Out to dinner - not at The Nettle!!

There's a pub on the main road between Tupton and Chesterfield. It was called The Hunloke Arms. We went to it a couple of times, when we first moved to Tupton. It was OK - but then over time we found The Nettle and The Three Horseshoes and a couple of other places that we liked better and we went to them instead.

Sometime last summer The Hunloke closed down and builders and painters and decorators and things moved in.  It re-opened sometime around Christmas, re-named as The Wingerworth. We noticed that it had been re-named and that it had re-opened, but we were saving up for Christmas and to go off Jumping Around in the Time Zones, so we didn't go to visit it.  But we marked it down as being worth an inspection. The Three Horseshoes has closed down, the other places that we were going to have gone downhill. Our local pub options have more or less reduced to The Nettle, and to The Rutland by the church in Town. A bit of variety is nice, sometimes so we decided to go for a look see.

It's now Lent and on Monday we will give up alcohol for the rest of Lent (we've already given up chocolates and sweets and cakes and things).  I thought we ought to drop by before going on the wagon!  This weekend would have been ideal, except that The Builder is having most of his lower teeth out this afternoon and might not absolutely feel like going out to eat in the next couple of days. So we decided that a pre-dentist meal out would be the way to go. So we went last evening.

And it was lovely. The interior has been really well renovated.  The staff were charming and attentive. The menu is small, but more than adequate and mostly locally sourced. The food isn't absolutely up to the standard of The Nettle, but then not many places are. But it was very good. It's British Pie Week this week and they had a specials menu with various pies on it.  There are vegetarian options. The Builder very much enjoyed his venison and mushroom pie. I very much enjoyed my sirloin steak and salad. The chips might have been a bit crisper, but they were very tasty. Alas - they had forgotten my mushrooms, but I really didn't need any more food so it wasn't a disaster.

The big advantage of The Wingerworth is that it is in walking distance. In the summer you could walk through the nature reserve and up the footpath through a field.  In the winter you could easily walk along the pavement. I think it might take around 30 minutes walking along the road. We took the car last evening because it was raining and we were feeling lazy.

We will go again. We ate in the restaurant last night and I want to check the bar menu.  But we are absolutely and most definitely not going to forsake The Nettle. It felt quite odd to be turning out for a meal and not heading there!!