The Railway Inn, Botley, 28th January 2016

We've gone past this pub (near Botley Station) often enough, but years ago Trev checked it out and reported that it wasn't our sort of place, so we never bothered with it. But having heard of a recent change of ownership Stephen and Lord North paid them a visit and decided that we needed to check it out.  

January is a time when many Pie Club members head for warmer climes, or colder climes in some cases, so a reduced number of us (7) gathered by the bus stop in Bishops Waltham Square and amused ourselves by studying the bus timetable and trying to work out if it was the X9 or the X10 that we needed to catch. We couldn't work it out so we got on the X9 when it arrived, and managed to arrive at our destination without too much trouble.

The first thing we noticed as we walked in was the selection of beers available:

The Old Speckled Hen was a bit too strong for most of us, and the Dark Side was a Stout (not to everyone's taste) so must of us stuck with the Railway Inn's Ale (3.9%, brewed by Greene King) and found it to be very acceptable. Tall Paul had Guinness as usual, and reported that that was also very acceptable. 

Pie of the Day was Steak & Mushroom, served with chips or mash, and mixed vegetables (cabbage and frozen peas), with gravy pre-applied (not the way we like it).

The pie was very good, though not exceptional. It was packed with tender,  well cooked steak, and the pastry was to our liking, though with a bit of a soggy bottom. The chips were home-made and nicely cooked, as were the vegetables. The gravy was very tasty, and the very nice waitress gave us some extra gravy in jugs, just the way we like it.

Service was good, and the very nice waitress brought us drinks at the table, which we always appreciate. Nobody (not even Stephen) had any pudding, so the meal must have been very satisfying. This is a nice clean comfortable pub. There was a wood-burning stove blazing away near the entrance, which gave a good cozy feel to the place. It's a big pub, with several seating areas inside, including one with a pool table and a large-screen TV, and we imagine that it can get a bit loud, crowded and noisy in the evenings, but it was fine for us on a mid-week lunchtime. There was loud background music on when we arrived, but they turned it off when we asked, so that's alright.

The beer was £3.60/pint, and the pies were £11 each, so value for money was not bad at all.

Scores for The Railway Inn (Max 5 in each category - total 25 overall)

Pastry - 4.17

Filling -  4.21

Beer   -  4.43

Ambience - 4.30

Value  - 4.54

 

Overall  - 21.65

Now this is a very respectable score, and puts the Railway Inn in 1st place among the pubs that we've visited so far this year, which is only to be expected as this is the first pub we've visited this year.

The Barleycorn Inn, Bishops Waltham, 25th April 2013

Pieman is pleased to report that the two recently-hospitalised Pie Club members have been discharged from hospital and are recovering well from their traumatic experiences. The doctors have told them that a sound diet will help no end with their recuperation, and what could be sounder than a good traditional British Pie washed down with a few beers?  Well, probably quite a few things would be better, but despite that our two heroes resolutely insisted on joining the rest of us for our April outing, once again making a full complement of Pie Club members present for this outing.  Out of consideration for their delicate condition it was agreed that a revisit to a local pub was the best option as this would eliminate a potentially hazardous bus journey, so off we went to the Barleycorn Inn, a pub that we last experienced  23rd June 2011.

We felt that a revisit was justified as we had heard that the food side of the business had been taken over by new people, and that the food was much improved. As we approached the pub we couldn't help noticing this enticing sign outside:

Inside there was a welcoming selection of ales available, although it was apparently limited to a choice of only 3:

This being a Greene King pub, they were unsurprisingly all Greene King Ales: Greene King IPA 3.6%,  Old Golden Hen 4.1%, and  Old Speckled Hen 4.5%.  Although the choice was limited we judged that these ales were all in fine condition and eminently quaffable.  We  noted with approval that the Happy Hour was still running, although most of us arrived too late to take advantage of it. Sadly, there was no trace of Sean - wherever he may be, we wish him well.

They'd made a Steak, Ale and Mushroom Pie especially for us, which was nice of them, but we noticed on the menu that there was also available a Gammon & Peach Pie. Those of us with more traditional leanings opted for the Steak, Ale and Mushroom Pie, but some of us (those with a more adventurous disposition) couldn't resist the allure of something new and never-before tasted - the Gammon & Peach Pie.

This is the Steak, Ale and Mushroom Pie:

This is the Gammon & Peach Pie:

The pies came with an ample selection of vegetables, chips, mashed potato, all served in separate dishes, and extra gravy in a jug:

The end result was a good plateful, enough to satisfy everyone's appetite:

The gammon in the Gammon & Peach Pie seemed to have been shredded, which is okay, but we some of us prefer our meat chunky. The peach and gammon went well together but was surprisingly not very tasty, although the peach was clearly discernible  We think the pastry was some sort of suet pastry, and rather good, but we weren't so keen on the gravy, which tasted too bitter. The pie fillings were both packed full of meat and of good consistency, although some remarked that the steak in the Steak, Ale and Mushroom Pie was a bit chewy. But, minor quibbles aside, both pies were excellent and very satisfying, and good value at £8.95. There was hardly any room left for puddings, but we managed.

