Three Horseshoes, Breedon on the Hill, DE73 8AN

I’ve tried most, but in my opinion one of the best hangover cures at the weekend is a Sunday lunch, a couple of drinks and then hit the sofa, for a James Bond repeat and some zzzzz’s.....
So with my two partners in crime from the previous night Ann & Kim, we glide off towards Breedon on the Hill near Melbourne, to get stuck-in.
This former farriers building has been lovingly converted to a contemporary pub whilst retaining its ‘old world charm’, with an eclectic mix of tables, chairs and trinkets. The marraige between real ale and dinning pub, is spot on.

Pedigree, Pimms and a plate of bread and olives were called upon, in attempt to dismantle the remnants of our hangovers. No suprise that rather too much of the finger-lickin garlic bread was consumed prior to the arrival of mains. I fall for that one every time!
Pork with customary apple sauce and sage & onion stuffing for Ann (£12.50), roast leg of lamb with pease pudding for Kate (£12.50), breast of chicken with rosemary, barley & garlic pour moi (£16.95), all accompanied by a selection of veg, including carrots with broad beans, red cabbage, cauliflower cheese and a pile of roasties.

My chicken was moist and the combination of barley, herbs and garlic in a light gravy worked well, even though I considered it a wintery combination. Kates lamb dinner was shrouded with a blanket of rich dark gravy, it was a good job she was a fan. Her pease pudding was a bit salty, but a pleasant change to the expected rosemary or mint sauce. The presentation however was careless and her plate looked a bit 'school dinner'.

Ann troughed her way through her generous amount of pork and accompaniments, small grunts between mouthfulls gave an impression of contentment. The four oval dishes of crisp vegetables were faultless and it was great to be served broad beans, I forgot how much I've missed them.
Suitable service was maintained throughout and despite my eyelids starting to shut-up-shop, we couldn't resist a dessert. It was the handmade chocolates for Ann (£4.99), six hand made chocolate truffles including lemon & coffee. Like many, I always ignore the coffee flavour chocolates in the box of Christmas Milk Tray, but I was taken aback by the subtle sweet cappuccino flavoured truffle. Kates bread & butter pudding (£5.49) was comforting and approprately wobbly but lacked the sugary crust I prefer, due to its blast in the microwave. Yours truly had the bakewell tart (£5.49), a hadmade slice of fragipane tart, with custard. A Derbyshire classic, but a bit on the dry side.
The alcohol and food made us all drowsy as the blood desserted our brains and glided off towards our stomachs.......
It was an enjoyable lunch, but provenance asside, £90 including a bottle of wine was a bit stiff, especially £17 for my chicken dish, you can get a 3 course Sunday lunch at Masa for just £18. A bit more attention to presentation could certainly add value to their prices. Nonetheless if you're feelingh flush and fancy a drive out, then the Three Horseshoes is definately worth a look.
The sofa beckons, I wonder if it will be "Octopussy" or "Live and Let Die".........

Food 6.5/10

Service 7.5/10

Venue 8/10

Tel: 01332 695129
www.thehorseshoes.com

The Black Swan, 44 Market Place, Belper, Derbyshire, DE1 1FZ.

I believe that Belper is a town going somewhere. An award winning independent cinema, where you can have a bottle of wine whilst watching a movie, an Aladdin's Cave of a deli, a well attended farmers market and several new eateries including the recently re-furbished Black Swan in the Market Place, not to be confused with the Black Swan at Idridgehay (which is also near Belper).

It's a Tuesday,

We don't want to cook,

We don't want to go far,

We want "decent midweek grub!". Let's go........

There are three concepts on the go here: formal dinning downstairs, pub food in the bar or wait for it..... tapas in the bar too! We gotta try that.

Not just Spanish dishes on offer here (in fact most aren't Spanish) but various plates of noshable goodies and morsels from around the globe. We asked for some marinated olives (£2.00) to soak up our two pints of Carling, the other half wasn't keep on the strong cumin flavour, not what I would have expected either, but for two quid, who's complaining.

To share we chose a portion of kofte kebab (£3.50), regular nachos (£3.95), spicy potatoes (£3.00) and hallouimi with sweet chilli sauce (£3.50). If you look at that again, we've got middle east (kebabs), Mexico (nachos), Turkish/Greek (halloumi), far east (sweet chilli sauce) and the spicy potatoes can be anywhere you bloody want them to be!

The kebabs were three lamb skewers served with a chunky glass of tzatziki, they got polished off immediately. The unusual mix off halloumi with sweet chilli sauce actually worked quite well. Thick slices of deep fried "sweeky" halloumi with a glass of sweet chilli sauce, again all gone. The spicy potatoes weren't saying much and the landlord agreed with me when he collected the plates. Why serve it then ???!!!! However the large bowl of nachos we shared was top drawer. No tortilla chips or Doritos here (honestly I've had cheesy Doritos in a nachos before!) but proper large flour tortillas, deep fried and served with a generous blob of salsa, sour cream and guacamole. I'd have that again ( and I did the next day, but regretably we were told they'd ran out of guacamole, how frustrating).

It was fair to middle and I'd have another go some time, however I'd like to hear from any one that's been to their restaurant. Considering it was just over twenty smackers including a couple of pints, it was a bargain.

Food 5.5/10

Service 6/10

Venue 5/10

Tel: 01773 823000

"Let's wait for the blackout, The light is too bright, Let's wait for the blackout, Wait for the night" (Wait for the Blackout, The Damned, 1982)