Thursday 7 December 2017

The Kings Head, Wickham, 30th November 2017

Surprisingly, considering it is only 4 miles down the road from Bishops Waltham, we had never had a Pie Club event in Wickham, so we decided to take ourselves off to the Kings Head which has a good reputation and was offering us a choice of 3 pies! So we set off on the short bus journey to Wickham.


The Kings Head is a Fullers pub so we were faced with the choice of 4 of their beers on arrival.


London Pride 4.1%, HSB 4.8%, Damson Porter 4.6% and Seafarers 3.6%. Most of us opted to start with the Seafarers as this is a good session beer. We had pre-selected our pie choices from Steak and Kidney, Steak and Ale and Chicken Ham and Leek. However, the Steak and Kidney was no longer available so we were offered a Venison and Ox Cheek pudding instead which was more than acceptable.


 
They were accompanied by mash potatoes and/or chips with some rather al dente kale sandwiched in between - in fact rather too al dente for most of us! There was plenty of gravy on the plates but no additional jugs........
Overall the pies were of a very good standard with good short crust pastry and substantial fillings. It was felt that for the price there could have been a better selection of vegetables.
There were a good selection of puddings e.g. Spotted Dick, Bakewell Tart which a few of us indulged in.
We then relaxed in the comfy sofas for a while to sample some of the other beers on offer, which were all in good condition, before catching the bus back to Bishops Waltham, and the now regular post Pie Club drink in the Crown ( for some of us!).

Scores (max of 5 in each category, 25 overall):
  • Pastry          4.36
  • Filling         4.44
  • Beer            4.37
  • Ambience   4.45
  • Value          3.70
  • Total         21.32
This puts the Kings Head in 6th position for the year.

Congratulations to the Bakers Arms in Droxford which is the 2017 Pie Club Pub of the Year. We shall be arranging a visit in February 2018 to present the certificate and of course sample once again their excellent pies.
A Happy Christmas and a Pie Filled New Year to all!

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