Once I got used to the flies hovering in the olde worlde tavern, I ordered the Steak & Kidney Pie with Chips and Mushy Peas (I did enquire about potato options and 'it comes with real chips & peas' was the reply).
They were right about the chips though, they are 'real' and delicious too, which is a real shame because the pie was onto something but wasn't as fresh as the chips.There was a good filling to pastry ratio but the quality of the pastry and the filling didn't match the chips.
The pastry was rather salty and tough to cut through around the edges and there was way too much gravy (another of my consumer choices taken away from me).
The kidneys were dry and a touch bitter and whilst the pie did appear homemade it was perhaps spoiled by over enthusiastic reheating, losing a lot of its freshness and flavour.
The staff were pleasant and busy cleaning tables even though no-one had been using some of them but my table was sticky, hence the attraction of the bluebottles.
The combination of pie, chips, peas and gravy is a winner for me and is indeed reminiscent of home cooked winter grub or walking home from a night out eating alfresco.
However, a good Steak Pie Experience is about quality as well as design and so it goes... The Snooty Fox scores a 5.5
but taking into account that people do have off days, I think on a good day it could easily be a 6
Now I have to say, when I first saw your blog, I thought many of the dishes you had been presented with looked quite unappetising - dry (Garrick Inn especially) and the pastry a bit anorexic! Despite its average rating the above dish had me salivating!! Those chips....mushy peas.....pie....AND gravy! It's almost like a steak pie and mushy pea soup with nice fat chips:P Mushy peas are definitely the way forward (my fave!)......I may have to give this place a go!
ReplyDeleteps I still recommend you try the Steak and Collie Wobbles Ale Pie at the Watermill in Ings. I'd be interested to see how it rates on your taste budometer!
ReplyDeleteMmm.. those chips were good and remember its simple pub grub. A score of 5 is not bad for any pub up here, down south most pies barely reach 3 on the pieometer but I will have to revisit them to reafirm that statement in the future.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation, I will be passing Ings in Cumbria before the year is out.