Poultry in motion at the Old Speckled Hen
The Old Speckled Hen ****
Mere Green Road, Mere Green. Tel: 0121 308 9410.
There’s a disturbing trend developing in parts of Sutton Coldfield – white canvas plimsolls.
There’s nothing wrong with white trainers per se, and a pair of Green Flash is fine on the tennis court, but these are plain, white, pointed toed shoes being blatantly sported – by men – out in public – in the pub.
It was my other half who commented on the proliferation of pumps as we enjoyed our Sunday lunch in Sutton. Happily it didn’t put her off her food – but then little does.
Footwear aside, The Old Speckled Hen has plenty going for it; a converted Victorian school in the heart of Mere Green, while its location is not the best – sweeping views of the main road or Somerfield car park – inside it’s airy, clean and light. If a little parky on first arrival; the log stove didn’t get lit until we’d been there for about half an hour, but with the pub packed and some warming food inside us, that was soon forgotten.
The menu is compact and concise, with around half a dozen choices for each course (including some good veggie options). In these cash-conscious days, it’s also really well-priced – starters all between £3 and £5, while the main courses top out at £10 and side dishes are all £1. This was a real credit crunch lunch.
There’s also a very good children’s menu with a lot more than the usual of chicken shaped into dinosaurs with chips and beans.
My pea and ham stockpot soup (£3) was tasty and warming if a little salty, while the goats’ cheese and onion tart with tomato salsa (£5) was a tad dry but got the thumbs up nonetheless.
Main course was a far more resounding ovation; while there’s a Sunday roast of beef or pork for £7 to tempt, we went for the braised rabbit (£10) and Cornish day boat caught fish and chips (£9).
Now rabbit’s one of those dishes that in my opinion should be on more menus, and while you might expect to see it at the odd country local, it’s a delight to see it appear in the midst of suburbia. It was delicious; both leg and breast – it was tender, meaty, sweet and succulent, in a shallot gravy with diced veg. The sauce was a bit watery but the side of mash ordered soon soaked it up, and with some wilted greens made for a delightful lunch. The fish and chips smelled wonderful from across the table; sat in a greaseproof paper-lined bowl, with chunky skins-on homemade chips, and ramekins of mushy pea and tartare sauce, it was great value – and did taste as if it was only hours off from the trawler in Looe.
The £3 puds didn’t disappoint either; a gooey slab of sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch just about finished me off (in a nice way), while the blonde had a mini individual apple crumble with dinky jug of beautiful vanilla speckled custard.
With a glass of wine and pint of Speckled Hen (what else?), the bill touched over £40. Good value, given we had the works.
Next time I’ll wear my plimsolls. No, maybe not.
