Sunday Lunch

I found this picture on Pintrest

Forgive me, I know it's Tuesday. I've been on the hunt for the best Sunday lunch but keep stumbling over the same watery gravy, shop bought Yorkshire pub, over cooked beef monstrosities leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

Living far away from my family the Sunday lunch is a home comfort that I don't get to enjoy often. I've cooked this British classic for my boyfriend and I, but lets face it, it's not really a meal for two unless you want the meat to be tough and stringy. So as the week draws to the close I find myself longing for roast beef and Yorkshire pud.

Naturally, in search for Sunday satisfaction, I've turned to the gastro pubs. But I'm finding that a good Sunday lunches are few and far between. What has happen to good old fashioned pub grub?  I'm talking homemade, home grown, wholesome food like your nan cooks. All the seemingly independent country pubs now seem to part of a chain serving up the same pre-packaged, over priced, uninspiring food.

For example The Punchbowl in Sefton and The Hartshead in Mossley both turned out to be Vintage Inns. Vintage Inns claim you can 'enjoy a fabulous meal with glorious scenery and rural charm' at any of the 200 locations. Beautiful locations they may well be but the meals is far from fabulous. Tiny portion sizes, steaks cooked the way they like it not the way you like it and a fish finger sandwich so dry it resembles sandpaper. I will be doing my upmost to ensure I don't accidently stumble into a Vintage Inn again.

Next up was The Duke of Portland in Northwich. The pictures on their website certainly had my mouth watering and I thought its Cheshire location was sure to mean we were one to a winner. Independent it may be but lacked the comfort of home. We got a roast dinner with no vegetables and one perfectly cooked roast beef and one over cooked roast beef - where's the consistency? It really didn't impress us.

I'm pleased to say that it hasn't all be bad.  So far the best Sunday lunch we sampled was at The Oxnoble in Manchester. They offer a small menu of British pub classics but everything we ate was cooked to perfection.  I managed to squeeze in three courses and a squeeze it was, they don't hold back on portion size. However, the Oxnoble seems to be a rarity. Perhaps I'm out dated because I want classics when I go to a pub. It's disappointing there aren't more places sticking to their routes and doing traditional British pub food well.