Reviewed April 2009
Carafes are ba
ck! Are you old enough to remember Habitat French Cane wallpaper and Laura Ashley Nutmeg fabric? If so you will also remember when Carafes first appeared and became the latest, trendy and fab way of serving wine at all the best drinks parties and restaurants! Well, courtesy of Alan Douglas and Tim Buckle the new owners of The Elm Tree at Hightown, carafes are now back in fashion!
You know what it’s like when ordering wine – a glass might not be sufficient depending on your meal, but a bottle is sometimes too much (and too costly perhaps!) when one of you is driving. So the introduction of a 50cl carafe at £8.95 is perfect for those occasions. (and for your pocket of course, particularly at the moment!) You may have read our last article in the March/April issue about the amazing success Alan and Tim have had since moving in last August and we wanted to follow that up with a food review to see if it was as enticing as it sounded!
We arrived early on a Saturday evening and noticed that quite a few of the tables were already reserved including ours, and during the course of the meal we realised that it was very wise to book particularly at weekends since the pub was absolutely buzzing by mid evening, complete with a celebration in full swing in the Barn. Truly remarkable considering the current climate. Opening hours on Friday and Saturday have also been extended to midnight which must have helped particularly with functions in the Barn which have recently included two weddings.
Alan and Tim’s 25 years ca
tering experience has been accumulated from countrywide establishments in North Wales, Staffordshire, Somerset and Devon culminating with an 8 year period in Fife in Scotland prior to moving to Ringwood last August. The transition and settling in period at the Elm Tree was probably kept to a minimum since the interior of the Elm Tree is much as it was when they arrived apart from many personal touches which they felt it needed and virtually all the staff were retained with the addition of an assistant manager to help with the day to day running of the pub. Anyway, back to the food and our first task was to select a starter from the range carefully chosen for the main menu or one from the daily specials which change regularly. To retain the retro theme to compliment our carafe of chilled white wine, I went for the delicious Prawn and Crayfish cocktail on a Bed of Fresh Mixed Salad Leaves with chunky slices of Granary Bread, whilst my husband selected Grilled Black Pudding and Bacon from the specials menu which was served with a Tangy Wholegrain Mustard Sauce.
I think he chose this because earlier that morning we had packed our son off to Bude for five months of work experience with a last proper cooked breakfast (the condemned man ate a hearty breakfast etc!) and he forgot the black pudding which he is particularly partial to, so this starter just finished the day perfectly! If you’ll pardon the contradiction!
Despite the pub rapidly filling, up the service hadn’t deteriorated or slowed at all with Alan dashing hither and thither which is the role he particularly relishes, leaving Tim to do his creative bit behind the scenes which fortunately is what Tim prefers! A perfect combination!
Next we had to decide on a main course and a top up from the carafe which unfortunately reminded my husband about the MK 1 Golf GTI he owned during the early 80’s, and the Sony walkman, etc etc and it was at this point my eyes glazed over! (Not from the wine I might add!) In fact Alan and Tim are particularly proud of their very diverse range of wines on offer – none of which are available from many local shops or national supermarkets.
The main menu has an excellent wide range of food including grills, fish, vegetarian, pasta, locally produced bangers and mash and salads with an interesting sounding warm smoked chicken, bacon and strawberry salad which did tempt me but I eventually plumped for one of Alan and Tim’s daily specials – Apricot and Stilton Stuffed Chicken Breast served with fluffy rice, roasted vegetables and red wine jus. Whilst my husband went for the Pan Fried Duck Breast served on a bed of Gratin Potatoes, topped with a piquant Port and Cranberry sauce. Both were very succulent and beautifully cooked as we had asked and slightly more than we could manag
e, if we wereto have a reasonable attempt at a pudding!
A good selection of traditional home cooked pub desserts were on offer including rhubarb crumble, treacle or chocolate sponge, spotted dick which my husband chose, cheese and biscuits, and brandy snaps with strawberries, which I decided was the lowest calorie option! Of course my husband couldn’t decide on custard, cream or ice cream on his favourite pudding, the light and fluffy spotted dick but inevitably on Alan’s recommendation had all three which did look rather tempting I must say!
The Elm Tree has something for everyone, whether you want just a quick drink with friends, a cosy special occasion dinner in a quiet corner of a thatched pub in front of a roaring log fire, or maybe even a wedding reception with all the family and friends in the atmospheric Barn with its beamed ceiling which caters for 60 seated or 100 guests for a buffet style function.
During a final coffee we were able to have a brief chat with Alan who told us that like all the best local eateries all the produce used was locally sourced if at all possible with free range eggs, traditionally reared meat and fresh fish delivered daily. If you still need to be tempted they also hold a weekly quiz night, curry night, steak night and weekday lunch offers with many other ideas for future events planned. An excellent start and all this achieved since last August!
The Elm Tree, Hightown Road, Hightown, Ringwood BH24 3DY. 01425 472516. www.elmtreeringwood.com
