CHERTSEY

BOATS, BRIDGES, BOILERS ... IF IT'S GOT RIVETS, I'M RIVETTED
... feminist, atheist, autistic academic and historic narrowboater ...
Likes snooker, beer, tea, rivets and solitude, and is strangely fascinated by the cinema organ.
And there might be something about railways.
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Monday 13 June 2016

High on the hog

The first retrospectively illustrated post is inspired by the Herbies' perturbation at a £22 pub sirloin steak. No matter how good it is, £22 is a lot to pay in a pub. Even the unsurpassable (these last few years) Nelson only charges around £13, from memory.

We are now moored, permanently, round the back of the Samuel Barlow pub, just yards from the entrance. Fatal.

A fellow moorer commented on the blog (hello!) that it's not really a pub pub, and I see his point in that it's a big square room with tables set out for eating, with no fire, booths or inglenooks - and no jukebox or fruit machines either. But in every other respect it fits the bill. It has its regulars; it has three (if unadventurous) cask ales (with occasional festival laying on of many more straight from the barrel) and the full range of everything else you'd expect behind the bar; it has quiet background music, friendly and efficient but relatively unobtrusive service, and a fabulous menu at very reasonable prices (which sadly you can't see on the photo).


The sirloin steak comes in two sizes - the 'regular', which I reckoned must have been around 10oz minimum, was £10.95, and was a beautiful big thick chunk of meat, very nicely cooked too, with excellent onion rings and chips and the other bits you'd expect. The oprional peppercorn sauce came in such a copious quantity that both Jim and I were able to avail ourselves of a pound's worth, with some to spare. The 'man size' steah at £16.95 was noticeably bigger, but perhaps not such good value. We also, over the week, checked out the pork shank (fantastic crackling), the Tex-Mex chicken, and the steak pie (maybe the least impressive but still a cut above most pub offerings and at £8.95 good value). Nicely cooked veg with it. Thursday night is curry night, for which the Halfies joined us, and while it was definitely an anglo-curry, you couldn't fault it for under six quid. You'll see that there are three decent, not boring, veggie options, and two fishy ones on the menu too - and there's a different menu at lunchtimes, and I think they do Sunday roasts. I really have put on six pounds since I left Sheffield last week, and I'll bet most of that was between Tuesday and Friday.

Like I say, fatal.

4 comments:

  1. Samuel Barlow is our favourite place to chill out on a hot summers day - probably because every time we stop there it seems to be a hot summers day! Loved the old sofas that used to be outside, so you could sit and watch the sun go down behind the marina. Hope we can call in there again sometime soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Admiral Nelson sirloin is now advertised as £17.50 which I think might be what we paid there. nevertheless, so good it is well worth it. probably the best I have ever had, (although I had a belter in Wetherspoons at Ayr for £7.50 inc a pint of Deuchars once!!) I'd be surprised if the GW at Aynho's steak is any better than the Admiral, or even as good at £22 (might have been £23, I cant recall exactly).

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Admiral Nelson sirloin is now advertised as £17.50 which I think might be what we paid there. nevertheless, so good it is well worth it. probably the best I have ever had, (although I had a belter in Wetherspoons at Ayr for £7.50 inc a pint of Deuchars once!!) I'd be surprised if the GW at Aynho's steak is any better than the Admiral, or even as good at £22 (might have been £23, I cant recall exactly).

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Admiral Nelson sirloin is now advertised as £17.50 which I think might be what we paid there. nevertheless, so good it is well worth it. probably the best I have ever had, (although I had a belter in Wetherspoons at Ayr for £7.50 inc a pint of Deuchars once!!) I'd be surprised if the GW at Aynho's steak is any better than the Admiral, or even as good at £22 (might have been £23, I cant recall exactly).

    ReplyDelete