New Year’s Eve

The Rock Inn, Haytor, Devon.  It does sound old fashioned and rather romantic, doesn’t it?  Their advertising by-line is “steadfastly traditional”.  Not a bad summary!  (See more at www.rock-inn.co.uk ) . And you can see Haytor on the way.  What more could you want?

Going out on a feast day is often ruinously expensive and often bad for the palate as well as the pocket.  Not at The Rock.  Mid November they changed their web page saying there were no rooms at the inn (heard that before around Christmas time?) – but they were still taking bookings for tables.  We jumped at it – and I had already decided my order! Seared Scallops on celeriac  puree and crispy pancetta for starter, followed by roasted lamb rump (with roasted root vegetables and rosemary fondant potato, with a red wine sauce). Jane had Balsamic Poached fig with parma ham, followed by pan fried sirloin of beef medallions.  They were served on wilted spinach, roasted tomatoes, peppercorn sauce and hand cut chips.  As you can tell, it was modern British – the holistic approach to the plate, where all the items complement one another.  Well cooked, served with chat and a smile, and not even ruined by the bill!  The main dishes were really quite exciting – and not worryingly big (satisfied but not over full).  The starters, especially the scallops were simply orgasmic !  Steamed marmalade pudding with whisky creme Anglaise  and a chocolate Cointreau Tart completed the proceedings, and quite finished us off.

Hope you had a great evening too.  Happy New Year to you all!