There’s no real reason to write
about the The Rat Inn and Parkers Arms in the same post other
than the fact they are, in my opinion, two of the best food pubs in the
country; I firmly believe that fans of one would love the other.
They may not have Michelin stars
like Hand
& Flowers, Pipe
& Glass Inn or Black
Swan but they are everything a good gastropub should be… enough 'pub' to appease the locals with enough 'gastro' to please the travelling “foodies”.
My love affair with Parkers is well
documented on my blog and twitter feed but, having heard so many good things
and a few recommendations from chefs, The Rat Inn (in Anick, Hexham) is one of
those places I have been meaning to visit for quite some time.
Researching Anglo Saxons and Romans
for a school project, I found myself in the North East the other day and it
seemed the perfect opportunity to pay
“The Rat” in a visit - at least it would have been a perfect opportunity had they not been about to go on a rare holiday…
just my luck!
Luck was with me in a way though, as
I managed to catch the final lunch service before the kitchen closed for a
week; the catch being that they were only offering a partial menu. I had my
heart set on the Pan Haggerty so this was a bit of a shame.
My initial disappointment was soon
forgotten when my starter arrived – Chicken
& black pudding terrine. You just cannot grumble at this type of food.
For my main, I went with the hearty
pub classic of ‘sausage & mash’ – Northumberland
sausage, leek and potato cake and onion gravy to be more precise. The
sausages were great quality and the gravy was proper, complete with lashings of
onion. Equally ‘proper’ were the chips.
For dessert, a decadently rich and
moist Chocolate & Newcastle Brown
Ale cake seemed the thing to have with Newcastle just down the road. It
proved a good choice.
With its stunning views, homely feel
and delightful service The Rat certainly lived up to expectations and I’ll
certainly be back in the NE sometime for that Pan Haggerty.
 |
| Parkers Arms |
Now to Parkers Arms, another place with wonderful views and charming
service from the charismatic AJ.
In the area, I called in without a
booking. I asked the kitchen to send out a few nibbles; ordered a crab dish and
grouse for starter and main… you gotta make the most of the short season.
Nibbles included Chef Stosie’s
magical Potato & Rooster scratchings;
some naughty Smoked bone marrow and a dinky skewer of Cockles with fennel mayo, fennel salad & a cockle jus.
The Crab Blini with Lemon Mayo may not have looked like the most spectacular
of dishes but it tasted immense - it consisted of a Blini made with brown crab
meat, topped with white meat, dill and lemon butter.
My Abbeystead Grouse & Pork Terrine with Parkers Piccalilli was a
perfect example of honest, hearty country cooking. It’s this style of nonsense
flavour and produce driven cooking that prompted the glowing review form the
Guardian’s Jay Rayner (see
here).
Jay was a fan of the pies. ‘Hand
raised’ with a glossy hot water crust pastry, it’s easy to see why. Jay had
‘Venison & Pork’ in his and I’ve heard talk of a fabulous sounding ‘Salt
marsh lamb & cockle’ filling. The pie of the day on my visit was ‘Abbeystead Grouse & Whimberry’ a
tremendous thing equalled in quality by the chips.
Both The Rat Inn and Parkers Arms
are truly special places – there are not enough of these pubs around –
unpretentious gastropubs where the food speaks for itself.
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