This time however, with a reservation in hand, we headed back for lunch. The place does get very busy and it is worth ringing ahead, probably by a week or so. When we arrived, the menu wasn't out of the kitchen yet, but I spied some large deep fried balls on the pass and enquired as to what they were with the waiter (uber friendly, but not in a creepy way). They were either arancini or scotch eggs. They were scotch eggs. Yes. Result.
Good examples with a nice runny yolk:
We were a bit stuck as to what to order for a starter. I wanted either the fish or meat board but both were fairly punchy price wise (£12 each) so we decided to share two boards amongst the three of us. Just as well as they were pretty large.
The fish board had some cured salmon with capers, fried calamari, a croquette, smoked mackerel, potted shrimp and some rye bread. Pretty good but not amazing.
The meat board wasn't the usual assortment of charcuterie, coming with a really good rich liver pate, duck "proscuitto", some kind of terrine (I wasn't wild about it), pigs head croquette et al.
We also got a side order of "pig trotter wonton with sweet chili sauce". The batter and sauce were great but I couldn't really detect what was inside. It could have been anything. I did clean the plate though. Anything fried with sweet chili sauce floats my boat.
Feeling pretty full, I began to regret ordering the fish and chips for main. Having said that, the chips were great, the fish perfectly cooked and the batter delicious and crispy apart from the yeasty taste from the occasional soggy bit. Pretty good stuff though.
PJ had the "pork knuckle/hand" with sauerkraut which was in my opinion a little tough.
PJ then also had some kind of chocolate truffle thing for dessert which she seemed to like. I had a coffee and we were on our way. The food here is very good for a pub. It is easy to see why the place is packed. The service is the best I have ever had in a pub and strikes the perfect balance between being efficient and being intrusive.
Monster Munch Rating: 75%
Bull and Last
http://www.thebullandlast.co.uk
