A Taste of Worcester: The Crown Inn, Hallow

It's a rare occasion that I'll venture out of Gloucestershire for dinner (unless it's a jaunt to London or Bristol of course). You'd think I suffered with homesickness counting the number of times I've crossed the borders, but trust me that's not the case. A) I can barely keep up with all the latest openings in the town I bloody live in, and B) I really like wine. Sadly, as much as wine and food go together hand in hand, wine and driving do not. Sigh.

Last month I was invited along to The Crown Inn in Hallow, Worcestershire, to try some of the new dishes from the new menu, created by new Head Chef Chris Monk. All the 'new's. I'd met Chris back when I worked behind the scenes at Le Champignon Sauvage - still one of the best things I've ever done - and having left the Michelin Star kitchen behind him, he's taken on quite a different role here in Hallow.

Admittedly, I'd never heard about The Crown Inn before my invitation; I guess why would I? But now that Chris has taken the reigns in the food department, it's time to take note. The gorgeous pub had a renovation earlier in the year, with new branding to match, and the focus is firmly on putting the highest quality seasonal fare on your plate. Pub grub traditionalists needn't worry too much about the change though, although there'll be plenty of fancy flairs, you'll still be able to grab a decent burger, fish and chips or a Sunday roast.

There was a special 5 course tasting menu on the night of our visit, crazily priced at £29.95 with an optional wine pairing at an extra £20 per person. Bingo. I drew the designated driver short straw, so just had a few sips of each wine, leaving The Chap double parked all evening.

We started with a glass of fizz alongside freshly baked focaccia (£3.50 on current menu - I'll include prices where applicable). Rosemary and sea salt would usually suffice, but when the bread's warm and there's creamy whipped butter at hand, slathering it on is the only option.

An amuse bouche of caramelised onion mousse with crispy chicken skin arrived at the table. The salty-savoury flavours were balanced by a sweet Sauternes jelly, and although caramelised onion isn't usually my thing, this was lovely. The Chap reckons he could happily have a bag of chicken skin 'crisps'... I don't doubt him. Actually, I'd probably join him.

There were two options for each course, so we did the usual thing of ordering one of each so we could try everything. My starter was truffled guinea fowl terrine with pickled mushrooms and roasted garlic. The light gamey flavour was pimped up with garlic, though it was the pickled mushrooms that totally made it. Some extra texture would've been welcomed, not just a scattering of pine nuts, but perhaps that's just me. This was paired with a Louis Latour White Burgundy Chardonnay, 2015. Just yes.

The Chap had scorched mackerel, beetroot and goats curd (£6.95); pretty large for a starter with a good amount of everything on the plate. Although the fish was beautifully cooked, it was sat on two big dollops of a beetroot-chutney-sort-of-thing, which felt rather overpowering. Less is more on this occasion. A 2016 Picpoul de Pinet was the match here; a classic fish friendly wine and happily guzzled down.

Confit escalope of sea reared trout, samphire, peas and fine herbs was my main course. It was a nice surprise to find giant bows of pasta in the dish, and they went so well with the silky confit trout. Greens kept each mouthful feeling fresh, and the citrusy sauce gave everything a bit of oomph. Oh so delicious, and possibly my favourite of the night. I had another Chardonnay to accompany this course (they clearly heard that I LOVE Chardonnays), but this time from Australia (Grant Burge 2016). More tropical fruit and less acidity than the French; I'm more of a Burgundy gal.

The Chap's dish felt comforting and gloriously autumnal. Ale braised beef cheek, smoked potatoes and charred onions. Again, quite a large plate in comparison to mine, but wowzas. So rich, dark and tender. The smoked potatoes were more like cylindrical croquettes, fluffy on the inside with a crisp chip-like casing. The perfect swooshing vessel to soak up every last drop of the ale sauce. A Beaujolais Villages (Louis Jadot 2016) came with this - maybe little too light - beef cheeks can definitely stand up to a fuller bodied wine.

A lemon curd and lime granita palate cleanser was next. It so reminded us of those Calippo Ice Shots we used to have when we were kids. Probably not the intention, but still...

There were absolutely no arguments over who would have which dessert. I'm not a soufflé lover, and The Chap hates coffee (I know - weird), so the dark chocolate tart with coffeé cream and mandarin was firmly on my side of the table. Great, because I didn't want to share anyway. The chocolate to pastry ratio was a chocaholics dream; so seductively shiny and not sickly sweet. I wasn't too sure how I felt about coffee and orange together, but it just worked, especially with the glass of orange blossom-y Floralis Moscatel I had.

The Bramley apple soufflé with salted caramel ice cream (£6.95) was a beast! Despite my differences, I did try a little, if only to help The Chap try and reach the bottom. I could just get that sweet baked apple flavour, but as showy as they may be, hot mousse-y eggs are not my bag. Hey ho. The salted caramel ice cream was just as tasty as it sounds, as was the Sauternes wine pairing; he was happy.

The evening finished with tea, coffee and glossy brown canelés; a little taste of Bordeaux before heading home. Though not before meeting Pershore Patty - you can read her review of the evening here.

All in all, I thought it was a great night showcasing Head Chef Chris Monk's skills in the kitchen to customers old and new. With the large portion sizes, I'd say it felt more like a three course meal with added extras rather than a tasting menu. That's fine, tasting menus aren't what they do; starter, main, dessert, and job done.