We noticed that the pudding menu was much  reduced compared with 2 years ago (and actually the same could be said for the main menu as well) but this is not necessarily a bad thing. It meant that between us we were able to sample most of the puddings:

These are good traditional puddings, and we noticed with approval the complete lack of any unnecessary garnishing (not like last time!).

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

• Pastry 4.06
• Filling 3.53
• Beer 3.78
• Ambience 3.875
• Value 4.125
• Overall 19.37

So once again The Barleycorn leaps into 2nd place in our rankings for this year, although with a lower score than last time, which is perhaps a reflection of the experience that we have all gained as judges over the last two years rather than a reflection of the quality of this meal. Maybe the ambience was marked down because there was background music on, and they played Phil Collins twice! After this meal the Pie Club members adjourned to the garden of The Crown to bask in the spring sunshine.  

The Queen Inn, St Cross, 31st January 2013

For our first outing of 2013 Nick suggested a visit to The Queen Inn, in St Cross, Winchester. This would be our first outing to Winchester. Unfortunately, due to travel and other commitments, only a few gentlemen were able to join Nick on this venture, so only Doug, Si, and Paul E were able to meet up with Nick in the square at Bishops Waltham on a cold but sunny winter day to catch the 69 bus to Winchester.  We had to rely on Nick to tell us when to get off the bus, as nobody else had any idea, but we managed okay, despite an unseemly squabble about who should press the bell to tell the bus driver when to stop. After a short walk we soon arrived at our destination:

This is a fine looking pub near Winchester College, and directly opposite the college cricket ground (although sadly a fence obscures the view, otherwise we'd be able to sit watching cricket while eating our pie and quaffing our ale, and it doesn't get any better than that). We were given a warm welcome by the bar staff and immediately confronted by a difficult choice of which ale to drink. This being a Greene King pub there were Greene King IPA 3.6% @ £3.40/pint, and Abbott Ale 5.0% @ £3.90/pint to choose from, and also a couple of guest ales: Elgoods EP (Pageant Ale) 4.3% @ £3.70/pint, and  York Brewery Yorkshire Terrier 4.2% @ £3.70/pint. Most of us chose to start with the weakest ale, with the clear intention of working up to the strongest. The IPA and the Yorkshire Terrier were both served well, at the right temperature, and very good.

As we were supping our first pint our attention was drawn to the extensive selection of whiskies on offer (at very reasonable prices) and some of us made a mental note to sample some of them later:

There was only one pie available on the menu, a deep-filled chicken & leek pie served with freshly-cooked seasonal vegetables and either mashed potatoes or chips, all for £9.50. So after not a lot of thought, we all ordered deep-filled chicken & leek pie served with freshly-cooked seasonal vegetables and either mashed potatoes or chips. When it arrived it looked fabulous:

The vegetables were perfectly cooked. The mashed potatoes and chips were very good. The gravy was pre-applied (no separate jug, so at least 0.1 point deducted) and a bit thin and watery, but still good enough. The pie was massive, at least 8cm deep, and packed solid with big chunks of well-cooked chicken and thick creamy sauce, and some greenish bits which we assumed were leek, but we couldn't really taste them. The pastry was thick and generous. Instead of our preferred short-crust pastry we determined that the pastry was actually Hot Water Crust Pastry, as used traditionally for pork pies, game pies, and other hand-raised savoury pies. Strictly speaking, this is the correct type of pastry to use for this type of pie (see cookipedia), and we liked it, although we found that the pastry (and the near-solid pie filling) were very filling. In fact, we felt so stuffed after eating the pie that we could only manage 2 puddings between us:

We felt obliged to try the Bread Pudding with Custard, and it was lovely, but we felt so stuffed that we  couldn't really appreciate it. At this point we realised that we'd overdone it, and despite only having had 3 pints of ale, we decided it was time to leave.  As we were settling up we noticed that there are plans afoot to improve the pub:

 We felt that the pub was fine as it was, although a little more room to stand at the bar would be appreciated, and obviously the addition of a new mini-brewery will be of great interest to us, so it's quite likely that we will want to make another visit to this pub some time soon.  There's also a good reason for coming later in the afternoon:

Someone suggested that a short walk to The Wykeham Arms, just down the road, might help the pie settle in our stomachs and make room for a few more pints, so off we went. When we got there we tried a pint of the always excellent Flowerpots Perridge Pale 3.6%, but even this didn't do the trick so we gave up and went home. Interestingly, we noted that a shot of Talisker Whisky is £5.25 in The Wykeham Arms, but only £3.20 in The Queen Inn (same size shot - we checked).

For the first time ever the gentlemen were defeated by a pie!

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

• Pastry 3.825
• Filling 4.375
• Beer 3.625
• Ambience 4.5
• Value 4.5
• Overall 20.825

 Congratulations to the landlord, Clive. I'm sure we will want to make a return visit to this pub after the renovations have been completed and when the new brewery is in full production. You got the better of us this time, but next time we'll come prepared, and we'll be sure to want to take full advantage of your "buy 10 get one free" deal!