Despite my love of fancy restaurants, you really can’t beat a proper good pub. One where the locals are ‘local’ and the bar staff are friendly. Extra brownie points if they serve food and double brownie points if the food is good. Having heard many people recommend The Curzon Arms, this month I finally got round to going with my favourite blogging buddies. A picturesque country pub in the lovely village of Woodhouse Eaves.
If you are local to the Loughborough area, you may well have eaten in one of the Curzon’s sister pubs: The Windmill andThe Blue Bell Inn. I’ve reviewed the Blue Bell before. I’ve never had a bad meal there and it was the venue of choice for my 30th birthday meal. Sadly, The Curzon Arms didn’t quite meet my expectations.
The table settings and menu format mirrors that of the other two pubs but each pub’s Head Chef has their own autonomy in terms of what they put on their menu. At first glance, all looks fab.
To start I went for the risotto balls. Off to a good start, they were really delicious and very cheesy! The tomato salsa was the kind which you can whip up at home. That said, the red onion and fresh tomato worked well with the creamy risotto. My friends had mussels (more of which later) and smoked salmon – which interestingly, came as a fillet rather than slices.
My first thought when my main was delivered was “bloody hell, this could feed a family of four!” but of course I didn’t let that put me off and tucked in but unfortunately, as Emily had hinted, the sauce was slightly bitter (from the celery at a guess) and very bland. I had to eat a good third of the mussels before I could dip my frites or bread in. To make things worse, the description I’d read that day on their website for the mussels was wrong -it sounded much better with a more creamy chorizo sauce. I’d decided I was having that before I’d even arrived!
Emily & Charlotte had more luck with their mains – lamb faggots with creamy mash and a rich jus and a slow cooked feather blade of beef. The beef was totally tender and you could cut it with a fork. But, Emily did have to ask for some gravy as she felt the dish was a little dry. The photos don’t look great as the venue was pretty dark but you get the picture..
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