THE BROAD CHARE

THIS PUB IS FAB!!

Nine of us rocked up for lunch today and we had the most amazing meal, with not one of us finding anything to complain about! The food was absolutely delicious and while some of it would have appeared on a standard pub menu, there was plenty of interest to make it just a bit different.

We ordered a whole range of 'bar snacks' as starters. These included monkfish cheeks and pigs ears, deep-fried cauliflower with a gorgeous curry mayo, the best pork pie anyone at the table had tasted, beautifully prepared scotch eggs and strips of pork crackling accompanied by apple sauce. Everyone tucked in and tried a bit of everything - a very sociable way of starting the meal.

The mains menu isn't extensive, but there are a fair number of specials, one of which was 7 hour slow cooked lamb with roasted veg - to serve five. We toyed with the idea of some of us going for this, but in the end decided to leave it for next time. There were plates of roast beef, burgers, fish and chips and calves liver - all devoured with gusto to the accompaniment of contented sighs.

A brief respite before pud - wow - these were just amazing. Rachel and I scraped our bowls of lemon puddle pudding until there wasn't a scrap remaining, while the others consumed knickerbocker glories, rhubarb crumble, chocolate mousse and syrup sponge, with lots of "You try mine, I'll try yours" going on.

In short, it was a wonderfully relaxed meal, in lovely understated surroundings. I can see this becoming a regular haunt!