Today we
ventured in to uncharted territory. We have had our eyes on The Wheatsheaf in
Titchfield for a while now, and can now add it to our list of conquests. It's a
good old country/village pub, which prides itself on good quality food.
The early
signs were good as it was one of the busier pubs we've been to in a while.
Things got a little sour upon reaching the bar however. When we asked if we
were alright to get some food, we would usually get a reply along the lines of,
"Yes of course, take a seat and I'll bring some menu's over". Today
though we were first told there might be a bit of a wait, that's fair enough if
you're busy. We were then asked if we wanted to order off the bar menu, without
having menus explained. We were then given a menu and asked immediately what we
wanted so the order could be put through. I'm not someone who has panic
attacks, but I wasn't far off it then. I like to take my time looking at menu's
and thinking about my options. After resigning myself to ordering fish and
chips through blind panic, at the last minute I asked if they were doing a
turkey roast, it being nearly Christmas and all. Turns out they were. It was apparently
on the main menu, but I was allowed to order it in the bar. Taking a deep
breath we collected our drinks and headed for a table to gather our whit's.
As we
waited under the oak beams for our food, we chatted and soaked up the
atmosphere of a festive and bustling British pub. It was a nice change to share
a pub with other humans after last week's solitary experience. It turned out
that the wait wasn't that long after all, and as Dad's sausage and mash was
placed in front of him and my roast in front of me, I thanked the food God's
that I'd asked about the Christmas dinner, I even got a Yorkshire, none of this
only with roast beef nonsense. I had a generous portion of rolled turkey breast
with a stuffing inside, and beautiful roast potatoes, which I later learned
were cooked in goose fat. My vegetables came in their own dish and included
stunning little roast parsnips. At the other end of the spectrum, my Dad wasn't
quite so excited about his food. He said the food itself was very good, but it
wasn't what was offered on the menu. It was advertised as sausage with champ
mash and caramelised onion gravy, and there in lay the problem. The champ had
been usurped by its less interesting cousin, standard mashed potato, and the caramelised
onions were conspicuous by their absence, thus rendering an interesting dish in
to a very ordinary one.
All in all
we had a good time and enjoyed the food, me more than Dad, but we were reminded
of last week's trip and subsequent disappointment at how a pub so close to five
star can let itself down in small ways. The atmosphere was pretty good, but it
could have been that bit better with a chilled out Christmas playlist coming
through the speakers rather than a radio station, maybe we're turning in to pub
snobs. Again, as seems to be a regrettable growing trend, most things were a
touch overpriced. Dad's sausage and mash was £10, which doesn't sound bad, but
think about what it is. Two sausages and some potato, there weren't even any
vegetables. I could make that for about £1. Service was a bit of a mixed bag,
with one of the waitresses being lovely, and one of the barmaids seeming like
she was finding it hard to keep her bad mood under control.
We wouldn't
put you off eating at The Wheatsheaf, the food was very good, mine in
particular, and it is a nice cosy pub. We have a few other Titchfield pubs on
our hit list and will of course keep you informed as to their quality.
Atmosphere 8
Service 5
Food 8
Value 6
Verdict 4*
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