Bear & Ragged Staff - Philippe Boucheron
Bear at Bransford
Bear & Ragged Staff – Generous helpings of well sauced dishes ~ Shame about the carpet
At the turn of the 20th century some cleaver designers got together to create carpets whose colours and patterns would hide all the dross deposited on them in hotels and restaurants. An excellent example of this genre can be seen at the Bear & Ragged Staff, Bransford. Fortunately people go there for the excellence of the food and the generous huge helpings more than to gaze at the carpet.
The Good Pub Guide’s Worcestershire Dining Pub for 2007. 2006 and 2004 (what went wrong in 2005?), places it fairly and squarely as a pub, but is it? The elegance of the dining room (carpet excepted) with rose-pink tablecloths, crisp full size serviettes and gleaming wine glasses are much more the province of a well-turned out restaurant . However, this is purely academic as it is the quality of the food, wine and service – in fact the overall dining experience, and not the carpet design, that interests this reviewer.
On a busy Saturday lunchtime we were greeted with a smile and an immediate offer from the manager behind the bar to take us to the dining room where we were offered a choice of tables, handed the menus and invited to order drinks. This is a sure sign of a well managed property and we were soon studying the well-constructed menu that had some interesting out-of the ordinary dishes.
Home cured gravlax of salmon with pickled samphire and caraway-scented oil was Mme. B’s choice – and my roving fork proved it to be absolutely delicious. Served on its side as a ring, the delicately scented fish with the subtle flavour of pickled samphire was a triumph. We were advised that my own choice of a boneless quail stuffed with Haggis and served on black pudding, with a whisky sauce, would take some time to prepare; but the wait was well worth- while. It is a dish that on its own was quite sufficient for a light Saturday lunch and the combination of flavours excited the taste buds.
A large glass of gently aromatic La Serre Sauvignon Blanc house wine married well with the gravlax, while my Willow Glen Australian blend of Shiraz and Cabernet was more than man enough for the quail and didn’t falter at the wild rabbit that followed. Like the menu, the wine list is short but offers a surprisingly well-priced selection that included a half bottle of Petit Manseng Jurançon – a delectable pudding wine from Gascony – for £13 or house champagne from Thienot for only £27 a bottle. With House Wines ranging from £11 to £15 and Premier Cru Chablis at £25, it isn’t surprising that their customers take full advantage of good wines at sensible prices.
Madame B felt like some ham and eggs, and boy did she get a plateful of excellent fresh cut ham off the bone, a pair of the freshest eggs and proper sized chips that were crisp on the outside with yielding insides. I love wild rabbit and the idea of a pan-fried saddle with a leg cooked in a mushroom and white wine sauce with honey roast garlic and shallots sounded right down my street. And it was – a hot plate so full of rabbit that there was little room for the new potatoes or the correctly cooked vegetables that included baby carrots and beans.
Chef John Holden has to be congratulated on the sheer ingenuity and excellence of his sauces that are a sure sign of a fine restaurant. From the gravlax, via the quail and concluding with the rabbit they were skilfully created, enhancing not over-powering the flavours of the ingredients. It is not surprising that people travel far and wide to enjoy his cooking of predominantly locally sourced produce; some as local as the garden!
Although neither of us needed a dessert we both persevered. Mme B decided on what was billed as a Selection of luxury ice creams, having asked if the listed scoop of chocolate ice could be replaced by some other flavour. I made sure that I had a taste and they were indeed luxuriously delicious. My own choice of Tiramisu was an elegant gateau of layers of light chocolate sponge cake interleaved with mascarpone and enlivened by an excellent coffee and marsala sauce.
A tiny double strength espresso coffee hit the spot, exactly as it should. At a total cost of £66.00 it represented exceptional eating out value.
Oh, and that name, Bear & Ragged Staff, surely it is more symbolic of neighbouring Warwickshire than out own fair county? Well, yes, but it seems that the property was on some land owned by Croome Court, that once belonged to the Warwick family. For more info visit HERE.
Ends
© Philippe Boucheron MMVll
