The Fox and Hounds, Fair Oak, 31st October 2013

After a few outings that involved getting a taxi to far-flung places, we felt it was time to revert to tradition and try out a local pub that we could get to on the bus, so for the October outing we decided to try the Fox and Hounds at Fair Oak. We'd been past it often enough on the 69 bus, and we thought "let's give it a go", so off we went. We had quite a good turnout for this trip: there was Lord North, Stephen, Nick, Si, Tall Paul, Doug, and the whole event was very well organised by Joe. We were also joined by Eric, who is seeking to become a full member of the Pie Club, but currently has candidate status.

The weather wasn't being very kind to us, but luckily the bus stop is right outside the pub, so we didn't have far to walk. When we found our way in we were given a warm welcome, and a choice of 3 ales.  Rather a limited choice, we thought.

Unfortunately the Directors was off, so we were left with Sharp's Doombar 4%, or Purity Ales Mad Goose IPA 4.7%. The Mad Goose looked a bit strong at 4.7% so we thought we'd save it for later. As usual Tall Paul had Guinness, which was OK, and the rest of us all had a pint of Doom Bar, which most of us thought was very good, although perhaps a little overchilled, but Nick complained that his beer smelled of bleach. He got a replacement pint without any trouble, and everone else was happy, so this was  probably an isolated incident.

As we drank our pints we took stock of our surroundings, and started to worry. The place is huge. There was a big conservatory in the distance, used as a dining room, which seemed to be empty. The main bar area was large and empty, except for us, and the TV/snooker room next door was inhabited to two sad-looking gentlemen who seemed to be very interested in the bottoms of their beer glasses and not much else. The TV was on, but nobody was watching it. There was was a fruit machine there. There was background music on in the conservatory. Sadly, even though a few more customers turned up as the session continued, the ambience failed to improve.

On the Specials board there was a choice of 2  pies: Steak & Stilton, or Baked Steak, Mushroom & Stout, both at £10.95. Steak or Steak we thought.

Luckily, there were 2 more pies available on the standard menu: Chicken Ham & Leek, or Steak & Kidney Pudding with suet pastry. All at £9.95. Now you're talking!  Most of us couldn't resist the chance of having an Steak & Kidney Pudding with Suet Pastry, but Tall Paul (who always enjoys being different) opted for the Steak & Stilton Pie, and why shouldn't he?  The pies came with mixed vegetables and a choice of potatoes: new, mashed, or chipped. 

The pies looked good, and actually tasted okay, but we suspect they were mass-produced in a factory somewhere, not home-made. There was a difference of opinion about the suet pastry: it seems some people like their suet pastry crisp, and others like it soft.  This is obviously a contentious issue, and one which we need to discuss at great length.  These Steak & Kidney puddings came with crisp suet pastry. The chips probably came from frozen, and weren't cooked very well. The vegetables (cauliflower, carrots and brocolli) were cooked from fresh and were okay, although a bit tasteless. The gravy was good, and served the way it should be, in a separate jug, and there was plenty of it, which was just as well.

Several of us still had room for pudding.

Two of us wanted to have the Toffee Crunch Slice, but there was only one portion left. The lucky person who had this pudding found that it wasn't very good, and left half of it. Someone else had the Lemon Meringue Pie, and felt that that wasn't very good either. Someone else had the Cheesecake, which was okay.

By this time some of us wanted to try the Mad Goose IPA, brewed by Purity Ales, in Warwickshire. This is an ale that we hadn't come across before. It looked cloudy, but (benefit of the doubt) maybe that's the way it's supposed to look. Those who tried it said that it was okay, but nobody went back for a second pint.

The loos looked clean, but there was no paper in the towel dispenser, and no hot water in the hot water tap. The service was good - beer was brought to our table just as we like it. Whatever faults we found with this pub were not the fault of the bar staff.

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

• Pastry 3.84

• Filling 3.97

• Beer 3.84

• Ambience 2.75

• Value 3.98

• Overall 18.38

With this score the Fox and Hounds leaps straight into 8th place out of the 9 pubs that we've visited so far this year. The only pub worse that this was The Crown, which we visited in May and was really bad. Despite this poor score we all actually quite enjoyed our meal, and happily went on to consider our verdict in the lush confines of ... The Crown (the beer in The Crown is good - it was the food and service which was bad).

On reflection, perhaps it does us good to have a bad experience from time to time. After a long run of excellent pies, it helps us maintain our perspective.