The Hemlock Stone and Dragon
Bramcote Lane
Wollaton
Nottingham
NG8 2QQ
0115 928 4463
Website | No email listed
Visit: September 2009
Summary: Beautiful food and good value.
First time we went was with work, where we sampled a finger food buffet, which we both quite enjoyed. We decided to meet up with some friends here, and to our surprise, it turned out to not be a fairly standard, British pub - it's also a Thai restaurant! And a great one to boot! Thai restaurants are normally a bit higher in price than some other restaurants, but this one offered very good value, and the food both fulfilled and exceeded our expectations.
Starters: We were four people sharing the Kingfisher and the Tiger Platters (£9.95 for each, both serve two). They were out of duck spring rolls, so we got the vegetable ones instead, but they didn't disappoint! Normally, spring rolls aren't that interesting, but these ones were very tasty indeed. Both platters came with sweet chilli sauce and satay sauce for dipping, and all the food was well cooked and full of flavours.
Mains: Lamb Massaman (£6.95): "A mild curry flavoured with coconut milk, cinnamon and peanuts. Garnished with diced potato, crisp shallots and ground peanuts. Served with Thai fragrant rice." Pad Gai Med Mamuang Himmaparn (£6.45): "Chicken stir-fried with cashew nuts, pineapple and dried chillies in light soy sauce. Served with Thai fragrant rice." The lamb was perhaps not as tender as it could have been, but we were too distracted by the fantastic fragrant, spicy sauce to care. The stir-fry was a bit more standard, although that standard was rather high.
Desserts: They have a selection of both British and oriental desserts that sounded very tempting, but we were too full from a lovely dinner to order any!
Service: A bit on the slow side, but it was a very busy Friday night, so we're not surprised.
Inside: Bar separated from restaurant area. Contemporary décor, seems to have been done up recently. Not afraid of colour - in a good way! Relaxing atmosphere. The Thai restaurant part has darker colours and is tasteful and not gaudy, like you get in some places.
Outside: On the Wollaton Vale/Bramcote Lane roundabout, so close to the main Wollaton shopping street, close to buses. Easy access and plenty of parking.
We came there expecting a British pub with some decent food, judging from the buffet we had tried previously, and came away with bellies full of delicious Thai food. They stop serving the more traditional English pub food at 6pm, and after that there's only the Thai. The place was busy, as we went there on a Friday night, but you can make restaurant reservations if you want to sit in the proper restaurant part. We sat in the in-between area, where the only option was the limited "pub menu" as opposed to the full à la carte menu, and you can't order from the restaurant menu in what's effectively classed as the bar.
Would we go here again? Absolutely. Not only was it a good night out, it was a nice place to dine and the food was great. Perhaps not the Best Ever Thai we've ever had, but close enough. Besides, if we go on a different night than the Friday, maybe it won't be as busy.
The Hemlock Stone & Dragon have partners all over the country. Oh, and they also do collection only takeout. For takeout, they seem to have the whole à la carte restaurant menu on offer as well.
Tuesday 15 September 2009
Larwood & Voce (West Bridgford): Review
The Larwood and Voce Pub and Kitchen
Fox Road
West Bridgford
Nottingham
NG2 6AJ
0115 981 9960
Website | Email
Visit: September 2009
Summary: Disappointing. Over-salted and over-priced.
This Bridgford gastropub has a very promising menu, lots of things that sound very tasty. Because of the style of pub, the higher prices are to be expected, but it also means expectations go up. Granted, we visited on a fairly busy night as members of a party, but that doesn't hide the fact that the food wasn't quite up to scratch. Not to say that we are food experts by any stretch of the imagination, but we can tell the difference between seriously good food and average food - and this was average, at best.
Starters: We had potted duck and a pork terrine, both around £5 each. The potted duck came in a cute little glass container with lid (like a smaller version of one of these) and was served at room temperature. It didn't taste of duck very much and felt very greasy. It was served with some toast, one of the slices half-burned. The pork terrine was served cold on a bed of lettuce which had seen better days - parts of it was brown and mushy. It had a nice flavour, went very well with the apple sauce it came with. Tasty, not outstanding.
Mains: Roast chicken with sage roasted new potatoes and gravy (£12.50) and - lifted straight from the online menu - Grilled Manor farm sirloin (16oz on the bone) chips in dripping & Bérnaise sauce (£19.95). The sirloin was ordered medium/rare... came in medium/well done. The allegedly award-winning chips didn't seem any different from the one we could get in a local chippy, for a fraction of the cost. The béarnaise sauce we have in a packet in the kitchen cupboard had a nicer flavour and doesn't seem to just be some fatty bit without flavour! The chicken was quite small with some overly salted potatoes on the side, some overly salted and very crispy sliced broad (?) beans. For the cost, we were expecting a lot more than this. If it had been a big chain pub with 2-for-1 offers, fair enough, but for a pub which makes itself out to be a great restaurant, it was a big let-down. If we go out, we do so to be wowed by people who are better cooks than ourselves, but I think we would've had a much nicer meal at home, to be honest.
