Occasion: Sunday Lunch
Party Size: 2
Overall Rating: *** Average
Date Visited: December 2012Price Per Person: £10.00
The Mustard Pot in Chapel Allerton is well known for its charm and quality of food. This traditional pub can be found on Stainbeck Lane and has ample car parking spaces. It is ideally located for those who want to start off their evening locally in Chapel Allerton or for those wanting to drive out to a nice pub for lunch.
The pub itself is quite small and it does get busy so on a Sunday I would therefore suggest to book a table or expect to wait up to an hour to be seated.
When you walk through the door you are immediately walking in to tables to either side of you with dining customers. First impressions were good as this place is cosy and informal an ideal venue to catch up with friends, family or even suitable for a relaxed date. The décor is bang on trend with exposed brick walls, solid wood flooring and cream and green walls with rustic touches throughout. Straight ahead is a bar which again is fairly small but is well stocked with real ales, wines, spirits and a very good selection of soft drinks.
The team of workers here were young, friendly and attentive and that was consistent from the duty manager through to the waitress and bar tenders.
We didn’t book on this occasion but we only had to wait just over half an hour at 1pm. The bar area is very pleasant and relaxed so we were happy to have a drink and felt very comfortable chatting on a high stool at the bar before being shown to a table.
When we were seated I must admit I was initially disappointed with the menu. The only choice on a Sunday is Sunday lunches and a couple of specials e.g. Risotto and Seabass. Unless you specifically want a Sunday roast then the options are limited. However, mid week the menu does offer a little more choice with the focus being around pub classics such as Bangers and Mash, Fish and Chips and Rump of Lamb and prices for mains ranging from £9-£16.
The prices for the Sunday Roasts were average for what you would expect to pay for a good quality lunch starting from £9 for the Nut Roast to £11.50 for Lamb. Specials were £12-15 per main course.
I went for the Roast Chicken priced at £10, at the time of ordering I asked if the chicken was on the bone and assured it wasn’t so for it to arrive on the bone was a shame as I would have ordered something else. However, the chicken was well cooked, the skin was crispy and the chicken was juicy. This was a large portion of meat and the serving of the side vegetables was plenty for 2. I think this roast missed the vital ingredient to accompany any roast chicken and that was stuffing – which was a disappointing. 
My friend ordered the Roast Beef priced at £11 and again the amount of beef served was very good and it was cooked perfectly – medium rare. The gravy was rich and tasty and there was plenty on the plate. Both meals were served with steamed vegetables, (green cabbage, carrots and broccoli medley) which was a bit inconsistent; some of the veg was cooked perfectly whereas the broccoli was almost impossible to cut through – very under done. The creamed leeks were gorgeous in a very rich, creamy sauce and the Yorkshire pudding was a good size. The roast potatoes were ok, not quite crispy or fluffy enough for my liking, so nothing special.
We didn’t manage to finish all of our meal so serving wise this was good value for money.
Overall I think this was a nice tasting Sunday Roast but disappointed with the overall consistency and the small touches, given that The Mustard Pot claim to “offer award winning food”– I wouldn’t go that far! However, the setting is relaxed and this place has a great ambience with good service.
No comments:
Post a Comment