Is there anywhere along the Monsal trail worth stopping off for food/drink?
After catching up with this thread and a couple of recent experiences I'm tempted to stop eating in pubs in the Peak
Lazy trout, meerbrook. Owner is chef/cook. Proper homemade great pub food. Excellent value too. Good beers. Friendly. Fire in winter. Dogs fine. (Paul - am duplicating fb message here as this pub deserves UKB custom - best pub food near roaches i reckon).
As I should have posted here to start with...Quote from: jamiev on March 23, 2012, 03:16:18 pmLazy trout, meerbrook. Owner is chef/cook. Proper homemade great pub food. Excellent value too. Good beers. Friendly. Fire in winter. Dogs fine. (Paul - am duplicating fb message here as this pub deserves UKB custom - best pub food near roaches i reckon).Ate here Sunday night and it was exactly how Jamie describes...
My husband and I have just returned from an extremely poor evening meal at The Samuel Fox. First impressions were good, the venue is pleasant enough and the views amazing. The menu choices were also very good, plenty of choice and some innovative sounding combinations. The problems commenced with the starters. When mine arrived the presentation was first class but it somehow managed to be completely tasteless! The crab cakes were really potato cakes although I did see crab in them and the scallops, although perfectly cooked just tasted of the griddle they had been cooked on. The accompanying sauce was completely bland. Meanwhile, on the table of 6 adjacent to us there were problems with cold mash and meals being returned to the kitchen, hmmmm. On to mains then with trepidation .My Husband's pork was very good and the sauce had a great flavour but the mash was lumpy. My hake then arrived and although cooked to perfection, the saffron mash was overpowering and cold and lumpy. It was replaced with apologies but having had two back previoulsy I thought this was totally unacceptable and sloppy attention to detail. The shellfish sauce was so scanty it was difficult to ascertain what it actually tasted of. Vegetables have to be ordered separately and if you forget there is no prompt from the waiter to remind you; when ours finally arrived my husband had finished his dinner. Like the table of six next to us we had lost total confidence in the food and passed on dessert; I have never eaten out at a fine dining establishment and not at least looked at the dessert menu. Overall I was terribly disappointed with the food and this is not a cheap place to eat. Cold, lumpy mash on a £15.00 course? I wouldn't serve that on a weekday meal! Would not recommend and would not return.
Not quite Peak but close. Went to the Devonshire Arms at Middle Handley for Sunday lunch a few weeks ago. It's was voted as best restaurant and best gastro pub last year by Eat Sheffield. It's not really pub grub, it's full-on gastro - you wouldn't go here for a pint. But anyway, the food we had was really good, the place is pleasant and it wasn't stupidly spenny.
Been to the Angler's Rest in millers dale today, the one on the turnoff for the Tor. Not been for uears but to my relief its still good solid unfussy trad pub food, nice ales and a very friendly staff especially welcoming to kids. Barmaid had an impressive 24" afro which is worth the drive in itself.
