Ten things about us.............
We are a small, family run business established a few years ago. We offer good quality, freshly prepared, home cooked food in an industry which is now dominated by ‘chain’ offers. We cook and prepare own all hams, pates and terrines on the premises. Our desserts have never seen the inside of a frozen food van. Nothing on the menu is a ‘boil in the bag’ ready meal.
The downside of this is that our wages bill is considerably higher than the average pub chain. (I know this because we used to work for one). It also means that things can sometimes take a little longer than we’d like – Sorry ‘bout that. We think, (we’re not sure) that we’re the only pub business in the local area that actually makes their own chips. They start the morning as potatoes and are hand cut every day – Maris Piper for preference. We do not (unlike a lot of our competitors) have strict brewery budgets and profit targets that have to be met. If we want to spend a little more on our food or accept a lesser margin we can. If we want to change our menu we can (and often do). We take pride in our cask ales and we are listed in the 2015 Good Beer Guide. We like to keep a good amount of variety on the hand pulls – we have a few favourites which re-appear on a regular basis, such as Deuchar’s IPA and Greene King Abbot Ale but many of our beers appear much less often. Each week we buy (on average) eight different casks which means that generally at least one of the four ales on offer will change almost every day. We are however a ‘tied’ business meaning that we are obliged to buy our beer from our landlord. The downside of this is that we pay more for our beer than a ‘free house’ would (boo). We are also limited in choice to the products in their portfolio, although, to be fair, it’s not too shabby. We source our produce where possible from local suppliers, some of whom we have been working with for years. We smoke our own fish – all the smoked salmon, mackerel, and trout on the menu are cured and smoked here on the premises. We keep a pretty fair wine list and we’re always on the lookout for bargains; small parcels of a few cases of something interesting at a good price. We always pass our savings on – which means that you can often get a bargain. The downside of course is ‘when it’s gone it’s gone’.
