Victoria hotel, Dovecote Lane, Beeston, NG9 1JG

After over 2 months of fanying about, I decided it was time to get my ass into gear and complete the circuit of Derby districts finest eateries and re-visit some again, en route.
The furthest blip on my radar is currently the Victoria Hotel in Beeston, a bit close to Nottingham I hear some of you saying, but we got there in my motor quicker than you can say "Derby County 3, Nottingham Forest O" (December 2004 - honest).
Tucked amongst a housing estate, next to Beeston train station and with sardine tight parking, the Victoria hotel ticks bundles of boxes. A gem of a real ale pub, that also prides itself on it’s massive selection of blended and single malt whiskies, live music during selected Saturday and Sunday afternoons and reputedly pukka pub food, oh and it’s mobile free..... fan-pub-tastic!
I believe the evenings can be chock-a-block, but this lunchtime we had no problem getting a table in the sun filled main room.
Real ale, cider and a couple of lagers were ordered and within minutes two plates of shared starters arrived. Both vegetarian, to allow all four of us share (my oldest school buddy being one of "them"). The vegetarian pate (£4.95) was basically mashed up blue cheese and extremely strong, but when taken with a bit of melba toast and some of the dressed salad it came down to earth. The second plate, of olives, hoummus and pitta attracted more attention with fingers of freshly grilled pitta to dip and share and some fat, sweet olives to soak up the beers.

For mains my veggie companion had the vegetarian burritos (£7.95). Three flour tortillas filled with a spicy been chilli and topped with melted cheese and sour cream, a crispy fresh salad kept it company. The ladies had scallops with pea risotto (£11.95) and a chicken supreme (£8.95). Three plump scallops wrapped in prosciuto, crowned a zesty lemon and pea risotto, whilst a pan fried breast of chicken came with a timbale of couscous and a diced pepper infused light gravy. The girls played musical plates until they were satisfied they'd tried enough of each others (well that’s part of the fun, isn’t it?).Yours truly had the Keftedes (£8.50), a trio of Greek style lamb meatballs with rice, sour cream and a crisp side salad. I wasn’t sharing mine with anyone!

There was still room in our tanks for a couple of desserts to share. The sticky toffee pudding with custard (£3.95) and apple crumble with custard (£3.95) were both “old school puds”, but I guess that’s what the doctor ordered.
This gaff is definitely worth a trip out. It’s just a shame it’s the other side of the M1 and under the wing of Nottingham.

Visit and enjoy, but take your “Up the Rams “ car sticker out of your car's rear window for the night !!

Oh, and my long standing veggie mate was as pleased as punch. Phew....

Food 8/10
Service 7/10

Venue 9/10

(Beer 9/10) I've added this in for the Vic.

Telephone: 0115 9254049

www.victoriabeeston.co.uk

The Bulls Head, Repton, DE65 6GF

I don’t know where I first got the word on the Bulls Head in Repton, but it’s been lingering on my “must go and visit soon” list for some time. The better half wants to go somewhere new for a Sunday lunch. So it’s off down the A38 (again!) in search of some decent grub.
Repton is our very own Etonian village, with a world-wide acclaimed public school dominating this tiny Derbyshire village. It’s no surprise then that there’s an abundance of quality pubs within it’s domain.
I was really impressed the second I walked through the door. Someone had managed to achieve the perfect fusion of restaurant and pub. The eclectic, antique, brik-a-brak interior is well thought out and I “loved it !”
Unfortunately this is where the essence of the Bulls Head started to go down the pan. Poor bar service, a delay with our table, burnt potatoes, disorganised waitresses, missing cutlery, etc, etc. resulted in a complimentary drink being offered.
When the starters appeared they looked as though the taxi had arrived before they were ready to go out. Nice flavours but scruffy, with no bread to accompany my tasty scallop & chorizo salad (£6.95) or Becs chicken liver parfait (£4.95).
The menu was limited and certainly lacked a chicken option. Two meat, two fish and two vegetarian seemed a bit disproportional to me. I had the Staffordshire topside of beef (£7.95) and Bec had the cinnamon roasted ‘Old Spot’ belly pork (£7.95). Burnt potatoes were replaced with fresh ones, which was the right thing to do, but again they were burnt! The beef was overcooked, but Bec said the belly pork was tasty and tender. We decided to go the whole hog and have a go at the desserts. The lemon curd Eton Mess (£4.95) was crunchy & zingy and well presented, but the sticky toffee pudding (£4.95) was heavy and lacking in expected gooey dates.
I just can’t believe they managed to ‘F’ it up so much. There’s obviously been a massive investment on somebody’s part to create such a slick interior, but yet again when push-comes-to-shove, they couldn't deliver. We could have called in on a bad day, but I can’t believe that so many mistakes could be a coincidence.
“Nice place, shame about the boat race” !!

Food 5/10
Service 4/10
Venue 9/10

Tel: 01283 704422

www.thebullsheadrepton.co.uk

Crown Inn, Marston Montgomery, Derbyshire.

My gastronomic weekend was rounded off with a visit to the Crown Inn at Marston Montgomery for Sunday lunch. Winner of the Derbyshire Food and Drink awards, for best pub/bistro of 2006. After a 30 minute tour of some Derbyshire country lanes (" I told you to turn right at that last roundabout!") we finally fell on the tiny hamlet of Marston Montgomery (about 8 miles south of Ashbourne).
The low beamed ceiling, warm red decor and old leather sofas gave the bar area a friendly feeling, and the young staff were courteous. Pint of Tim Taylor in hand and I was settling in well.
I had a starter of boudin blanc with brunoise vegetables, Bec had the game terrine with onion marmalade, both fresh and well presented plates, any remaining sauce & dressing was mopped up with the complimentary fresh bread. Moroccan shoulder of lamb with parsnip gratin pour moi, Roast rib eye of Derbyshire beef with chateau potatoes & Yorkshire pudding for Bec. I made a poor choice with the Moroccan lamb, Sunday's are about roasts, Yorskhire's and gravy, not apricots, cinnamon and nuts. It was good, but Bec had the right idea. The presentation was again modern and fresh, only the slightly charred parsnip gratin and the fact we had to fight over the one piece of broccoli in the bowl of shared veg, gave us any cause for complaint. Second pint of Tim Taylor and the car key was shoved in Bec's direction.
For a finale we had a portion of sticky toffee pudding and a slice of lemon torte, again the plates looked attractive and each came with a couple of hand made biscuits. There wasn't quite enough butterscotch sauce for my sticky toffee, but I'm one of those people that need lots of custard with the likes of Christmas pudding, when the custard or sauce runs out, it's game over for me. All in all, it was well worth the money, all starters were £3.95, mains £7.95 and puddings £3.95. A worthy winner. Just make sure you've got sat nav before you go!
Food 7.5/10
Service 8/10
Venue 7.5/10
Tel: 01889 591576
www.thecrowninn-derbyshire.co.uk

"Stranded, I'm so far from home" (I'm Stranded, The Saints, 1976)
Martin, Sunday 28th January 2007