Brewing up some excellent scran
IN case you didn’t realise, I’m fond of an ale or two.
So, on a lovely early summer’s morning, beer was on my mind – or, more precisely, where to get a delicious pint of it.
In the end, the glorious sunshine offered the perfect excuse to return to a previous Sunday-dinner haunt near Matfen in Northumberland.
I’m always slightly apprehensive whenever a brewery tries their own versions of Sunday lunches, but Wylam Brewery impressed me last year – just as High House Farm Brewery did almost three years back.
Given the amount of time which had elapsed since my last visit, I was keen to see whether High House Farm were still making Sunday dinners just as splendid as their beers.
At any brewery – or pub, for that matter – I like to physically see the selection of beers on offer; it helps with the selection process. So it was much to my liking that when we first arrived we were given the opportunity to enjoy a tipple sitting on the sofas in the bar area.
Even though the seasonal Nettle Ale was on tap – it is a pleasant beer, but doesn’t really pack too much of a punch – I opted for a pint of Nel’s Best; golden in colour and certainly a thirst quencher.
The price was even better, at just £2.50. Meanwhile, Mrs Eats was driving so contented herself with a nona l c o h o l i c ginger beer. As for t h e Car park..................... Kids allowed...................... Real ale..................................... Wine by the bottle........................ Credit cards..................................... Vegetarian food............................. food, we were pleasantly surprised to see the prices were exactly the same as three years ago – £9.25 for one course, £12.75 for two, or £16.25 for three.
She Who Must Be Fed chose the chicken liver parfait from the five options available and was suitably satisfied; “very, very nice indeed,” she mumbled as she munched away.
My smoked haddock, spring onion and mozzarella fishcakes were also good, though a little bit more fishy flavour would not have gone amiss if truth be told.
On to the main event though, and that really was a show stopper.
Mrs Eats went for the roast lamb, whereas yours truly opted for the ‘High House Multi Roast’, which, for an additional £1.50, saw pork and beef accompany the aforementioned lamb on to my plate. The meats were delicious – it was obvious they came from a nearby farm – as were the potatoes, which were packed full of flavour, and a mountain of veg was piled on a plate between the two of us featuring cauliflower cheese, broccoli and green beans.
There was one slight dull note with the main course in the form fo the stuffing, which was bready, dry and stodgy.
But the mark of a Sunday dinner is the quality of the Yorkshire pudding.
I have tasted more than enough in my time to know the real thing from a pretender. Trust me, this was the real deal.
Just enough spring, excellent flavour, perfectly crisp at the top, and the right consistency to soak up the lashings of gravy.
I offer a hat tip to the chef, because they were up there with the best Yorkshires I’ve had in years.
Stuffed after the main course we may have been, but desserts simply had to be sampled.
My strawberry and marshmallow mousse was pleasant, if unusual and a little sweet.
But Mrs Eats’ wild-flower honey ice cream was “divine” to use her own superlative. In fact, she hasn’t stopped bleating on about how she wished they allowed customers to buy tubs of the ice cream to take home because she enjoyed it that much!
As we trudged back to the car park with our bellies full after our sizeable Sunday lunch, I realised my apprehensions about breweries delving into the Sunday lunch world were once again unfounded.
High House Farm’s beers are excellent, but so too are their roast dinners.
On a warm summer’s Sunday afternoon, there really is little more satisfying than that combo.