The Farmers Home, Durley, 25th June 2015

This time it was Lord North's turn to organise the outing, and he decided to take us all to The Farmers Home in Durley, We pub which we had visited once before, in October 2011, when we had a rather disagreeable experience. Let's hope it does better this time - if it doesn't we know who to blame (Lord North).  We were a bit worried because having organised the outing Lord North then ducked out with some feeble excuse about having to go to Goodwood.  It's a rum do when the organiser drops out of his own outing, so it was with some trepidation that we gathered outside The Crown on a fine summer day and set off on the longish (60 minute) cross-country walk to Durley, with Nick leading the way because once again he was the only one who had bothered to scout out the route beforehand. 

We're getting quite into this walking business, and 60 minutes is a better length for a walk as it allows you to build up a big appetite and thirst without getting too exhausted.  Just as people were starting to wonder "Are we nearly there yet?" we saw the welcoming sign.

It didn't take us long to find our way in.

And soon we were confronted with the most difficult decision of the day: which beer to start on?

After such a long hot walk we felt a light refreshing ale was called for, and most of us chose the Upham Tipster 3.6%.  The Upham Brewery is our nearest local brewery and has come a long way since its rather shaky start a few years ago, and this Upham Tipster was excellent. Also available were 2 more fine ales: Ringwood Best and Gales HSB. We took our pints out into the garden and waited for the pies to arrive.  Lord North had previously arranged for us to be presented with a Venison Pie made specially for us. When it arrived we were impressed.

We each had a good-sized individual pie, served with a choice of mash, 

chips,

or new potatoes, and a selection of freshly-cooked vegetables (carrots, leeks, swede)

For some reason the pies were accompanied by a cooked tomato, and we noticed a light sprinkling of green stuff all over, and we didn't know what to make of that. But we did approve of the gravy served separately in a jug on the side.

On closer examination we found that the pie filling was near-perfect: Packed full of tender meat and tasty gravy and absolutely delicious.  But we weren't so sure about the pastry. It was the correct short crust pastry, nice and crisp with no soggy bottom, but disappointingly thin and tasteless. Not bad though, but not up to the standard of the filling.  All in all, the meal was excellent, as were the puddings.  We tried the Eton Mess (made with Durley strawberries, which are locally grown, and the best)

and fresh Durley strawberries 

and someone always has to have the Sticky Toffee Pudding

The Upham Tipster, at £3.20/pint was excellent value. The pies were £11.95, which is not an unreasonable price to pay for a specially-made venison pie, the puddings were reasonably priced, and the quality of the food was top notch  (it is just a shame about that pastry). We liked the pub very much: It's clean and nicely furnished, and has a big garden with lots of tables. The service was good, and they gave us some chocolates with the bill, which came to around £28 each (incl. service).

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

• Pastry  4.22

• Filling  4.53

• Beer  4.45

• Ambience  4.22

• Value for money  4.27

• Total  21.68

All in all this was a very pleasant experience and the final score means that this pub leaps into 1st place in our rankings of pubs visited so far this year, well ahead of its closest rival, The Woodman, which we visited in March.  On our previous visit to this pub, in October 2011, it scored a very sad 16.3, so this score reflects a dramatic improvement in the pub, and just shows how quickly things can change (and what a change of landlord/chef can achieve). Our congratulations go to all involved in bringing about this remarkable transformation.

The Robin Hood, Durley, 28th May 2015

It was Eric's turn to organise our May outing, and he decided to take us all to The Robin Hood in Durley, We had previously considered visiting this pub several times, but we had always been put off by their standard menu, which features a Steak & Ale Pie with a puff pastry lid, which (as everyone should know by now) is anathema to Pie Club members - we think if a "pie" is not fully encased in short crust pastry then it is not a proper pie at all.  But Eric assured us that he had done a deal with the landlord and we were in for a treat, so we gathered outside The Crown on a fine spring day and set off on the short (40 minute) cross-country walk to Durley, with Nick leading the way because he had brought a map with him. 

40 minutes is a good length for a walk as it allows you to build up a good appetite and thirst without getting too exhausted.  Just as people were starting to wonder "Are we nearly there yet?" we saw the welcoming sign.

And soon we were welcomed in and confronted with a good choice of ales:

This being a Greene King pub the "Robin Hood Ale" turned out to be a Greene King ale, possibly Greene King IPA 3.8%, but we're not sure. On sampling it we found that it was very acceptable. The other ales available were Hogs Back T.E.A. 4.2% and Sadler's Worcester Sorcerer 4.3%.  In due course we tried both of these and found them both to be very acceptable as well.

As we were quenching our thirst we had a good look at the menus on display in the bar area and noticed that they were very tempting, featuring an extensive choice of mouth-watering dishes, but we were not going to allow ourselves to be distracted from the pie, which was soon brought to our table.

It was a twice-cooked Wild Boar Pie, served with mixed vegetables and a scoop of Mustard Mash, and it looked delicious, so we wasted no time in tucking in.

We were presented  with portions of pie cut from a single large pie, which must have been very large if it was to satisfy 10 hungry men. Generally we prefer portions of pie cut from a single large pie rather than individual pies because it means that the ratio of filling to pastry is higher, but it does mean that unless the chef is very skilled some people get bigger portions than others, and some people get corner portions with more pastry, and some people get mid-side portions with less pastry. However, we were all too hungry to care about any of this, so we all got what we were given, and got on with it.  

