Good Food, Good Company

Readers of this blog will already be aware of the importance of good food to me. On Sunday we visited our all time favourite restaurant with our friends Barbara and Iain, the restaurant to which we always return. Later I will review some of the memorable meals that I have eaten in 2014, some of them were stellar but always for all round pleasure we return the Pipe and Glass at South Dalton in Humberside.

As you can see this is essentially a country pub that has evolved into a restaurant. Indeed it is the quintessential English Pub, but one that follows the modern convention of serving really good imaginative food under chef James Mackenzie. The ambience is established immediately you set foot inside, there is a glowing fire, with a great range of local real ales.  Indeed this set’s the tone as I am a firm believer that great restaurants use first class local ingredients, the fewer food miles the better.

The pub is full of nooks and crannies, but there is plenty of space, the service is friendly, professional without being obsequious. But what we really come for is great food that is cooked well and consistently. All four of us completely cleared our plates and thoroughly enjoyed all of the courses. Let us start with roast potatoes, now these are a simple dish giving much pleasure, however they are notoriously difficult for a restaurant to present successfully, today they were crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside - perfect. The perfect accompaniment to the loin of venison that I ate, with the interesting sides of a deep fried haggis and blackberries. The contrast of the sharpness of the blackberries combined with the blandness of the haggis perfectly cut through the richness of the very tender venison.

I could write at greater length about the great salmon tartare with fried oysters and the hot bitter chocolate pudding, but even writing this makes me aware of what a skill a food writer/restaurant critic has to have, and how I need to develop my writing about food. As also can be seen I need more skill as a food photographer, particularly to remember to take the picture before I start eating!

Of course the other vital component to a meal is the company, our conversation ranged wide and contained much leg pulling particularly of the men. Well we arrived at the pub at 2.15 and left at 6 having had a great lunch having eaten and drunk very well. A fabulous Sunday.