Brickmakers Arms, Newton Solney, DE15 0SJ.

I don't know what's suffered most lately, my wallet or waistband? I've eaten out four days in a row and my cooker's starting to wonder if it's done something to upset me?
Today we've stepped over the Derbyshire border a couple of miles south of Willington, to the Brickmakers Arms in Newton Solney. I'd been hearing that this was "the" pub for Decent Grub.

The disproportionaly small bar made a tight holding area for customers waiting to be seated. It was a struggle to get served and I was overlooked a couple of times by the stretched barman. It certainly isn’t somewhere I'd suggest popping into for a pint.
Once seated I perused the menu which was obviously their Sunday lunch menu so it consisted of the usual suspects, roast beef, pork or lamb, scampi or cod and a couple of pies. We settled on the two courses for £10.95 option, three courses at £13.95 being far too much food for a lunch, but seemingly good value.
Bec had the chicken liver pate with Cumberland sauce. Definitely home made, it was smooth & buttery, but as usual the quantity of pate far outweighed the habitual morsel of bread. The superfluous garnish of apple, orange and kiwi, was unneccesary and seemed dated.
I had a punt at the black pudding with bubble & squeak with red wine & onion gravy. Two large discs of pudding, a pan fried potato cake and an ocean of slippery gravy. It was far too much for a starter. As my old man used to say "My eyes are bigger than my belly". He wouldn't say that if he could see my rapidly expanding mid-rif!

The mains were nothing to write home about, roast lamb for Bec and roast beef with Yorkshire pudding for myself. Two plates of slightly over cooked meat, with a large bowl of seasonal veg to share. The highlight was my mountainous Yorkshire, large and crunchy. Just like mother used to make (and still does).
It was a very average Sunday lunch, certainly not worth the drive, but for the locals I'm sure it hits the spot. It was chock-a-block today and almost claustrophobic.
I noted there was nothing in the main course selection for vegetarians.

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

Tel: 01283 702330

"Hey little rich boy.Take a good look at me.Why should I let it worry me.I'll never believe your better than me" (Hey Little Rich Boy, Sham 69, 1978)

The Mill Wheel, Hartshorne, Derbyshire, DE11 7AS

The short listed entries for the sixth Derbyshire Food and Drink Awards, organised by Derbyshire County Council, were announced a couple of weeks ago. I'd hoped to try and drop in on a few of the venues before the winners are announced on Thursday 25th October.
However time has slipped by and it now looks like The Mill Wheel at Hartshorne(*), shortlisted for Pub/Bistro of the year 2007, is going to be the only establishment I'm going to have time to grace between now and the 25th. At last we're gona get a decent Sunday lunch!

So it's off for a jaunt down windy country lanes with mother and Bec (a tip: don't sit in the back when you go via the Repton route. The constantly winding roads nearly caused me to be re-introduced to my breakfast!)
The Mill Wheel is a delightfull building, with a dramatic 24ft diameter water wheel dating back to the 18th century, greeting you as you walk in. Pretty impressive. However faux pas number 1 happened within a minute of arrival. There was no record of the booking I'd made the previous day, luckily they had a spare table in the dining room. We order a round of drinks. Just a soft drink for me, my stomach still thinks we're at Alton Towers. The downstairs bar area was extremely homely, a real fire and several sofas ensured maximum 'relax' factor. The 1st floor dining room regretably didn't have the same feel. Despite the original old beams, the large rectangular room felt more canteen than cosy. It oozed busy, industrious and slightly disorganised. Nevertheless our window table did ensure a lovely view of sunny autumnal fields.

Menus printed of sheets of A4 paper were thrust upon us, why they don't print a pile of menus and give every diner a fresh one, rather than a slightly crumpled one with a gravy stain in the corner, I'll never know. The cost is negligible, but the appearance is so much sharper. The table also felt a bit disorganised, with a tired single artificial lilly in a not-too-clean glass vase.
The starters were upon us. Chicken liver pate for Bec (£4.50) and ham hock terrine for myself. Both were accompanied by onion marmalade. They'd obviously made too much! The plates were well presented, clean in appearance and with just enough peppery rocket salad to accompany.
A large queen wasp circling our table kept us entertained until the main course. First I felt queezy, now I felt uneezy. Will I ever settle? Roast top side of beef for me (£8.95), roast leg of pork for mother (£7.95) and roast leg of lamb for Bec (£9.95) and two dishes of veg to share, the usual new potatoes, carrots & cauliflower. Three oversights then occured in quick succession. The second round of drinks never arrived, the requested horseradish and mint sauce didn't either and there was what I could only describe as a blighted spud amongst my veg, uuuurgh.
My accompanying Yorkshire pudding, had the texture of.......yes pudding. The oven & cooking oil obviously weren't hot enough when it went in. Everything screams "we can't cope".
My beef was also overdone for my liking, and I certainly wasn't given a choice. However all the meat was tender and we certainly weren't going to leave any behind.
When asked "was your meal ok?", I had to say "sorry it wasn't". They did what they only could and knocked off the price of one main. I got the impression they were short staffed and over booked today.
To be honest I was quite shocked that this is supposed to be in Derbyshire's top 5 pub/bistros. I just hope for their sake that the judges visited on a worthier day.
As we left the carpark I urged Bec to go back via the main road. I don't think my stomach can go through that again!

(*) For reference, the others in this category are:

Bluebell Inn, Farnah Green
The Chequers Inn, Froggatt Edge
The Holly Bush, Church Broughton
The Devonshire Arms, Beeley (Winner: Derbyshire dinning pub of the year , 2007)

Food 5/10
Venue 6/10
Service 5/10
Tel: 01283 550335

www.themillwheel.co.uk

"I`m sick to death of everything you do. And if I’m gonna have a puke, you bet yer life I’ll puke on you. I’m gonna be, gonna be sick on you" (Sick On You, The Boys, 1977)