Ever an
optimist, whenever I stumble across an old lamp (admittedly rarely), I give it
a spirited rub in the hope that Barbara Eden will appear and grant me three wishes.
My first
would be for immortality; I’d then ask for unlimited riches and the third would
be a decent gastropub within a few minutes drive of where I live.
Unless I rapidly
find and rub many more lamps (or move house), none of these seem likely any
time soon.
If you live
in Bury however, you could be in luck. Probably not on the immortality front
and I’m guessing if you had unlimited riches, you’d have already move far away
from Bury… but, at least, you do now have a decent gastropub!
Not just
any old gastro pub either… after 3 years of restoration, The Clarence (established 1905) has been restored with many
original features, plus a few modern touches. Not least of which is the ‘Silver
Street Brewing Co.’ microbrewery, living the pub’s basement.
In the kitchen, Manchester born,
tattooed chef Liam Rutherford
returns to the north after spending several years working for Gary Rhodes; including
stints at the Michelin starred W1 and as Head Chef at Rhodes @ The Dome.
“From the Sea” – the ‘share board’ featured hot smoked salmon, beer battered haddock, ½
pint of Greenland prawns, some delicious rollmops and ‘Dave’s crusty white
bloomer’. It was all good stuff and nicely done. The beer batter had great
flavour; my one piece of constructive criticism would be for a little more piquancy in the tartar sauce.
Bury Black Pudding & Leek Croquettes – making use of the celebrated Bury
Black Pudding, these croquettes were very good indeed. A robust apple sauce
laced with the Clarence’s own Silver Street Porter acted as the perfect
consort.
Silver Street Beer Battered Fish & Chips – with the same beery batter from
the sharing board, this was another tasty piece of battered cod. I liked the
‘mushy peas’ had been mixed with a few whole ones for texture.
16oz Côte de Boeuf – the steak had some nice markings from the char grill and came with a
decent enough béarnaise. The skinny fries come with a house seasoning as
standard so it’s worth mentioning when ordering if you’d rather have them
plain.
Passion Fruit Bavarois, Carmelita Ice Cream – a lovely end to our meal with
plenty of deliciously sharp, tropical passion fruit flavour from the fresh
fruit and in the gelée.
With a Sunday Roast that comes in 3
sizes – kids, traditional and ‘Full Monty’ which includes cauliflower gratin,
champ mash and garlic & herb crusted bone marrow – we are sure to be back
soon!
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