal – under £20 in the bar/drawing room and over £20 in the restaurant

Note: Members only but they are on an recruitment drive for new members and non members can hire the restaurant for functions.

Likes and dislikes: Wonderful view, very reasonable prices

Summary:

Leander is one of the oldest club in the UK and the oldest rowing club in the world.

The club house is situated by the bridge – on the Reading/Maidenhead side – and there is a large car park next to the club house.

They have a formal restaurant and a bar. The bar (drawing room) serves starters, one plated food (fish and chips, minute steak, cumberland sausages etc all for around £10) and sandwiches whilst the restaurant (sits 80) serves a set meal and a la carte.

I have been here several times and the food here is excellent. Reservation for the restaurant is recommended as the restaurant may not be available because of various functions – it is for hire for corporate functions and weddings – they are licensed to officiate weddings – to non members.

On the day I went, I had whitebait (£6.25) and a couple of pints of Brakspear (£3.20 a pint) in the drawing room.

The whitebait came on a rectangular plate (huge portion) with a lovely leaf salad and a pot of mayonnaise. There were paprika dust on the side of the plate to enhance the appeal. The whitebait is top class but not nearly as good as my two top places – The Hand and Flower and The Five Mile House – because the mayonnaise was a bit light. If it was served with chunky tartare sauce, it would have been right up there. The table next to me had haddock, chips and peas – at just over £10, it is easily the best looking and value fish and chips I have seen for a long time. The chips here are chunky chips.

Dress code is smart casual but the interesting fact is that there are two types of clients. The over 65s – all in blazer and club tie (pink) and the under 65s in open neck shirts and jeans (smart jeans – no worn out bits).

E

Address:  Shiplake Row, Binfield Heath, Oxon RG9 4DP

Parking: Car park in front of Restaurant

Telephone: 0118 9403 673

Website:  http://www.orwellsatshiplake.co.uk/

Date of last visit: 28 September 2011

This visit: 3 May 2012

Costs: £10 for a 2 course set lunch. Allow £20 plus for 2 courses from the a la carte

Wines and beer: Brakspear on tap, pretty good wine list but at 3-4X mark up.

Likes and dislikes: Wine list has second wines of class growth in questionable years. Food is excellent and good value.

Cuisine: Modern British

Summary:

This is my second visit to Orwells. This time I came with 4 ex-colleagues.

We started with scallops (£14.50) and smoked pheasant egg (£8.00). Lets start with the smoked pheasant egg, this is a boiled egg on bacon and fried bread. The catch is that it came in a glass dome filled with smoke thus creating an aroma when the dome is lifted and infusing the food with a smoky taste. C who had it raved on about it. The scallops were queen scallops on a rocket salad with streaks of jam, balsamic vinegar and a puree of parsnip. It was both visually stunning and very tasty.

For main, C and P had the 10oz ribeye steak (£24) whilst R had the rump of lamb with sweetbread (£25). They were all specials of the day. All were received really well. The steaks were served with home made béarnaise sauce or bloody mary ketchup. All sauces were presented in little jam pots – similar but bigger than your airline jam pots.

I had the home made linguini with vegetables (£14) whilst my friend – “I” – had the burger (£15). The burger  in terms of presentation was unbelievable. It sat on a wooden board – the steaks also came on  wooden boards  – with twirls of battered onions etc.

My linguine was ok but nothing special – don’t get me wrong, it’s just that the chef had worked miracles on everything else .

We had a bottle of Albarino (£32) and a bottle of Pesquera Crianza 2008 (£52). Both wines were pretty good. Now a  few words about the wine list. The Bordeaux list had several 2^nd or even 3^rd  wines from a Bordeaux “grand cru”  in a questionable year. In my view this is a con. Years ago – before the mid 90s – second wines were only made in a good year. In order to keep the quantity down and the prices up, second wines were made. These days, second wines are made from the discards of the first wine. In a questionable year, the grapes for the first wine are highly selected in order to keep up  the quality and price. Therefore  all the discarded grapes are pushed into the second wine. In aother word – rubbish!  I really do not like to see second wines in a bad year being sold for above £50 in a restaurant. I noticed that this is now done on a regular basis by many restaurants including The Hind Head (Heston Blumrnthall). Come on Sommeliers, do your job. Source decent wines not brands.

Coffee were £3 each for capucino, expresso, filter etc,

Overall, the food was fantastic and the service exemplary. All my friends claimed that they will be coming back – that includes me.