We were unanimous in agreeing that the filling was near perfect, containing just the right balance of lean tender meat and a juicy and very tasty gravy. We noted that we hadn't been provided with any additional gravy in jugs on the side, so a slight demerit here, but we didn't really need any, and no doubt some would have been provided if we had asked. We were provided with some extra mustard when we asked for it.

Unfortunately the filling was let down by the pastry, which was a puff pastry. Now, we are broad-minded about such things and we were prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt, but it had gone soggy at the bottom, and (compared with the best short crust pastry) it was tasteless.

The vegetables were cooked nicely, and the Mustard Mash was delicious - it was a perfect accompaniment to the pie.

We all managed to clear our plates without any difficulty, although some people didn't eat all of their mash, presumably because they wanted to leave room for some pudding, for which there was a good choice.

The puddings looked delicious, and those who had them reported that they tasted very good as well, and we could see tat the portions were large.

The beers ranged in price from £3.60/pint to £3.90/pint and the pies were £11.95, so this is not a place to come for a cheap meal, but the puddings were quite reasonably priced, and the quality of the food was top notch  (it is just a shame about that pastry). We liked the pub very much: It's clean and nicely furnished, with a couple of very comfortable leather sofas near the bar where we were able to relax before contemplating the long walk home. The service wasn't quite up to scratch though - even though the place was not very busy we had to go to the bar to order each new round of drinks (we know it is not usually done this way, but we have got used to the bar staff taking our drinks orders at the table), and we had to wait a long long time for the puddings to be brought to the table after we'd ordered them.

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

• Pastry  3.00

• Filling  4.44

• Beer  4.28

• Ambience  3.90

• Value for money  3.96

• Total  19.58

All in all this was a very pleasant experience and provided ample justification for the good reputation that the Robin Hood has locally, but it was spoiled by the pastry, which just wasn't to our taste. So the final score means that this pub leaps into 4th place in our rankings of pubs visited so far this year, not far below The George & Falcon, which we visited last month.

The Farmers Home, Durley, 27th October 2011

We had planned to use our bus passes on the No.7 bus to Durley then walk the last half mile to the The Farmers Home, but it was raining, and Doug's wife offered us a lift as it was on her way to somewhere or other, so, despite our avowed intentions of being self-sufficient and not dependent on our good ladies to any extent,  we took her up on her kind offer.

Unfortunately, Joe had to drop out of this Pie Club meeting, so it was Trev, Nick, Doug and Si who trudged through the rain all the way from the car parked on the streeet outside, into the pub, to be welcomed by a friendly barmaid and shown straight to our table.

First impressions were good. There was a nice friendly welcome, a cosy looking pub with not too many customers, and a choice of Steak & Mushroom Pie (£7.95), Creamy Chicken & Bacon Pie (£7.95), or Steak & Kidney Pudding (£8.95) on the menu. But we noticed straight away that the choice of ales was limited to Ringwood Best 3.8% or Gales HSB 4.8%, which was a bit disappointing, and maybe a warning of things to come.

Expecting a long session ahead, we decided to steer clear of the HSB. We settled down with pints of Ringwood Best while we considered the difficult matter of choosing our pies from the menu. This was complicated by the fact that there was a special deal available whereby you could have two courses for £8.95 if you chose your main course from the lunch menu (which included the two pies, but excluded the Steak & Kidney Pudding, as that was on the Specials menu). In the end, Trev and Nick both chose the Creamy Chicken & Bacon Pie, and Doug and Si opted for the Steak & Kidney Pudding.

We had barely started our second pints when the food arrived. Fast service!

The Creamy Chicken & Bacon Pie looked good, despite only having a shortcrust pastry topping instead of being fully enclosed in pastry as it should be, and despite being adorned with a totally-unnecessary sprig of parsley:

The Steak & Kidney Pudding looked good as well, being amply proportioned, but again having a totally-unnecessary large sprig of parsley:

The pies were served with an ample helping of nicely-cooked vegetables comprising mashed swede, brocolli, and carrots:

Doug, Trev and Nick all had a big helping of new potatoes with their meal:

Si thought that this showed dangerous signs of people going for the healthy option, stuck to his principles, and chose to have chips. This resulted in quite a pleasing visual effect:

As we ate our pies it became apparent that all was not well. The food was alright, but not great. The shortcrust pie pastry and the suet pudding pastry were both disappointing. The Steak & Kidney Pudding filling was thin, with not a lot of meat, and what meat there was was finely chopped instead of being chunky. But the main problem was that the beer was not going down very well. It was settling heavily in the stomach and putting us off our food. By the end of the second pint most of us had had enough, although some of us did manage a third pint. The beer was certainly too cold, which may explain the problem. We couldn't even manage any puddings.

The general ambience of the pub was initially quite good, but as time went by the place filled up with more and more  people (mostly pensioners, probably drawn there by the special offer), and it got quite noisy. We quite like not having to share a pub with too many other customers.

So we ended up having quite a short session. We had intended to get the No.7 bus back again, but it's an hourly service and we'd just missed a bus, and it was coming on to rain again, so (despite our reservations) Nick persuaded his good wife to pick us up and give us all a lift home. She's very kind.

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

• Pastry 3.25
• Filling 3.375
• Beer 2.925
• Ambience 2.875
• Value 3.875
• Overall 16.3

This puts The Farmers Home in 6th place (out of 7) in our rankings. The only pub worse than this was The White Horse, Beeches Hill (which has since had a change of landlord).

The next Pie Club meeting will be on 24th November. Trev to decide the venue.