The White Horse, Beeches Hill, 31st March 2011

Trev, Nick, Si, Doug, and Joe met for the 3rd meeting of the Pie Club at The White Horse on Beeches Hill, just outside Bishops Waltham. After a brisk 15 minute walk to the pub we were all looking forward to a pint of Bowman Swift One (one of our favourite beers) but we were disappointed that this was off, having just had a barrel change. So we had a pint of Sharp's Doom Bar 4% instead, at £3/pint, while we considered the menu. If the Swift One had been available it would have been £2.60/pint.

Nick bought the first round as penance for causing this pie club meeting to be delayed by a week. There was some discussion about a possible amendment to the constitution, making a round the penalty for any future delays.
 
There was a choice of 3 pies: Steak, Ale & mushroom Pie (£8.95), Lamb & Mint Pie (£9.25), or Chicken, Ham & Leek Pie (£8.95), all served with chips, carrots, french beans, swede, and gravy.

After another pint, Nick, Si and Doug opted for the Chicken, Ham & Leek Pie:

After being told that there only only 2 portions of this pie available (another disappointment) Nick graciously switched to the Steak, Ale & Mushroom Pie along with Joe:

 Trev was alone in choosing the Lamb & Mint Pie:

We all agreed that the fresh vegetables and the chips were very nicely cooked. For some reason the first two pies were brought to the table with gravy pre-applied, and the last 3 were not, but there was plenty of extra gravy available in 2 jugs. We also agreed that the pastry was excellent, being of the approved short crust variety, and fully enclosing the filling. A minor point, but we found the sachets of mustard difficult to open.

Trev seems to have made the best menu choice as he thought the Lamb & Mint Pie was excellent. Nick and Joe were also very pleased with their  Steak, Ale & Mushroom Pie. Doug & Si were not so impressed by the Chicken, Ham & Leek Pie, thinking it rather dry. Si complained about there not being much chicken or ham in his (apparently it was all in Doug's portion). It seems that the Chicken, Ham & Leek Pie was home-made (by the landlord, who was absent and unable to be held to account for this), and had possibly been on the menu for quite a long time, but the Lamb & Mint Pie was a recent addition to the menu. We enquired as to the origin of the other 2 pies, but the barman was unable to help. We may need to do more research in this area.

You can tell that Doug enjoyed his pie by seeing the state of his plate afterwards:

Portion sizes were a bit smaller than on earlier pie club outings, but still adequate, and we should bear in mind that the prices were also lower than on earlier pie club outings. Afterwards we all declined the offer of pudding except Nick, who couldn't resist the Spotted Dick with custard:

It was nice and tasty, with a good hint of spice, but the custard was not over-generous.

The ambience of the pub was disappointing: there were only 2 or 3 other customers; the log fire wasn't lit; there was a temporary barman on duty who didn't seem to have much idea of what was going on; there was only one beer on in a 2-beer pub. It might have been better if the landlady had been behind the bar. But the pub was clean and comfortable, and the service was good. The total bill came to £20 each (including service), which is very good value for money when compared with the £35 each we paid on our previous outing (although remember that Nick paid for the first round - thank you Nick - so that wasn't included in the final bill). 

Scores (max. 5 in each category, 25 overall):

• Pastry 3.7
• Filling 3.4
• Beer 2.9
• Ambience 2.6
• Value 3.6
• Overall 16.2

Next meeting arranged for 21st April.