Desserts: Sticky toffee pudding with banana ice cream and a chocolate tart with hazelnuts and whipped cream, both around £5. The chocolate tart didn't seem to taste much of chocolate, and we expected the hazelnuts to be sort of integrated in it, not sprinkled on top, but it was a nice slice. The sticky toffee pudding was rather nice, as it happened. Good flavour, sticky, spungy and warm.
Service: A bit on the slow side, but we were part of a large-ish party, so that it takes some time before food comes out is to be expected, really.
Inside: Standard pub, nothing special. Bar separated from restaurant area.
Outside: It's a big building next to the Trent Bridge cricket ground, doesn't seem to have enough parking spots.
Earlier in the day, we had looked at the menu on the website and thought it sounded really nice, looked forward to the evening. Once we got there, we were just disappointed, unfortunately. We would not decide to dine there again based on this experience, as there are better establishments in the area. On the plus side, they source all their ingredients locally and the bread we had before the starters came in was lovely, even if the butter tasted a bit funny.
It was an okay meal, but that's all. If we had wanted an okay meal, we can just go to a place like the Harvester and only pay half the price. If we're going to spend over £30 on main courses alone, we expect something rather delicious, not "we could've done this better at home". We would've at least expected the steak to be as ordered...
The Larwood & Voce are a part of the local Mole Face Pub Company, who also run the Lord Nelson in Burton Joyce and the Wollaton in Wollaton. We might try those out as well, at some point. Maybe.
Fox Road
West Bridgford
Nottingham
NG2 6AJ
0115 981 9960
Website | Email
Visit: September 2009
Summary: Disappointing. Over-salted and over-priced.
This Bridgford gastropub has a very promising menu, lots of things that sound very tasty. Because of the style of pub, the higher prices are to be expected, but it also means expectations go up. Granted, we visited on a fairly busy night as members of a party, but that doesn't hide the fact that the food wasn't quite up to scratch. Not to say that we are food experts by any stretch of the imagination, but we can tell the difference between seriously good food and average food - and this was average, at best.
Starters: We had potted duck and a pork terrine, both around £5 each. The potted duck came in a cute little glass container with lid (like a smaller version of one of these) and was served at room temperature. It didn't taste of duck very much and felt very greasy. It was served with some toast, one of the slices half-burned. The pork terrine was served cold on a bed of lettuce which had seen better days - parts of it was brown and mushy. It had a nice flavour, went very well with the apple sauce it came with. Tasty, not outstanding.
Mains: Roast chicken with sage roasted new potatoes and gravy (£12.50) and - lifted straight from the online menu - Grilled Manor farm sirloin (16oz on the bone) chips in dripping & Bérnaise sauce (£19.95). The sirloin was ordered medium/rare... came in medium/well done. The allegedly award-winning chips didn't seem any different from the one we could get in a local chippy, for a fraction of the cost. The béarnaise sauce we have in a packet in the kitchen cupboard had a nicer flavour and doesn't seem to just be some fatty bit without flavour! The chicken was quite small with some overly salted potatoes on the side, some overly salted and very crispy sliced broad (?) beans. For the cost, we were expecting a lot more than this. If it had been a big chain pub with 2-for-1 offers, fair enough, but for a pub which makes itself out to be a great restaurant, it was a big let-down. If we go out, we do so to be wowed by people who are better cooks than ourselves, but I think we would've had a much nicer meal at home, to be honest.
Desserts: Sticky toffee pudding with banana ice cream and a chocolate tart with hazelnuts and whipped cream, both around £5. The chocolate tart didn't seem to taste much of chocolate, and we expected the hazelnuts to be sort of integrated in it, not sprinkled on top, but it was a nice slice. The sticky toffee pudding was rather nice, as it happened. Good flavour, sticky, spungy and warm.
Service: A bit on the slow side, but we were part of a large-ish party, so that it takes some time before food comes out is to be expected, really.
Inside: Standard pub, nothing special. Bar separated from restaurant area.
Outside: It's a big building next to the Trent Bridge cricket ground, doesn't seem to have enough parking spots.
Earlier in the day, we had looked at the menu on the website and thought it sounded really nice, looked forward to the evening. Once we got there, we were just disappointed, unfortunately. We would not decide to dine there again based on this experience, as there are better establishments in the area. On the plus side, they source all their ingredients locally and the bread we had before the starters came in was lovely, even if the butter tasted a bit funny.
It was an okay meal, but that's all. If we had wanted an okay meal, we can just go to a place like the Harvester and only pay half the price. If we're going to spend over £30 on main courses alone, we expect something rather delicious, not "we could've done this better at home". We would've at least expected the steak to be as ordered...
The Larwood & Voce are a part of the local Mole Face Pub Company, who also run the Lord Nelson in Burton Joyce and the Wollaton in Wollaton. We might try those out as well, at some point. Maybe.
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