Restaurant Review - The Plough, Wreay, Cumbria, French Night *****

I've reviewed  The Plough Inn before a few months ago here. But my cousin and I went to one of its Around the World Promotions, where on a Wednesday evening they have a tapas style meal from different countries. Last week it was French night, well no way could I resist that!

We were seated by a window and ordered our drinks and food.  The inn is a very comfortable place, a traditional pub that has been tastefully modernised in a small village just south of Carlisle. We did not have to wait long for the food which consisted of five small bowls with some garlic bread on a large plate. The bowls consisted of, beef bourguignon, chicken a la creme, bouillon de poisson, soup a la oignon and potatoes dauphinoise. The onion soup was delicious and came with garlic bread topped with cheese on top of it. Beef bourguignon is one of my favourite French dishes and this one did not disappoint, with a very flavoursome rich gravy. The bouillon de poisson came with pieces of cod, salmon and prawns in a spicy tomato sauce. It was a little too spicy for me, but that's me, I'm not into hot spices, my cousin loved it and fish isn't even her favourite food! The chicken a la creme was fantastic, my personal favourite, plenty of chicken and a creamy white wine sauce. The dauphinoise potatoes went with it all so well, the whole meal might have been too much meat without it, it was also very good. Finally, the garlic bread was wonderful, very garlicky as I love it.

I think it is a wonderful idea to have these tapas style meals from different countries each week. It gives people a chance to sample a few dishes from various cuisines for a reasonable price. One of the owners, Jane, is very visible and came to ask us how we enjoyed the meal when we had finished and she was also interested to hear some suggestions for other food nights from guests.

In summary, I cannot fault this meal, every dish was delicious, full of flavour and for £11.95 excellent value for money. There is a vegetarian option too. We'll definitely be back!

Address:  The Plough Inn, Wreay, Carlisle CA4 0RL
Facebook:  The Plough Inn  (There does not appear to be a website)

Review - The Plough Inn, Wreay, Cumbria

The Plough Inn is a place I have been going to for years, it is a country pub, with a warm ambiance and excellent food. Recently I heard that the pub had been taken over by new owners and tonight my cousin Glen and I went there for a meal - this was their first night serving meals. I must admit we were both a bit worried that it would not be as good as it had been previously.

The pub itself looks exactly the same, traditional with a modern twist and a pleasant atmosphere. The menu was much more extensive, but that's not always a good thing, it's easy to over-extend in this business. The menu told us that the chef was from the Seychelles and had 22 years experience.

We shared a pate starter, the pate was homemade and lovely. For our main courses Glen chose a chicken curry and I went for the duck marinated in cinnamon, honey and lime with mash, veg and red wine and red currant gravy.  My duck was tender with little fat and the subtle flavours were delicious and were like none I'd experienced with duck before. Glen loved her curry, in fact she said it was the one of the best curries she had ever had. Neither of us had room for a dessert!

The chef, Winston, came out to speak to everyone, he was very pleasant and seemed happy that we had enjoyed his food so much. Later one of the owners, Jane, came across to speak to us. She said that the pub would serve food  Wednesday-Sunday. Monday they would be open for drinks and homemade burgers and a quiz night. Tuesdays again it would be drinks with a live music night. So it sounds like there will be a good variety of events at the pub in the future.  I thought it was really nice personal touch that the chef and owner came out to talk with the clients like that. There are also going to be special nights with a Seychelles buffet which sounds like it will be brilliant.

Judging by the fare tonight I know that we will be continuing to visit The Plough regularly and I have  no hesitation in recommending it.

Review - Afternoon Tea at The Plough, Wreay, Cumbria

This weekend I had my friend Debbi staying for a couple of days. It's ages since we've got together and had a lot of catching up to do. Had a brilliant time and the wine rack is now empty lol! For something different to do on the Saturday we went to have afternoon tea at one of my favourite country pubs, The Plough at Wreay. I've always loved having a proper English afternoon tea, it's very civilised. We were so impressed I felt I had to do a review, so here goes!

Address and Website:
The Plough, Wreay, Cumbria. http://www.wreayplough.co.uk/

Cuisine:
English/European, a cut above normal pub food.

Ambiance:
A genuine country pub in a small village just south of Carlisle. Modernised but retaining its character. Roomy, tables nicely spaced. Lovely panoramic views of the mountains from the car park.

Didn't get the scones on this photo!

The Afternoon Tea:
We had typical afternoon tea crockery, bone china with flowers and pretty scenes on them. We were a bit - ahem - dehydrated from sampling my wine the previous night and couldn't wait for the tea to come. It was accompanied by a pot of hot water to top it up.

The sandwiches were tuna, egg mayonnaise and ham, very fresh and tasty. There were four small slices of toasted cheesy bread and  gorgeous scones with blackcurrant jam and doubled cream, again very fresh, in fact they were slightly warm still.

The coup d'etat was the lovely old-fashioned cake stand with ten, yes ten, fresh cream cakes! There were chocolate choux buns (real chocolate), Victoria sponge, cup cakes, apple turnovers, and more scones with cream and fresh strawberries inside. We could not eat them all and took what was left over home.

Price:
£14.30. Afternoon tea is served 2-4pm Saturday and Sunday, you must pre-book, tel. 016974 75770

Overall Impression:
Excellent value for money, everything was very fresh and we got more than enough, and we have good appetites! Alos very good and friendly service. Go on, treat yourself one weekend.