Address: 21 Bank Street, Malvern, Worcs WR14 2LG

Telepone: 01684 574373

Website: http://www.nagsheadmalvern.co.uk/index.html – nothing except a picture of the pub

Date of last visit: 17 September 2011

Date of this visit: 4 February 2012

Beer and wine: fantastic selection of real ale and whisky. Basic wine list with most wines under £20 a bottle.

Costs: Less than £20 for 2 courses. Most main courses around £12.95. Desserts all priced at £4.20

Cuisine: Pub food

Likes and dislikes: Basic but reasonable  cooking. No chips.

Summary:

I went with a few friends after the Worcester Vs Osprey game.

A befit a decent pub on a Saturday night, The place was packed -bar and restaurant. Please note that this place is a drinker’s paradise with over 10 beers on hand pump and 3 ciders on tap.

We either had black pudding and pear salad or the prawn brochette – both priced at around £7. The black pudding was fine but it was not crisp. I am beginning to suspect that this place do not do fried food.

For main course, I had a blade of beef (£13.50) with carrots and mash. The others had the 10 oz fillet steak (£19.90). To the restaurant’s credit, they were able to produce the steak as bleu, rare and medium. The vegetables that came with it were carrots, broccoli and boulengere potatoes. The steaks were proclaimed as excellent. My beef blade – essentially a stew – was ok but nothing special. In the menu, they go on about slow food and everything is cooked to order. To me, the veg was over cooked. Having eaten here 3 times, I can now confirm that the veg are definitely over cooked and they do not do chips. The menu is also fairly standard – very little change except for fish of the day.

To accompany the meal, we had their most expensive wine – a Mexican 2003 red at £22.50. Very drinkable. Five people, starters and main courses, 3 bottles of wine, several rounds of beer and cider. The total bill came to just over £210.

In conclusion this place is great for beer but I am not so sure about the food. The locals like it.

E

Address: 21 Bank Street, Malvern, Worcs WR14 2LG

Telepone: 01684 574373

Website: http://www.nagsheadmalvern.co.uk/index.html (under construction in Sept 2011)

Date of visit: 17 September 2011

Beer and wine: fantastic selection of real ale and whisky. Basic wine list with most wines under £20 a bottle.

Costs: Less than £20 for 2 courses. Most main courses around £12.95. Desserts all priced at £4.20

Cuisine: Pub food

Likes and dislikes: Basic but reasonable  cooking. No chips on the night I went. Summary:

The Nags Head is a one of the top Pubs in the UK when it comes to Real Ale. It has won awards with Sawdays, The Good Pub Guide and The Good Beer Guide. There are usually around 20 different beers and ciders on offer.

There is a very nice outside patio before you enter the Pub but it is usually dominated by smokers.

There is a separate bar and restaurant on the inside. The place is full of old poster and signs – all  before the second world war – e.g. Birds Custards, Woodbine cigarettes etc.

The restaurant is divided into 2 rooms with wooden tables and chairs. The tables are slightly sticky (could do with a real scrub) and there are no mats or table cloths. You get paper serviettes. On the night I went, the place was full.

There are two menus, normal and specials of the day.

I started with crab cake (£6.80) which came with a salad. The deep fried cake was not greasy. Only downside was that there was more mash potato than crab meat in the one crab cakes that was served up.

Next, I had the liver, kidneys, mushrooms (£13.50). The waitress told me that the liver was served pink. When it came, the liver was well cooked but the kidneys were pink.  My friend had the pork chop cooked in cider with caramelised apples (£12.50).

The liver and kidneys tasted fine and the gravy was nice and rich. With our main meals, we were served a nice selection of vegetables – carrots, beans, cabbage and new potatoes. According to the menu, they do not cook their vegetables to death and if you like over cooked vegetables; you have to ask for it. Well, the veg were cooked beyond al dante but still just about had texture.

We had a bottle of Fleure  2009 (£22.50) between us – very drinkable at a reasonable mark up.

The food was ok but it was just above average.

E

Address: 55 Albert Park Road, Malvern, Worcs, WR14 1RH

Telephone number: 01684 578588

Website: N/A

Summary:

A nice little French deli that is also a Boulangerie/Patisserie sited in the middle of Malvern Link. What is even better is that you can park outside.

On the day I went, the cheese section was a bit low but they claimed to have 20 plus cheeses from Roquefort to Tomes/Tommes. The prices were pretty good. I had a trench of Morbier at £3.50 which I would easily pay twice that in a shop in London.

The shelves were lined with the usual tins of confit , soupe de poisson , escargots andnd,  jars of vegetables – why do French eat “tinned” (ok, I mean jarred) vegetables?

The bakery was the best bit with all sorts of French bread  – spelt (only on Fridays), campagne etc. There were all sorts of tarts and quiches available and pies – they were bought in : sausage rolls, Cornish and chicken Jalfrezi…….

All I can say is that I don’t expect this sort of shop to be around here – in the middle of a resident road. By the way, you can also get French coffee that you can only buy in Calais.

Eddie

Feb 2010