Called in at the request of the owner to update my review as the property changed hands some time ago.

We called in at the request of the owner to update my review as the property changed hands some time ago.

I'm pleased to be able to see that everything appeared in good order, including the once tired car park. The bar area is tiny, only one table and a couple of chairs, so this is now very much a foodie pub rather than a local's drinking establishment. The restaurant area isn't huge, probably around 45 covers, and on the evening we called was very busy so reservations are recommended.
There is a lunch time and evening menu, but there is a huge overlap between them. We called in the evening where there was a standard menu and a small specials menu with one starter, two mains and one pudding on it. One of the standard fishcake starters had been changed to a different mix of fish, and one of the standard mains changed during the evening from chicken to guinea fowl, so there does seem to be some additional variation on the menu.

I had the crab and prawn fishcake starter, which was tasty and served with a small dressed salad. I followed this with chicken wrapped in bacon Grilled chicken supreme wrapped in smoked bacon and stuffed with pork, leek and herbs served with a sweet creamy Madeira sauce: this came with a choice of potatoes (I went with Gratin) and a mixture of vegetables (green beans, carrots and broccoli). My partner had a fillet steak but asked to change the Rossini-style presentation with pate for a green peppercorn sauce which they happily agreed to. The steak came with green beans wrapped in bacon, sautéed mushrooms and hand cut chips. In general all the food was really pretty good. The steak was a little over-salted and the green beans were burnt at the ends (doesn't show up too clearly in the available light picture) which is disappointing.

We finished off with Bailey's Belgian chocolate crème brûlée and a sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel sauce and honeycomb ice cream. Both were very good, although the crème brûlée didn't taste that much of Baileys.

Overall it was much better than my previous visit. The food was good, but could be better. Similarly the service was slightly lacking: nobody ever asked us if the food was OK whilst we were eating it, and sometimes getting someone to provide something took a couple of attempts on occasions.

Overall worth a look if you want some home cooked good pub grub.

Smallish bar, with a small selection of snack-style bar foods but with over 100 whiskies available worth a look!

Great selection of wines from normal to interesting and expensive: recommended.

Great greasy spoon with an all day breakfast from £4.40 up to the Full Monty (2 Eggs, 3 Bacon, 2 Lincolnshire Sausages, Black Pudding, Baked Beans, Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Fried Slice, 2 Hash Browns, 2 Toast, Tea or Coffee) for £8.50.
Large car park and popular especially with bikers, recommended.