Purefoy Arms

It used to be the case, not that long ago, that you could rely on a visit to a local pub for a meal resulting in sheer disbelief and disappointment by comparison with what you could rely on getting in France or Belgium. Happily that situation no longer exists, and now you can lunch at a venue in a little off-the-beaten-track village and find satisfaction and enjoyment in excellent cooking, a well-balanced and properly composed lunch tasting menu devised and executed by a young, ambitious and talented chef and not have to break the bank. The home-made bread was very good, and we enjoyed the “amuse-bouche” of confit onion, fried cheese and crispy onion, the three “mains” were strong tender wood pigeon with its olive crumb and onion jam, excellent local trout with fresh podded peas and a pea and tomato salsa, and a ‘surf and turf’ dish with good beef, excellent cod cheek, tomato biscuit crumb and a red wine jus. A top-class lemon and cream posset with blackberries preceded the dessert proper which contrasted chocolate ganache with a creamy orange ‘sorbet’. Altogether a vey enjoyable and great value lunch.