E

Address:  Main Road, Ombersley, Worcs  WR9 0EW

Parking: The Pub has its own large car park

Telephone: 01905 620 252

Website: http://www.thecrownandsandys.co.uk/

Date of visit: 30 April 2012

Costs: Set lunch £12 for 2 courses

Wines and beer: Timothy Taylor Landlord or Shropshire  Lad at £3.60 a pint. Didn’t see the wine list but it’s the usual new world screw tops behind the bar.

Likes and dislikes: A wide ranging menu that caters to all. Very reasonable prices.

Cuisine: Pub food – cosmopolitan modern menu

Summary:

The Crown and Sandy’s has recently re-opened after new ownership and refurbishment.

It is a lovely white building – “modern” in comparison with the other “Shakespearian” buildings in the village.

It now offers food in the bar or restaurant – complete with elegant chairs and table cloths.

I settle for the set lunch and ordered the gravlax followed by gammon and chips.

The gravalax was several pieces of salmon on a nice salad with a mustard dressing. It looked and tasted good.

The gammon was a reasonable size piece and came with peas and fat chips served in a little pot. The fat chips here is advertised as fat chips and it was the best fat chips I have eaten for years. The outside was crisp and the inside was like mashed potato. It was also significantly better than the so called triple cooked chips that were served in several establishments this year. Thank god someone is being honest for a change. The gammon was fine.

At £12, it was a tremendous lunch. The Shropshire Lad (beer) was ok but nothing special.

E

Address:  Corse Lawn, Nr Gloucester, Glos GL19 4LZ

Parking: Car park on site

Telephone: 01452 780771

Website: http://www.corselawn.com/home.aspx

Date of visit: 1 May 2012

Costs:  Set meal £29.95 (lunch), £33.50 dinner. A la carte around £30 for 2 courses

Wines and beer: Excellent wine list, very low mark-up. This is probably the best wine list (quality, price etc) I have ever come across in the UK

Likes and dislikes: Restaurant – no jeans or T shirts. Bistro – casual. Food and wine – top marks!

Cuisine: International

Summary:

This hotel (2 restaurants) has been in the hands of the Hine Family (Cognac) since the late 60s. Baba Hine (proprietress and formally chef now runs the front of house). The hotel and restaurant are listed in several Guides – Michelin, Sawday’s, The Good Food Guide etc. However, in the Michelin Guide, Corse Lawn is listed under Tewkesbury. The hotel is on the  B4211 between Tewkesbury and Gloucester.

It’s a lovely Queen Ann house with furniture and décor to match.

The restaurant have tables well spaced apart with tables cloths. On the night we went, there were only  2 tables occupied in the restaurant whilst the Bistro was fullish. This may have something to do with the dress codes.

The set meal  was items from the a la carte. My friends all went for the set meal but I went for the a la carte as I spotted calf’s brains on it. I have had calf brains before at Gavin’s on Baker Street. It was all right but there were bits of cartilage with my dish. I thought that I should try it again.

For starter I ordered wild mushroom vol au vent (£9.95) whilst the other had the liver parfait, the fish soup and moules. My vol au vent was square shaped and came with a lovely brown cream sauce and plenty of horn of plenty, chanterelle etc. This is as good as it gets. My friends were all quite complimentary about their starters.

Next, I had the calf’s brain (£18.95) with assorted vegetables (£2.95). This was a total triumph. The texture is like tofu and it taste like sweet bread – no cartilage. This was served with a heavily reduced sauce and sides of  potato puffs(deep fried mashed potato with a profiterole outside, little tartlets with a cream and leek filling, red cabbage and sprouting broccoli. The others who had the set meal – –  2X Chinese spiced belly of pork, loin of venison – had the same side vegetables . I was informed that all their main courses were all excellent.

For dessert, S had the cheese platter – 12 different types of cheese were on offer – whilst J had the panna cotta with rhubarb.

All this was washed down with a bottle of 98 Ch L’Enclos (£73.30 in a restaurant !!!!). I know that Robert Parker does not rate this château but the wine was everything you want out of a 10 year old middle of the road Pomerol.

The wine list here is phenomenal and the mark-up is next to nothing. They also carry an exceptional range of Hine Cognanc.

I rate this place highly and I am coming back  – and stay at least one night – so that I can sample the wine and brandy properly.

E

Address:  Kelston Road, Little Bedwyn, Marlborough, SN8 3JP

Parking: outside on the road

Telephone: 01672 870871

Website: http://theharrowatlittlebedwyn.com/

Date of visit: 27 April 2012

Costs: From £30 (set lunch) Allow £50 for 2 courses (a la carte). Tasting menu £50, another £25 when paired with 4 wines.