The glimmers of fine dining were there in the cooking techniques, the presentation, the fact that we had an amuse bouche, and so on. I just hope that they stay and flourish rather than changing to suit "Dave from down the road, who comes in every Wednesday for pie and mash". That said, I'm pretty sure Chris can make a really mean pie. I shouldn't worry, The Crown Inn is an awesome place and I'll be sure to visit again soon.

Under Counter goes Over Counter at The Tavern Cheltenham

I feel as though The Tavern has been a little lost lately. Since the fire it has never seemed as confident as it once was. First it came back with one big burger bang, then a few months later teased us with some secret menu offerings, and earlier this year the Sunday roasts made a reappearance. Slowly but surely it was as if they were reverting back to their pre-fire days (when they were fucking awesome), and HALLELUJAH! At the start of September it was confirmed. The under counter menu is now over counter and has a whole host of new delicious things under its belt. Happy days.

In my last post on The Tavern I raved about their under counter menu, clutching onto that little glimmer of what was one before. There's something about that style of relaxed and comforting food that doesn't seem to be anywhere else in Cheltenham. Maybe I'm wrong, but it always seemed as though The Tavern had the whole package - good food, good drinks, good prices, good vibes - and now it's back I can breathe a sigh of relief.

Photo Credit: The Lucky Onion

Ronnie Bonetti, previously of Soho House Group, and Head Chef James de Jong’s menu is made up of delicious taverna style food from Europe and far beyond. As always, there's the best local produce, pimped up with punchy flavours; old favourites still stand their ground, whilst some seductive new dishes vie for attention. Starters include Bavette tartare, Arlington egg yolk & toast (£9) and half a pint of prawns (£8), along with their classic salt 'n' pepper Squid with nuoc cham (£7.50). Then for mains, you have an abundance of choice!

Faithful Taverners will be glad to see that the French Dip is back on the menu, and there are still a selection of burgers, wings and fries to get stuck into if you're not bothered about change. As for the rest of us, there's Loch Duart salmon, shitake, ginger & Asian greens (£17.50), whole brown crab & mayonnaise (£19.50) and spatchcock poussin, preserved lemon, straw potatoes & aioli (£15.50), just to name a few. Oh and chargrilled steaks! You can't knock their steaks.

The build-your-own sundaes have been sacked off and replaced with a concise dessert list; lemon & cherry posset (£6) and a sticky toffee ice cream sandwich (£6) feature, though you can still get a simple scoop of ice cream for two quid.

In the week that the under counter went to over counter, The Chap and I were invited along to try out the new menu. Hells-frickin-yeah. Date night on a school night, and for a Tuesday the place was absolutely packed. Good sign methinks. Cocktails on order - a Sazerac for The Chap and The Last Word for me - it was heads down to try and decide what to have.

Predictably, The Chap picked the spicy pork & fennel meatballs (£8) to start. He hasn't stopped banging on about the ones that we had previously, and although these ones no longer have the nduja depth of flavour in the sauce, they were still stellar. It kept him quiet for a bit at least.

I had clams, Dunkerton’s cider & samphire (£9.50), which came with a healthy helping of toasted baguette. The clams were sweet with the samphire boosting that sea saltiness, and the sauce had a decent apple tang, freshened up with a scattering of dill. Get yourself a crisp glass of white wine with this one and you'll be winning.

Having tried some of the lamb chops at the over counter launch party, The Chap only had eyes for those, with lentils, rainbow chard & salsa rossa (£19.50). Two meaty chops sat atop simply cooked lentils and veg, and were kicked into gear with with that super salsa. The peppers and tomatoes offer a much sweeter flavour than it's green counterpart, and it marries so well to lamb. Once again, I barely heard a peep as he gnawed every morsel off those bones.

There was no hesitation for me either; I had to order the Hereford beef short rib, borlotti beans, girolles & salsa verde (£17). One huge wedge of beef is a carnivores dream. Beefy, juicy, rich and unctuous; it towered high above everything else, and the bone satisfyingly slipped out with ease. Comfort food at its best, and truly a dish which signifies Autumn is well under way. A steal at that price too, I'd say.

Almost at bursting point, we felt we should at least try to squeeze in dessert. We were told the favourite on the menu was the sticky toffee ice cream sandwich, and having seen it on Katie Charlotte Blogs' and Honeybourne Line's reviews, I'm certain it would have pushed me over the edge! Instead, I got suckered in by the chocolate & peanut butter tart with vanilla ice cream (£6)... PB 4 life. It wasn't as rich as it sounds, with just a thin laver of peanut butter on the bitter chocolate tart base. The chocolate filling was light, but perhaps a little fridge-cold as my fork didn't glide through like ganache, it almost crumbled. Still, it melted in the mouth ticking all the right boxes, so no complaints from me.

The Chap went for the most OTT option, The Queen of all banana splits (£6). Banana (obvs), chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream, whipped cream, drizzly sauce, nuts, cherries, THE WORKS. Could've definitely shared between two, but we didn't, so with that we practically had to roll ourselves out of the door.

Like a cat that's gone astray, I've been pining over its absence, desperately willing for The Tavern to return to its original state. Now that it has, I couldn't be happier! With its varied menu, it's back to being that place you could go with anyone, for whatever occasion, at any time of day. See you there!