Sunday Carvery At The Fishpond In Matlock Bath
Published On Wednesday 15 Mar 2023 by Sticky Beak
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You all know that we, as a Flock, love our Sunday Roasts and we’ve been lucky enough to have some fab ones within the ‘Shire. Our fantastic county has literally hundreds (if not thousands) of great eateries, and we keep steadily plugging away in the hope of visiting them all one day! On this particular occasion, we (Mummy Bird, me and His Nibs) found ourselves in the popular town of Matlock Bath, at the very kind invitation of Chef Elmer de Villa, to try the Sunday Carvery at The Fishpond.
Matlock Bath is always busy, so we had to scout around for a parking spot…and that’s before ‘silly season’ starts and the world descends on this gorgeous part of Derbyshire! In the end, The Man dropped me and Mummy Bird off at The Fishpond and went to park the jalopy a bit further afield, saying he’d meet us inside.
Mummy Bird and I went up to the bar and introduced ourselves, and the greeting we got was wonderfully warm, which always get a visit off to a flying start. We explained that we were waiting for His Nibs, and the lovely lady gave us directions for going upstairs when the wanderer returned from parking up. Whilst we waited for The Man Bird, Mummy and I did a bit of reminiscing about her adventures in the upstairs ballroom at this pub and restaurant, from when she was a young, fluffy feathered bird!
We took in the lovely, traditional surroundings of the child-and dog-friendly pub area where, incidentally, you can also eat – handy for those with accessibility needs. In one corner was a chap and his Staffordshire Bull Terrier that was using all its charm to get food from his/her ‘hoomans’ fork and into his/her mouth – can’t fault its optimism, even though its chances of getting scraps weren’t looking good!
It wasn’t long before His Nibs sauntered in and we all made our way upstairs and, wow, what an amazing space it is! A magnificently high, domed ceiling has marvellously intricate carvings all over it and the huge, leaded windows let the light flood in from the skies above. Dressing the windows are plush velvet curtains in a deep blue shade that is complimented by the teal velvet on the banquette that we sat on. The Fishpond’s ballroom is home to many events and to create a more contemporary vibe, the ceiling height is disguised by floaty drapes and fairy lights, fooling the eye into thinking the ceiling is lower. If you look closely, you can see the spotlights that are used in the gigs and events, but it’s done very cleverly and discreetly.
One of the lovely serving team came over to take our drinks orders (large glasses of Pinot for Mummy and me, pint of Moretti for The Man) and, because the ballroom has its own dedicated bar, they were returning to our table with a laden drinks’ tray in no time at all. We were given our tickets to go and get our roasts from the carvery counter which was flipping massive, to be honest!
Chef Elmer de Villa has been cooking up a storm for more than 15 years and those of you who regular dine out will perhaps know him from his time at The Bear at Alderwasley. However, for the past year or so, Elmer has been weaving his culinary magic at Matlock Bath at The Fishpond and it seems his presence has attracted fans of Sunday Roasts from far and wide; out of season (i.e., now) the team usually serve 300 guests. With that fact in mind, we all headed over to the counter to satisfy our rumbling tummies.
Elmer is quite unusual in that he serves 3 different cuts of Beef and cooks them at varying degrees, and he does the same with the Lamb he serves. When we visited to dine, there was a choice of medium Rib of Beef, medium/rare Topside of Beef or Beef Silverside cooked to well-done, as well as 2 legs of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary: one served pink, one cooked all the way through. Additionally, there was Turkey Breast, Shoulder of Pork and Honey-Glazed Gammon to choose from, or Nut Roast or Cheese and Onion Pie (both homemade) for vegetarians.
His Nibs and Mummy Bird had gone up a minute or so before me and I didn’t see what they’d opted for, meat-wise, so when Elmer asked me what I’d like, I said “whatever you think”. “I’ll do you a slice of everything then” came the reply and I soon had no less than eight slices of meat on my warmed plate, and a huge, homemade Yorkshire Pudding, too. Now, I know I can eat for Britain, but I knew I’d got my work cut out here…and that was before I’d put a single vegetable on!
