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

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.

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May 2012

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May 2012

Public transport/parking: Small car park in centre of Moseley. Buses: 50, 35, 1.

Web site: www.lewissdg.co.uk (not yet working)

Telephone number:

Date of visit: May 2012
Review:

For those of you who haven’t yet noticed, St Mary’s Row has sprouted a brand new business. That every changing spot at number 11 is now home to Lewis’s: a lovely, independent new delicatessen/grocer. On the 13th April, Lewis opened his doors to the residents of Moseley and invited them into his world of fresh, locally sourced produce.
I spent a delightful afternoon in Lewis’s and it would seem that he has already stolen the heart of the Moseley community. Impressively for a Wednesday afternoon, the shop was never empty and many of the customers popping in had already discovered this gem. Lewis himself has a gentle, approachable manner and is happy chatting away to his customers. He is keen to develop the business to meet the needs of the Moseley community and to take on board feedback and comments being offered to him. Happily, these seem to be almost entirely positive.
“I think it’s really nice to have a local shop like this in Moseley,” said Linda, a Moseley resident, “I’ve been watching it and I’m pleased it’s a grocers… It’s about getting that quality within walking distance.”
The shop stocks natural produce, sourced from suppliers all over the Midlands (there is a helpful map on the wall showing exactly which ‘shires’) and local business BAKE provide all of the (extremely tasty) cakes. If nothing else, it is worth popping into Lewis’s just to sample the 70% cocoa brownie samples. Whilst I was there, it seemed that everyone who tasted the brownie proceeded to buy one. One gentleman even came back for a second helping, saying, “I made the mistake of sharing the first one”.
Lewis’s has a clean, simple design which feels like a traditional grocers with a high quality twist. Lots of rustic wooden crates, metal shelving units and blackboards. Instead of baskets, there are milk pails for you to load your shopping into, which adds to the country village feel. As well as fruit and veg (possibly the largest potatoes I have ever laid eyes on), there is also an olive bar, olive oil (bring your own bottle to fill if you like), breads (supplied by local baker Lucky 13) and a whole range of deli products. It’s a bit like being at a little slice of the farmers market.
I asked Lewis about his vision for the area and he tells me that he would to see more independent businesses on the streets of Moseley. “I would love Moseley to have some new vintage shops, other food shops, specialist shops,” says Lewis, “I think people would support them.” He has already thrown himself into the heart of the community, linking up with other local businesses, such as Indigo. They are making plans to develop a delivery service, to bring local produce to peoples doors. SusMo will be glad to hear that this would be a bike run service.
Lewis’s has well and truly won me over and I hope that our wonderful Moseley community will welcome this latest venture with open arms.
Opening times:
Tuesday-Saturday      10:00am – 7:30pm
Sunday             10:00am – 4:30pm
Monday        Closed

Lindsay

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.

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May 2-12

Note: The article also claimed that Omega 3 supplement does not have the same effect.

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May 2012

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).

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Do they mean endives when they say chicory?

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May 2012