Wines and beer:  Astonishing wine list, a lot of top wines available by the glass, pairing by the glass with most courses is available. Very reasonable mark up.

Likes and dislikes: Top marks for set up – proper hand towels in the toilet, table cloths, spacing, ambience etc – food, wines and service. Need I say more.

Cuisine: Modern British – Haute Cuisine

Summary:

The Harrow is position in a small village sandwiched between Hungerford and Marlborough. It was AA’s restaurant of the year in 2011, has a Michelin star and is highly rated in The Good Food Guide.

The place is not easy to find as all guides list it just as Little Bedwyn but then Little Bedwyn has several streets and the postal code covered an area – sat nev will just direct you to the area rather than to the restaurant. It’s situated about 30 meters from the High Street end of Kelston Road but that is useless information as the street signs are not easily visible.

The place is divided into two dining rooms with a total capacity of about 40 covers.

I was impressed with the place as I walked in, it had nice leather chairs with high backs and pristine table cloths. There were about 20 cases of Fulton Road lining the corridor on the way to the loo. On the other side of the corridor, the walls were lined with all sorts of accolades.

Fulton Road is a snooty little winery in Central Ortega. It is famous for its Pinot Noir and is rated as one of New Zealand’s top Pinot. I drove there for a tasting from Queenstown in 2005. Their Pinot had a raspberry under taste. It is fairly good wine but unfortunately, very few NZ wines are made for laying down as they all have screw tops. Even Gibson Valley used screw top for their top reserva (nearly £80 a bottle for the 2001 in 2005)

I went for the tasting menu (£50) paired with wine (another £25).

This was what I have had to eat:

Gazpacho

This was served in a Villeroy and Boch coffee cup on a wavy dish. What was interesting was that they have introduced water melon into the recipe and so you get a spicy and sweet taste – very interesting. I am going to copy this.

Fresh Shrimp Roll – Ch Lestrille Capmartin Bordeaux Blanc 2009

This was in fact a prawn cocktail made with a chilli jam sauce wrapped in soft rice paper. I am not sure if it worked as the texture is the same – wrap, shrimps etc. The shrimps were also a bit tasteless and I think that if the chef had used brown shrimps, it would have worked better. It was served in a long dish, similar to a corn on the cob dish with streaks of chilli jam.

Bordeaux whites tend to be a blend of sauvignon blanc and semillion. The blend wors by taking away the “gooseberry” taste of sauvignon blanc and make the wine less acid. This wine works well with cold seafood.

Wild Line Caught Sea Bass – Heggies Eden Valley Chardonnay 2010

Let’s start with the wine. It was very fresh and is probably one of these Australian Chardnnay that had never seen an oak barrel. I am not sure that I like this type of Chardonnay as it is made for immediate consumption. Give me an old fashion White Burgundy (Chardonnay) any time.

The sea bass was a decent size chunk of fish. This was fried properly so the skin is crisp. It was served on a creamy sauce made with morel mushroom and wild garlic. To add to the visual presentation, pieces of wilted spinach were added. The morels were sliced horizontally. This was a top dish.

Roe Venison with black pudding – Yalumba The Cigar Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

I like Yalumba wines and is a fan of the signature series. The wine served here is another one of these designer wines for early drinking – no wood. At best, the wine is around 24 months old but it had no tannin. The nose was good and it was quite soft like a merlot.

The venison were three little cylinders of meat served red in the middle. It came sitting on a piece of crisp black pudding that sat on a rosti potato and under this was a pile of carrots, peas and courgettes. Gravy was served on the side. It was amazing to look at as the dish came as a stack. The carrots and courgettes were cut into little round balls, the same size as the peas. The gravy was juice from a roast and was not over reduced. Top marks.

Pre- Dessert : Boiled Egg

This is a bit of Heston Blumenthall. The egg is made from mash mellow and the yolk (inside), some form of mango custard. The toast on the side was a piece of short bread. It tasted all right – please note that I am not a dessert fan.

Mini Chocolate Platter – Berton Vineyard Botrytis Semillon 2009

This was an amazing dish with a “radioactive logo” smeared onto the plate which the bits of dessert sat on. The smears were Chantilly cream, raspberry purée and mango purée. I had brownie, cake, milk, lollipop, nugget – all made from some form of chocolate and a round ball of raspberry sorbet. They were all  very good.

The Australian Botrytis Semillion was clean and sweet, very similar to a Sauternes. However, most Australian Botrytis  do not have the depth of flavour and the concentration that a French Sauternes will provide.

