We went to The Plough as a family trip. It was my Grandmother’s treat to us when my cousin came to visit. We arrived in the car park full of pot holes on a day in February when it had just rained, but the only clue was the water on the ground. The staff were very friendly and seated us quickly. The pub itself was homely and welcoming, though before a few more people arrived it lacked ambience. The tables were good solid country affairs with character and a history, much like the owner who was on this lunch time.The menu was nicely printed on thick paper daily. A large pewter jug of iced tap water was brought promptly without needing to be requested which after my cousins train journey was a nice addition. The wine list was complete, offering a wide variety of new and old world wines, though perhaps their wines by the glass could have shared in this variety. I had a glass of the Chateau Malbat which was nothing special and not worth the five pounds a glass.
The table had a wide variety of dishes, the Venison, Burger, Zander and Battered Cod. The Venison was divine, with its jus and potatoes cooked to perfection. The burger was meaty, and juicy, served with their triple cooked wedges which were possibly the star of the meal. Zander was revelation, a lovely fish we had never had before cooked with skill. The Cod was as one would hope from a pub, well cooked, with fluffy batter a good rustic tartare and triple cooked chips which were nice but not quite as good as the wedges.
The puddings too were very nice, dark chocolate ice cream, Blood Orange Tart, Apple Baked Alaska, and Cheese. The Blood Orange Tart was delicious, but the Apple Alaska needed some work. There was a good variety of cheese on offer, and the ice cream was homemade and good quality.
The whole meal was generally very nice. I would certainly recommend a visit to The Kingham Plough, though the price was not cheap, however it was certainly affordable and worth the money. The Plough is worth a detour to visit.
Thursday 13 May 2010
Thursday 10 September 2009
Lumière, Cheltenham
Cheltenham is home to two exceedingly good restaurants, Le Champignon Sauvage with its two Michelin Stars, and Lumière, the lesser renowned. I have now been to Lumière twice and only have good things to say.
The staff have both times been helpful, and polite, offering advice on wine, and benefiting from regular tastings of their cellars. The position is delightfully central and the interior minimal yet comfortable. One of the very few complaints about the restaurant I have is the poor view out of the window onto the Cheltenham ring road, however should you be with entertaining company the meal will appear in no time and then your attention is entirely focused upon the manna on your plate.
I have with my two visits endeavoured to sample a wide range of dishes, and all are cooked to an equally high quality. The fish was just right and filleted expertly. The meat was cooked to the perfect level, and all the flavours balanced yet discernable. One of the most special aspects of the meal was the freshly baked in-house bread which is indicative of the level service one receives here.
With the Lunch time offer of pudding on top of your first two courses I would strongly advise taking it. The Pineapple Sorbet with spun sugar and chilli was fantastic, while the cheese was a delightful selection of local offerings, with some more of their amazing bread. After all this however one is feeling quite full, but I would further advise their coffee and Petit Fours if you could possibly manage it. They are simply to die for.
The damage of this meal with a bottle of New World White for two was £80. Now for lunch £40 per head seems relatively high, yet I would still say it was worth it. And if you feel like you wish to save a little more 2 courses is only £18 a head. A steal if ever I have seen one.
The staff have both times been helpful, and polite, offering advice on wine, and benefiting from regular tastings of their cellars. The position is delightfully central and the interior minimal yet comfortable. One of the very few complaints about the restaurant I have is the poor view out of the window onto the Cheltenham ring road, however should you be with entertaining company the meal will appear in no time and then your attention is entirely focused upon the manna on your plate.
I have with my two visits endeavoured to sample a wide range of dishes, and all are cooked to an equally high quality. The fish was just right and filleted expertly. The meat was cooked to the perfect level, and all the flavours balanced yet discernable. One of the most special aspects of the meal was the freshly baked in-house bread which is indicative of the level service one receives here.
With the Lunch time offer of pudding on top of your first two courses I would strongly advise taking it. The Pineapple Sorbet with spun sugar and chilli was fantastic, while the cheese was a delightful selection of local offerings, with some more of their amazing bread. After all this however one is feeling quite full, but I would further advise their coffee and Petit Fours if you could possibly manage it. They are simply to die for.
The damage of this meal with a bottle of New World White for two was £80. Now for lunch £40 per head seems relatively high, yet I would still say it was worth it. And if you feel like you wish to save a little more 2 courses is only £18 a head. A steal if ever I have seen one.
