Description: UPDATE 2008-CLOSED
This little gem caught us totally by suprise. Lesley, at Pipwell Manor, always supplies us with a map with restaurants marked out on it that she recommends and we decided to try this one which she said served good, honest food.
The Bull's Neck is very much a pub in the stucco and black-wood style. We were a little shy about going in because pubs are often smoky and since they are usually filled with locals, it's a bit nerve-wracking to just walk in. It was a Wednesday night at about 8pm and the bar area had only one table with people sitting. I have learned from experience that you need to order at the bar so I walked up and talked to the bar maid and she gave us menus. We ordered our starters and our entree and some lager which she poured right out and we took our seats at a small table. It didn't take long for the people at the next table to notice our accent and ask us if we were from the States, as this was pre Sept. 11, we talked about lots of things but not terrorism. Within a couple of minutes a woman came out from a door at the end of the room and led them into the back room. It was a beautiful, smokefree , dining room. We were next and couldn't wait to join them. There are about 6 tables in the dining room and on this night 3 of them were occupied. We tried to get a reservation for Friday night but couldn't - they had a large party booked.
Our starters were potato skins with a dill sauce and fried garlic mushrooms with cheese. Both were excellent. The mushrooms just oozed cheese and garlic and were a perfect texture and the dill sauce was picant over crispy potatoes.
In spite of mad cow, Al and Joe had roast beef with Yorkshire pudding. A platter with 2 kinds of potatoes and 3 vegetables was served along side, and whoever accused the Bristish of over-cooking their vegetables never ate here. They were perfect - bright green broccoli, orange carrots and tender cauliflower with delicious baby roasted potatoes. I, being a lover of Indian food, had chicken curry - I loved it and it cleared my sinuses too.
As if the meal hadn't been good enough, the dessert cabinet was calling me from across the room. Everything in it looked great, it was a hard choice. Joe and I went for the raspberry and apple tart and Al had the bread and butter pudding. We had heavy cream on ours and he had custard on his. This has to be sinful. It was that good. We were totally charmed by our waitress Emma and I think she enjoyed us as well. I wish we could have gotten back but oh well, there is always next time.
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