For £50 + £25, I think that it was very reasonable. The food was very good except the shrimp roll. Service was also tip top and the bread was excellent. I only wish that they offered a more expensive pairing as an alternative as they did have some serious wines by the glass.

E

Address:  50 Bell Street, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon RG9 2BG

Parking: Park in public car parks .

Telephone:01491 571115

Website: www.leparisienrestaurant.co.uk

Date of visit: 24 April 2012

Costs: Set lunch £12.50 for 2 courses, £16.50 for 3 courses, a la carte  – approx £30 for 2 courses

Wines and beer: Short but pretty good wine list with a reasonable mark-up.

Likes and dislikes: Excellent petit place serving traditional cuisine, really good value set lunch

Cuisine: French

Summary:

This is a small restaurant on Bell Street serving traditional French Cuisine. There is room for 20 at the front and room for another 20 in a private dining room at the back of the restaurant. It is listed in the 2012 Michelin Guide.

On the day I went, half the tables were taken and a French lady ran the front of house whilst the chef (one person) ran the kitchen. The tables were nicely set out with pristine linen.

I have walked pass this restaurant many times whilst I was wandering around Henley town centre. The menu looked pretty authentic and most of the class dishes were listed.

On the day I went, I tried the set lunch and was pleased to learn that items on the set lunch were drawn from the a la carte and an identical size portion was served.

For the set lunch, I ordered gratin of potato with lardoons and comte cheese. For main, I had the Boeuf Bourgogne.  I also ordered a half bottle of Ch de Pribarnon (Bandol) 2001 priced at £18.

The starter was excellent and with it came a small basket of bread baked on the premise. The beef were thick chunks cut from the short rib. It was cooked in a red wine reduction till the meat was just about falling apart. With it came mashed potato and a spring onion and a thick slice of purple carrot. The potato had been pushed through a ricer and so it was really fine and creamy.

The Bandol was an excellent wine and it is very rare to find anyone serving country wine over 10 years old at a reasonable price.

In conclusion, it was a very enjoyable meal. This place serves genuine French food as you would find in a good restaurant in France. It is traditional food rather than haute cuisine.

E

Address:  Chapel Row, Bucklebury, Berks RG7 6FD

Parking: Outside

Telephone: 01189 712 326

Website: http://www.thebladeboneinn.com/

Date of visit: 19 April 2012

Costs: Around £20 for 2 courses

Wines and beer: West Berkshire and Tawny Owl (Somerset) at £3.10 a pint. Interesting wine list at very reasonable mark-ups.

Likes and dislikes: Nice local, clean tables. Food OK but “triple cooked chips”?

Cuisine: Gastropub

Summary:

My friend and ex-colleague J alerted me to this place. She said that the food here is good.

The Bladebone Inn  is not in any guide – as far as I am aware. However, it is situated in Bucklebury – home of Kate Windsor (nee Middleton).  As I drove towards this place, I notice that nearly all the houses have a long drive – £millions.

The inside is divided into 3 parts – bar area with the usual sofa (for trendy pubs), a dining area and a sun lounge. There is also a large garden at the back.

It was quite empty for a Thursday lunch time. Nearly everyone here is dining.

Let’s start with the wine list. Quite a few bottles of interesting wines. The top red is Leoville Barton – a 2^nd growth St Julian. There is no Mouton Rothschild as depicted (blurred) on the web site. However, beware, the wine rack is positioned on the side of the fire place which was lit. It will be all right if they have a high turnover but beware of that bottle that has been around for over a year.

The menu here is also interested. It seemed to cover most European favourites. They also offer sandwiches and snacks. One of the bar snack is a pie with black pudding!

I had fritto misto (£6.50) to start with. Followed by roe deer liver on toast  (£6.50)and a side order of triple cooked chips (£2.50). The fritto misto contained haddock, scallop, squid etc whilst the roe deer liver was served with a devilled mustard sauce on white toast.

Let’s start with the bad bits. The fritto misto was served in a Chinese bamboo steamer on a wooden board. This is the first time I have had deep fried food served in a steamer – is this a bit OTT in terms of presentation? On the same board was a shot glass with mayonnaise and an orange twist. The food and mayo tasted fine. Next, the triple cooked chips were again fat chips without the fissure etc. It was crunchy on the outside but deep inside is still a mouthful of “boiled” potato. All they need to do was to boil the potato was another minute or two, then, rough up the edges. Why can’t they just sell it as fat chips so I can avoid it.

The liver was tender and very tasty and the sauce top notch. But, the liver was not pink – ok, not everyone wants to eat it pink.

Other than the chips, I had a very nice meal, served by very pleasant people. The Tawny Owl was very drinkable.

E