We headed off on our travels on Friday, early afternoon and stopped at a Harvester pub at about 2pm for a late lunch. When you go to a Harvester, you know pretty much what sort of standard of food you are going to get, and this was no exception. I wouldn't go out of my way to go there again, but the food was edible and filled a hole in a rather hungry tummy. The chips were OK, too!
We had dinner in The Harbour Inn in Axmouth, Devon on Friday evening. The Harbour Inn is a beautiful pub but I have to say that the food was a little disappointing. My fish pie had wodges of a very unpleasant "smoked" fish in it which made it taste as if I was sucking on an ashtray. I say "smoked" because it tasted very much as though it had never been anywhere near a smoker but had been infused with smoke flavouring. It had also been in a microwave, which is never a good thing to do to a fish pie. On the other hand, The Builder says that his steak pie was quite tender. But we didn't finish our bottle of rather indifferent Sauvignon Blanc. We had better wine awaiting us back at the B&B!
The Blue Waters B&B does a really nice breakfast. It's served in your room on a small table and you make you choices the evening before. We both enjoyed grapefruit slices as an "entree" and really enjoyed our Full English. The mushrooms were in a buttery sauce which was really nice. The bacon was very tasty. Even the sausages were quite nice.
 |
| Grapefruit slices at breakfast |
On Saturday we decided to chance the Eyre Court for lunch and were presented with hearty plates of plain, home cooked food. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with plain, home cooked food. My chicken in a buttery mushroom sauce was lovely. The pub building is nothing like as beautiful as the Harbour Inn - but the food is much better.
 |
| The courtyard, Eyre Court Hotel |
Saturday night was, of course, the River Cottage summer party. And the food was every bit as good as you would expect. We were handed a glass each of elderflower champagne when we arrived, together with a freshly cooked cheese straw. There were people floating round with trays of lovely sausages on sticks. And each of us was given a piece of fresh toast with some of the nicest grilled sardines I think I have ever eaten. Inside the marquee there was a bar selling Stinger ale and English wine. The main course was a Moroccan inspired lamb tagine served with flat bread, lentil stew, tomato salad and green salad. Alas, I could not eat the lamb tagine. It had almonds in it. But they knew about my nut allergy and someone appeared fairly promptly with a nut free version for me - by which time I was happily munching on the lovely salads and the absolutely delicious lentil stew. Lentils are not my favourite pulse, but this was really lovely. The lamb tagine was lovely too, but I wouldn't have been disappointed if all that had been on offer for me was the lentil stew (Although I might have been a tiny tad disappointed about not being able at least to taste the lamb!!) Dessert was a chocolate brownie mousse thing, which I couldn't eat on account of the nuts and The Builder couldn't eat on account of the strawberries. No worries. A nut free version was brought my way. And one for The Builder in which the strawberries were replaced with pieces of fudge. They certainly cater for people's allergies well. Then there was a trestle table filled with cheeses and biscuits and coffee and tea. But we pretty much eschewed that and went home. Full of food and wine, and content, and very, very fat.
 |
| Saturday menu |
I did not do justice to my breakfast on Sunday morning, delicious though it was.
I don't think I really did justice to my lunch at The Wheatsheaf on Sunday afternoon either, delicious though that undoubtedly was. The breast of lamb was cooked so it was tender and melting. My Yorkshire Pudding was crisp and light. The roast potatoes were crunchy. The vegetables were tasty. There was rather more space in my tummy for ice cream - but everyone knows that ice cream melts and spreads out around the cracks! I think next year we might stay down an extra day and call at The Wheatsheaf on the Monday. Our appetites should have recovered by then!!
 |
| The Builder, happy at The Wheatsheaf |
No comments:
Post a Comment