7:21am Friday 17th November 2006
By A Craven Herald reader
A rugby mum's lot is not a happy one. Watching your boy, often in the rain and wind, dicing with a trip to casualty doesn't do much for the soul - and that's before the joy of laundering the kit is factored in. What is it with white shorts and rugby?
So, as I cupped my cold hands around a half time mug of coffee during a recent game and watched my son engage in a tackle which would have made the Incredible Hulk wince, I cheered myself with thoughts of Sunday lunch at the re-named Gamekeeper's Inn on Long Ashes Park, in Threshfield.
Shivering beside me were my parents, on a visit from their home in France. Dad had already indulged his hankerings for "proper" bacon, my local butcher's pork pies and kipper for breakfast (over a couple of weeks I hasten to add, not just that morning) and was now eagerly awaiting roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
I often picture my parents returning from a typical French market with some local cheese and settling down in the warm afternoon sun with a bottle of wine and the Telegraph crossword, but just before I want to slit my wrists I remember that Dad cannot have bacon for breakfast or wash down a pork pie at lunch with a pint of Black Sheep and all is well with the world again.
Originally built as a gamekeeper's lodge for Netherlands Hall, the refurbished inn (formerly Long Ashes Inn) does not have a set Sunday lunch as such, but roast beef and homemade Yorkshire pudding (£7.95) is on the menu, along with a selection of other dishes which change regularly.
The no-smoking freehouse is taking itself seriously in the food and drink stakes and the early signs are that this is not ambitious. At an average of £4 for starters and desserts and £10 for main courses, they are on track with realistic pricing, an inventive, tasty menu and a comprehensive wine list.
On the basis that Sunday lunch is a meal in itself, we decided that starters would be superfluous and it was a good call. Friendly and attentive staff delivered well-presented dishes which were generously portioned.
My parents and niece enjoyed their locally-sourced roast beef, roast potatoes and al dente vegetables.
My daughter did swift justice to roast breast of corn fed chicken with a sage and onion potato rosti and crispy carrots (£10.50) and I was rewarded for a controversial choice with perfectly cooked pan fried fillet of Whitby cod with a white bean, chorizo and tomato cassolet (£10.95). Top marks for a warming and satisfying combination full of flavour.
Between the five of us we found space for two desserts; cinnamon-scented rice pudding with roasted figs and red wine syrup - an absolute delight and a firm favourite with us all - and strawberry panacotta with cinnamon sugared donuts.
Including drinks, the total bill was £64.50 or 92 Euros to Dad, whose plat du jour had provided yet another foray into culinary nostalgia proving that, yes, the grass is always greener; especially on white shorts Helen McGee
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