Wednesday 9 September 2009
The Puesdown, Glos.
Gloucestershire is once again, for the summer, full of the smart set and affluent, hoping for a sunny weekend in their country getaways. In London and other major cities of the country they dine on the finest French, Italian, Japanese and Middle Eastern, but in the country one fancies the Gastro pub. Once a novel idea, now the staple of countryside eating, they tend to have lost their shine. I have seen many of the local establishments which once provided high quality, relatively simple food for good prices fall from grace. The Puesdown is only one of the many, but still a disappointment.
We had for many years meant to go, as we drove past it regularly, and at last we did, in the knowledge that in 2007 it had won best Gastro pub in the South West. However, I hope much has changed. It was purely meant to be a simple lunch on a Wednesday, and essentially it was, but it was also much much more.
The outside is far and away the best part of this once fine establishment. It is an old coaching Inn with a great history. This sadly means it is on the busy A40, but at the back, in the garden looking over the picturesque Cotswold Hills to Hazelton one doesn’t notice it. But sadly from here it only gets worse.
We only had main courses and that was certainly more than enough. The menu lacked variety and originality, and certainly did not meet expectations. I had the Slow cooked pork with redcurrant and thyme jus, vegetables and mash. The pork admittedly had good flavour and texture, while the jus was not overly sweet or overpowering. However the vegetables were last night’s, gently fried to warm them up, and tasted as if they had suffered this process repeatedly. The mash also was lacklustre, flat and with the amazing addition of peas. The other meal was Ham, Eggs and Chips. Even Wetherspoons can recreate this pub staple to a tolerable level, but even this was beyond the Puesdown. The Ham tasted of the fridge, and the chips were exceedingly suspect. We suspect that they were oven chips. However they did manage to fry the egg correctly giving a runny yoke, which had they failed would have been tantamount to murder.
Beyond this the two staff we saw failed to smile once during the time we were there, and the interior was in need of some renovation. I am not someone who insists that a pub should be pristine, but with skirting boards missing and bin bags of rubbish visible in the other room it was too far.
I would certainly not recommend this pub to anyone, and would say it was only a marginal improvement on the Little Chef which had existed over the road. The food came to about £25, ridiculous for what we had. The other three tables meant that there was no way anyone was stretched. Although I imagine that evening and weekend services are a marked improvement, from this experience I am not tempted to give them the benefit of the doubt, and will not be passing their doors again, unless there is change in management or ethos.
We had for many years meant to go, as we drove past it regularly, and at last we did, in the knowledge that in 2007 it had won best Gastro pub in the South West. However, I hope much has changed. It was purely meant to be a simple lunch on a Wednesday, and essentially it was, but it was also much much more.
The outside is far and away the best part of this once fine establishment. It is an old coaching Inn with a great history. This sadly means it is on the busy A40, but at the back, in the garden looking over the picturesque Cotswold Hills to Hazelton one doesn’t notice it. But sadly from here it only gets worse.
We only had main courses and that was certainly more than enough. The menu lacked variety and originality, and certainly did not meet expectations. I had the Slow cooked pork with redcurrant and thyme jus, vegetables and mash. The pork admittedly had good flavour and texture, while the jus was not overly sweet or overpowering. However the vegetables were last night’s, gently fried to warm them up, and tasted as if they had suffered this process repeatedly. The mash also was lacklustre, flat and with the amazing addition of peas. The other meal was Ham, Eggs and Chips. Even Wetherspoons can recreate this pub staple to a tolerable level, but even this was beyond the Puesdown. The Ham tasted of the fridge, and the chips were exceedingly suspect. We suspect that they were oven chips. However they did manage to fry the egg correctly giving a runny yoke, which had they failed would have been tantamount to murder.
Beyond this the two staff we saw failed to smile once during the time we were there, and the interior was in need of some renovation. I am not someone who insists that a pub should be pristine, but with skirting boards missing and bin bags of rubbish visible in the other room it was too far.
I would certainly not recommend this pub to anyone, and would say it was only a marginal improvement on the Little Chef which had existed over the road. The food came to about £25, ridiculous for what we had. The other three tables meant that there was no way anyone was stretched. Although I imagine that evening and weekend services are a marked improvement, from this experience I am not tempted to give them the benefit of the doubt, and will not be passing their doors again, unless there is change in management or ethos.
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