Address: Birdlip (A417) Gloucester GL4 8LA

Telephone number: 01242 870261

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

Date of visit: 25 October 2010

Approximate cost per head: starters all at £5.25; main course around £12.95; desserts all at £4.25; cheese £4.90

Comments on wine list/beer: Short and very good value wine list. Quite a few wines available by the glass. Bottles priced from £11.45 onwards. They even have a Chablis 1er cru (Les Charmes) at £19.95. Beer is mainly from Gloucestershire – Stonehenge (£2.80), Merlin (£2.80) and a few others.

Summary:

On the A417 (A417 and A419 links M5 and M4), there are 4 pubs along A417 for hungry drivers to stop. Three are visible (Air, Balloon, The Golden Heart and The Highwayman) and one is not (Five Mile House). Five Mile house was reviewed in with top marks on 6th October 2010.

This time, I stopped at The Golden Heart which was listed as Pub of the Year (2009) in The Good Pub Guide.

The building is described as several centuries old suggesting that it was built in the 19th Century.

I entered the building and found a roaring wood fire and a couple of cosy bars. The floors were tiled and the menu was written on a huge blackboard. Typical dishes were liver and bacon, lamb shank, rib eye steak, goulash, steak and kidney pudding etc. All meals came with a choice of vegetables, potatoes or garlic bread.

I ordered the steak and kidney pudding (£12.95) as it has been some years since I ate this.

The food came on a huge plate – the pudding was about 3 x the size of the Fray Bentos tinned steak and kidney pudding – do they still sell it? Then, there was a big pile of chips and a plate of mixed vegetables: peas, carrots, cauliflower and cabbage. The chips were really good, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The vegetables still had a bite to it. However, the steak and kidney pudding was disappointing. The pastry outside was fine. The steak pieces were not trimmed enough so one or two pieces of meat still had fat and gristle on it, the kidneys were fine but the gravy within the pudding was thin and weak. In conclusion, not a great pudding but passable.

They also serve sandwiches at around £5 which looked very good.

E

Name of restaurant or pub: Five Mile House

Location: Old Gloucester Rd, Duntisbourne Abbots, Cirencester, GL7 7JR

Web site: www.fivemilehouse.co.uk

Telephone number: 01285 821432

Date of visit: 1 Oct 2009

Approx. cost per head: £20

Comments on wine list/beer: Stick to the beer unless you really want wine

Review:
This is a great place to break your journey between M4 and M5 (via A417). The only problem is that the beers are very interesting and good.

Excellent selection of food served in the various rooms – the place has more rooms than a Hobbit’s burrow. There are tables outside. The food served is Gastropub type of food.

On the day when I was there, I had the home made pate (bit soft in texture) and the whitebait which was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. My friend had brie and cranberry which turned out to be brie on toast with a layer of cranberry jam.

Service was quick and friendly. Starters under £10 and main above £10.

Its not an easy place to find. When you come off the A417, it is on the end of the slip road where the Texaco Garage is sited (From the north). From the south, come off the A417, take first right and then go under the A417 and turn right again.

Eddie – eddie@bottlesandcooks.com