The Mucky Badger

Posts Tagged ‘warwickshire’

Location & Photo

 

	White Lion Southam Road Radford Semele Nr Leamington Spa Warwickshire CV31 Tel: 01926 425 770?

Review

Think of a sleepy English village pub with a thatched roof and you’ll probably think of something similar to the White Lion in Radford Semele.

Situated on the busy Southam Road the White Lion’s character pulls you in with all the welcoming warmth a country gastro-pub can. This belies the fact that the pub is part of the Chef & Brewer chain which to me has become the John Lewis of gastro-pub  chains having been a regular at the Bear & Staff pub in Gateacre in Liverpool since my formative years. So being used to the outstanding quality of Chef & Brewer fayre, it was difficult to be objective describing the dining experience here.

The bar area boasts some excellent local real ales and promotional literature throughout the pub announces the imminent arrival of a season long in house beer festival. You know, the kind where you buy pints of local beer, drink it, come back another day and try another one. This pub is probably run by a very ale passionate landlord as the beer rarely disappoints but the prices unfortunately do. But I guess there’s nobody to blame for £3 a pint beer but the government.

The menu is beautifully presented and a chalk board proclaims a changing specials menu. The menu also features a Mixed Grill! Sadly this mixed grill is missing a number of the key ingredients to qualify for a Mucky Badger mixed grill award containing only gammon, chicken(!), sausage, steak and ancillary vegetables. Had it contained some lamb and some liver it could well be in the running for an award.

So not to be disappointed I opted for the 9oz Rump Steak. Served medium, the meat tasted fresh with minimal gristle and was accompanied by some chips and a small garnish. It might have been worth chucking some garden peas on that plate for the price that was paid but it still provided a decent meal.

Service there was more than splendid (despite being greeted with “Good evening ladies” – I must get round to having a hair cut) and the meal arrived without too long a wait. Even the dessert choices left me spoilt for choice. However, in the end the Lime Meringue pie was opted for and the flavour was it’s own reward. The cutting tang of lime causing memories of long forgotten much loved flavours of Angel Delight to come flooding back.

So for

• 1 x Mixed Grill
• 1 x Rump Steak and chips
• 1 x Lime pie
• 1 x Fizzy mineral water
• 1 x pint of Foster’s Lager

The price came to just over £30

Conclusion

Delightful surroundings and pleasant atmosphere with what seems to be fairly locally sourced ingredients served by excellently presented staff deserving a good score, however the price does leave a nasty after taste and while good food does cost more it can’t be helped to think how much profit this pub makes on dry sales.

Still, the portions and lack of fuss make this pub score slightly higher than the Plough in Eathorpe, but the cost prevents a higher score, 87%

Location & Photos

The Plough at Eathorpe,
Fosse Way, (Just off the B4455), At Eathorpe,
Nr Leamington Spa, Warwickshire,
Tel: 01926 632557 – (Opening Hours Only)

Review

Most weekends I find myself driving down the Fosse Way to Leamington Spa. If you know Warwickshire at all you’ll appreciate the beautiful rolling English countryside which is but a 5 minute drive from the modern concrete metropolis that is Coventry. The area holds much adventure and excitement for me because I’m still fairly new to the area so finding good places to dine adds to that experience.

This weekend I passed the Plough, as I do every weekend, only this weekend something spoke to me. It said “You’ve been driving down this road for months now and you still haven’t tried that place. Now look! Lunches £4.95…what more could you want?”

I was hungry. But it was Friday night and lunch was a long time off. So I vowed that this was to be the weekend I was to dine at the Plough. I’m glad I convinced myself.

Of course, as with all my predetermined places to eat I started the test that evening. As this is the first review of a place to eat let me tell you about how I intend to mark the places as I write this one.

First off, the question is, does the establishment have a website with a menu? The Plough does (http://www.plough-at-eathorpe.co.uk/) . It’s well designed and it ticks the menu box, but as the site says, the dishes are locally sourced and subject to change without notice. This is fine in my book as that makes the visit just that little bit more exciting. The menu is just the right size but I do note that there is a high dependency on cheese in dishes. This does prove problematic for some diners (especially my companion who is allergic to all dairy). None the less, there was a dish that suited her needs and many more to suit mine. There is also an evening menu available too containing similar dishes to those served at lunch with a few extras thrown in to boot. My companion and I were able to make our decisions that evening and the anticipation for lunch the following day grew.

The Plough passed the second test too. On arrival to the near empty car park, we were concerned that the place might not actually be serving, I guess this is how places go out of business as some people are intimidated by empty restaurants as there are some who are intimidated by full restaurants. But that isn’t the point winner. No, the points go to the warm welcome we received from the very friendly bar staff. We were shown to our seat and presented with an already familiar menu. However, my previous nights selection was not present on the lunch menu of the day but that is fine too as I do appreciate that meals are subject to ingredient supply and also to other factors.

The third test also won points. The men’s toilet  was very clean. It wasn’t the dining room at the Savoy Hotel but it was sufficient. There was no bad odour nor was there anything to suggest that the loos were neglected. This is an important thing in my view as the kitchen staff may well use that same toilet themselves and a clean toilet…well to me it means that the chef isn’t necessarily pissing in the soup.

Fourthly the food itself. I opted for the Whitebait and the Cod. My companion went for the Whitebait and the Stew.

The Whitebait – I adore whitebait. Someplaces do too much, others do too little for a very high price, but at £1.95 the amount I got at the plough was spot on. They were a little bit too well battered which made me think that they were from a freezer bag and the tartar sauce was just right too but could have been a little bit cheekier with the introduction of garlic. The dish was accompanied by a salad and a slice of lemon. Another improvement I would have made would probably have been a small chunk of homemade bread, but that’s me.

The Cod – The cod was presented in the menu as being cooked in their own beer batter, served with chips and with peas. The fish itself was a good size considering. Now I know some of you will be screaming “OMG! Think of the cod stocks man!” but I wanted to see if the cod was cod and I’m always keen to try out batter. I wasn’t disappointed. While the cod might have actually been pollock (it didn’t have the flavour of cod and was a bit too flakey) I wasn’t going to hold that against them. The batter was crisp and firm and the chips a delight and half. The peas, Birds Eye finest, but again, I wasn’t going to be too critical on that level.

The Beef Stew – The beef stew is served with potatoes, carrots, parsnips and a huge dumpling. I am pleased I didn’t opt for the stew though as I am not a big fan of parsnips, again, it would have been good to mention the foul beasts in the description on the menu, but I wasn’t eating it so I can’t fault them. My companion noted that with a quarter of a plate left to go she was already starting to feel very full and uncomfortable. This is a good sign and she definitely enjoyed the meal too.

Conclusion

The Plough at Eathorpe is a traditional English pub restaurant affair. Indeed, it is more of a country restaurant than a pub and it’s location on the Fosse Way (B4455) means that it is reliant on reputation and passing trade. It certainly deserves recommendation and a very prominent reputation for excellent food and service. Comparatively, other local eateries in which I have dined, such as the White Lion in Radford Semele and the Red Lion in Hunningham it provides good service and food for much less. Indeed, while the Red Lion in Hunningham boasts a much wider selection of local fayre, the Plough seems to go that little bit further, perhaps because of the peacefulness of the surroundings (the Red Lion’s pneumatic tube order delivery system does get annoying after a while).

In all, an very pleasant dining experience scoring an 86% score.

CV33 9DQ