The Pryordurkins

Posts Tagged ‘gloucestershire’

With nearly seven hundred driven miles under our belts we are back at home having made fleeting visits to relatives in the south of the country.  Starting out on Friday we headed off to Bury St Edmonds for a Durkin family lunch, before spending the night in Huntingdon with my sister.  Saturday then had us heading off to Milton Keynes for a Pryor family lunch before setting off the Quedgley in Gloucestershire for tea with the in-laws.  After tea we made our way from Quedgley back home to York arriving around 10pm.

Sunday was a fairly laid back affair with a bit of shopping at the local garden centre and all seemed to be going well until Monday morning when Paul woke in the early hours feeling like death warmed up.  Paul has come down with a stomach bug; the symptoms of which are too graphic to mention here, but even my sense of sarcasm can’t hide the fact that he really doesn’t look well.  Doctors advice so far, is to rest and if nothing improves in 24 hours to call him out.

So Monday has me, following a very nice haircut and close wet shave from Alex at Cube this morning, carefully tip toeing around the house, making as little noise as possible hoping Paul will sleep through most of the day.

I’m hoping it’s not a virus that’s spreadable!

We took Walter and Mavis to the Egypt Mill Hotel and Restaurant in Nailsworth for evening dinner.  We arrived a touch before 8pm and were quickly seated in this Cotswold stone built Mill.  The place was already busy with fellow diners.  Mavis went for a Parma Ham starter, Dusty opted for Thai Fish Cakes and I went for the Chicken Livers with mushrooms.  All were priced at around £6.00 and were very good indeed.  For mains, I went for Shirleys Steak and Kidney pudding, Dusty went for pan fried Chicken, Walter opting for slow roast Belly Pork and Mavis having a peppered rib eye steak.  These were broadly priced around the £14.00 mark and were excellent value indeed.  Well cooked, beautifully presented and accompanied by fresh seasonal vegetables.  Washed down with a decent Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon for Mavis and I, with a Guinness for Walter and a chilled sparkling water for Dusty (guess who was driving).

We were seated behind the original and still functioning water wheel which was a great backdrop to a very nice evening.

Score: 3 Stars. Visited May 08.

Telephone: +44 (0)1453 833449

Before heading home from Walter and Mavis’ we had booked Sunday Lunch at The Old Forge Inn, on Briston Road in Whitminster. Entering the bar we remembered we had been here once before for an evening meal. The walls are covered with boxes displaying those little spoons you can collect as a tourist. The bar was quite busy and we were quickly served our drinks. Sitting in the bay window we looked forward to a pleasant meal ahead. Our orders were taken after having read the plastic menus for both lunchtime and evening meals.
The Old Forge is a small pub and very cosy. It serves Uley Ales as a free house and the owner seems to be a cheerful chap accompanied by his ‘a little too helpful’ son. The table was nicely laid out with a clean crisp table cloth but let down with paper napkins. (I hate paper napkins)

The food was served quite quickly and we tucked in. The meals were fine and plentiful served with fresh vegetables. By far the best though, was Walters Ham, Egg and Chips. The Ham looked beautiful, hand carved and freshly cooked. Having to drive back, Dusty and I stuck to fruit juice and mineral water, while Walter and Mavis enjoyed a little tipple. It was their Wedding Anniversary after all and we toasted the event.

Let us know what you think..

Score: 2 Stars. Visited November 2007.

Telephone 01452 741306

While visiting Dusty’s parents we decided to have lunch at The Crown of Crucis, near Cirencester. The car park was empty as we pulled up at around 1 o’clock on Saturday the 3rd November. We had booked ourselves a table in the restaurant thinking it would be the best part of the hotel to eat in. We’ll come to why this was a silly assumption later. We were shown to our table having walked past quite a tempting display of deserts set out on a nicely laid but uncovered table. We ordered some drinks and sat down to study the restaurant menu and very comprehensive plastic bar menu. Part way through studying, we also discovered a dish of the day menu on the table alongside the paper napkins.

The bar menu was something else. Indian, Chinese, Italian, English and Mexican dishes were all on offer. The restaurant menu was mainly fish. We think they need to take some advice from Gordon Ramsay on simplifying. Anyway, Dusty set off to the Bar to place our order (even though we were in the restaurant!) and was barked at by the owner who could only be described as frightening. We started to see why the place was so quiet. Anyway the food was ordered and Dusty regained his calm composure and we waited. It was only at this point that we realised the restaurant was actually the poor relation compared to the rest of the place. The bar area was actually quite nice. It was cosy, had a great fireplace and looked liked some thought had been put into its design. The restaurant however was plain, soulless and cold.

The food arrived at our ‘now fixed’ wobbly table and we tucked into, Gammon, Egg & Chips (for me), Lamb Kaftas (for Dusty), Chicken Tandoori (for Walter) and Ham, Pineapple & Chips (for Mavis). The food was OK and scored between 2 and 3 on the rating scale for the individual meals.

It was time for desert and we set of to look at the tempting array set out, as mentioned earlier on the tables as you enter the restaurant. Two staff stood behind waiting to take my order and the matronly owner hovered barking orders at her staff to ‘hurry up’. As I arrived, she was scolding her staff for having served ‘too large a portion’ of Strawberry Gateau to Mavis who had gone up before. They looked nervous as I approached. Having quietly chosen, the owner barked again, telling her poor staff how to serve my desert. Even I was starting to feel scared by this point as was pleased to get back to the safety of my table. The deserts were quite nice but by this point, the staff were under orders now to set the restaurant tables for the next guests. Loudly shouting orders, we knew our time was up and we needed to leave.

An interesting visit all in all, if only to be scared a little by the overbearing owner. Even the bloke serving behind the bar rolled his eyes a few times as his boss/wife strode around giving instructions.

Give it a go if you fancy a meal with a difference and let us know what you think.

Score: 2 Stars. Visited November 2007.

Tel: +44(0)1285 851806