The Event: A quick bite
Facade
Interior
Sage green walls, black leather sofas,random tables with mismatched chairs and wood, wood, wood beckons as you enter The Hunting Lodge. It's modern mixed with the old; theatrical, in that it could happily lend itself to being the perfect setting for a murder mystery evening perhaps. It's cosy without being fuddy-duddy; modern without being too trendy.
Snap
It's no secret that these kind of chain pubs may trumpet impresisvely that they serve good, homemade food of the sort Gordon Ramsay extols when in actual fact their chefs graduated from the Ding School of Microwave Cookery. If you're really good, you get to work the deep fat fryer, but that only for very talented chefs.
Mr P and I were starving so we ordered a small selection of starters; an impromptu tapas, you may say. I have loaded potato skins with mushrooms and Stilton. I remember these being delicious on previous visits to The Lodge but what I got was thick slices of uncooked mushroom covered in a fuzzy Stilton foam that had been whacked under the lights for a few minutes. Mr P had lamb kofti, which he said were lovely and then we shared a plate of Chinese wontons, which were OK but probably as good as a stick-em-in-the-oven Somerfield version.
Pros
It's quite cosy but hardly ever busy so you can always find a table. Plus, food is served all day, even on Sundays - a rare feat in a village environment.
Cons
It's usually dead - even Saturday nights only manage to muster up a handful of punters.
Outfit
Sunday lunches are always family affairs in any village pub so probably no greyhound skirts or nipple flashing tops. There's also never any talent there to show off your wares to anyway.
Best for...
A quick bite if you're ravenous and everywhere else is closed.
