Sunday Lunch At The Hilcote Country Club, Hilcote Near Alfreton
Published On Thursday 8 Dec 2022 by Sticky Beak
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At Chef Carl Palmer’s kind invitation, The Man and I recently had dinner at Hilcote Country Club; it was so scrummy that we decided to revisit the venue with Mummy Bird for Sunday Lunch in the very near future. Well folks, we’re as good as our word, and following a solid days work in the garden we were more than ready for a belly-busting Sunday roast!
The car park was heaving, but we managed to grab a spot on the front row, close to the entrance. We used the restaurant door – I have to say I’m loving this change, it saves schlepping through the bar area. Dan was being the host with the most, and took us over to our table with his customary smile; at the same time he took our drinks orders and it wasn’t long before Mummy and I were clinking wine glasses with His Nibs’ Madri pint glass.
Hilcote Country Club has a dead simple pricing structure for its Sunday offering: 1 course is £12, 2 courses £17, 3 courses £21 (all per person); small adult main course is £9, and then kids 1 course is £5, 2 courses £8. The menu isn’t to be sniffed at, either; there’s a choice of four starter choices, 8 mains (kids have 4 mains to choose from) and 8 puds!
To start, Mummy went for Soup of the Day(Tomato and Basil on this occasion) served with a crusty bread roll, I fancied the Prawn and Avocado salad served with Brown Bread and Butter, and The Man had Breaded Brie served with Beetroot and Apple relish and Balsamic glaze.
The soup was beautifully thick and hearty in texture, matched with an equally vibrant taste. Mummy Bird does enjoy a good soup and she was a very happy little bird with this particular morsel, especially when she broke the bread roll and was dunking away merrily! Chef hadn’t overly seasoned the soup either, so it wasn’t particularly salty (which suited Mummy’s palate just fine).
His Nibs had got a quintet of Brie wedges to savour, and each one had a thick, snug crunchy coating to its outer that elicited a wonderful sound when cut into. The Brie itself was lovely and warm, with that perfect gooey ooziness to it that is comfort food personified, and the tangy relish lifted things wonderfully in the mouth, its fine texture stimulating the senses really well.
If it’s the colour of your food that gets your juices flowing then I can totally recommend the Prawn and Avocado salad; the pale green Avocado had been artfully fanned out, and complimented the pastel tones of the plump, Marie-Rose sauce coated Prawns. A variety of salad leaves fashioned a cocoon that everything nestled in and the spread of flavours with these humble Lettuce types was delicious. Crunchy grated Carrot was tasty, textural and brightly coloured, partnered with sliced Tomatoes and Cucumber to really make this a superb starter.
All the food is cooked fresh-to-order, so with it being busy we settled in for a bit of a wait; no bad thing, given the generous starters we’d just had! As it was, we didn’t have much longer to wait than you’d usually expect. His Nibs and I had gone for the Roast Topside of Beef and Mummy opted for the Honey-roasted Gammon with Fried Eggs, homemade Chips and Dressed Salad; the Cauliflower Cheese for two (an extra £3.50) had also called our name.
The Man and I got three large, thick slices of ridiculously tender, flavoursome Beef, so we tucked in to those bad boys straightaway; we did a bit of swapping about of the roast Parsnips and Roasties i.e. I had his Parsnips (which were gorgeously soft and fragrant) and he had all but one of my roast Potatoes (perfect examples of what roasties should be). As we were tucking in, Mummy’s Honey Roast Gammon arrived, but not with fried Eggs, Chips and Salad; she also got the full-on Sunday roast trimmings! Not quite sure what happened in the kitchen, but turns out that this was an absolutely beautiful meal, so clearly it was meant to be.
You can’t beat a proper wedge of rich, meaty Gammon and the slices at Hilcote Country Club were spot-on in terms of size and taste. I ended up eating Mummy’s homemade Yorkshire Pudding – it was massive and had a delicious, creamy flavour to it that was hitting the spot for me. Chef has got the mashed Potato bang on the money, I have to say. You know when you do mash at home, there’s that balance of 95% smooth and 5% still slightly rough Potato? Well that’s exactly what the mashed spuds are like at Hilcote, and they are perfectly seasoned and pimped-up with butter for a superb rich taste in the mouth.
One of the team brought out the Cauliflower Cheese in its own bowl, as well as another partitioned bowl that housed mixes of Mange Tout and Cabbage, and Carrot and Sweetcorn. There was more than enough to serve us three and all the vegetables were cooked to retain their crunch and flavour. The Cauli Cheese had a wickedly thick, golden crust to it and the sauce was super scrummy and pleasantly unctuous; no complaints here. It took us a while, but we cleared our plates (well, me and The Man did, Mummy still had some bits left on hers). Despite being beyond stuffed, there was till that magic space left in our tummies for dessert!
I have to say that the dessert selection has significantly improved since we last had Sunday lunch at Hilcote Country Club. After giving it some serious thought, His Nibs cast his beloved Sticky Toffee Pudding aside in favour of the scrummy-sounding Chocolate Cherry Fondant Pudding and I went for the Malted Milk and Irish Cream Torte.
Both desserts were beautifully presented, with fancy patterns of sauce decorating my platter and fresh fruits on His Nibs’. My Torte had a buttery base that was firm enough to not crumble when cut into, but not so firm as to be brick-tough; on top was a gorgeous mousse that revealed its two-tone charms when I cut it open. The paler mousse was the Malted Milk variety, with the darker mousse having a familiar flavour of a certain Irish Cream Liqueur to it. Decorating the top of this wondrous confection was a glossy, deep toned Chocolate disc, fancily adorned with a mix of White, Milk and Dark Chocolate mini spheres and some Malteaser-esque balls. So good was this dessert that I didn’t touch any of the Vanilla Ice Cream that came with it!
The Man’s pick was mesmerising as he cut the outer open to reveal the molten chocolate centre as it oozed seductively from its confines, and Mummy and I watched jealously as he spooned it into his mouth. The balance of Cocoa and Cherry was perfect; that satisfying richness of chocolate was undeniable but there was no mistaking the fruity tones of the Cherry in there, either. Needless to say, there wasn’t a scrap of it left on His Nibs’ plate when he finally came up for breath!
Throughout our time at Hilcote Country Club, all the team had done the check backs at each course, making sure we were happy with our food and ensuring we’d got drinks and sauces as necessary. Dan had come over to have a chat between courses, and even had time for a joke with the children at an adjacent table; Hilcote is definitely family friendly.
Hot Wings awarded for the Sunday Roast at this great Derbyshire venue, you certainly get plenty of bang for your buck! To book your table give the team a call on 01773 811248 or visit the website for more details www.thehilcotecountryclub.co.uk
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