As with the meats, there was a large selection of vegetables on the double-tiered counter to help yourself to. One of Elmer’s team was always on stand-by to refresh empty trays, so there was no waiting for accompaniments to come out. I’m not a massive fan of Potato, so I swerved the mash, but both Mummy and The Man said it was beautifully creamy, super smooth and as soft as velvet. However, the large Roasted Potatoes drew me in with their rich golden coats and they had a wonderful seasoning of salt and black pepper on their outers that complimented their nutty, floury inners’ taste really nicely.
I spotted the dinky stuffing balls and popped one on my plate and then my heart leapt with joy; in a separate bowl were crisped pieces of Pork Crackling, so I put a couple of those on my plate as well. Confession time: neither piece made it back to the table, I ate them ‘on the fly’, so to speak, as I made my way along the counter! Hot, bubbling Cauliflower Cheese got piled on, swiftly followed by the most finely shredded Leeks I’ve ever seen, that had a Cheesy crust topping. Softened, torn Kale found its way onto my plate, as did batons of Carrots and Parsnips and gorgeously squeaky, fine Green Beans. I passed over the Garden Peas, not especially because I didn’t want them, but more for the fact that I actually couldn’t squeeze anything else on my leaning Tower of Pisa-resembling plate!! Saying that, I did manage to drizzle some of Elmer’s homemade White Onion sauce over the entire lot.
Returning to the table I was greeted by “Good God, Angela!”, from Mummy Birds’ lips and a knowing grin from His Nibs – maybe I had over-done it? Oh well, too late to turn back now, so I sat down and began to eat in earnest.
Without exception, the meats were all stunning! Each cut was amazingly tender and soft to the bite, the succulent flesh melting on our tongues. There were varying degrees of fat at the periphery of the slices and some marbling in the muscles’ fibres to give a silkiness in the mouth and, for those of you who shy away from having meat cooked rare in case there’s blood still evident, Elmer rests his meats properly so that whilst they have a beautiful rose-pink hue at their centres, there is no bloodiness on the plate. Both the Turkey breast and the Honey-glazed Gammon were deliciously moist and I was very impressed by the Gammon’s depth of flavour – yummy!
In order to ensure that his meats are enjoyed at their prime, Elmer begins cooking them at 5am on Sunday; this is a real labour of love from this wonderful man, it really is! One of the things I loved was seeing Elmer interact with all his customers; he took time to ask if people were ok with Garlic and Rosemary if they requested Lamb and what cut they would like, but it was with the littlies that he excelled. Each time a child came to the carvery he took extra time to ask what they would like and brought their plate around to them rather than have them stretch up uncomfortably for it. You could see the parents thanking him and smiling as their children looked up happily; positive early years’ experiences like this will shape their future attitudes to eating out, so well done, Elmer.
As we were chomping away, team members came over to check we were enjoying our meals and asked if we needed more drinks; everything was done with a smile and you couldn’t fault the politeness in any way.
All the vegetables were cooked perfectly, but there were a couple of ‘stars of the show’ for me. The shredded Red Cabbage was among some of the most flavoursome I’ve had, their jewel-coloured leaves richly pimped with warming notes of Clove and Star Anise, and I absolutely loved the Cauliflower Cheese’s robust flavour (and the fact that there was such a generous, golden melted crust on the top!).
Leeks are often under-appreciated I think, but I defy anyone to eat Elmer’s interpretation and not fall back in love with this humble vegetable. The super-fine shreds of Leek were still nicely crunchy in the mouth, so you get their true taste, which is surprisingly sweet. I think it has a dialled-down Onion twang and a gentle earthy nudge at the fringe, so pair this with a punchy Cheese top and you get a modern twist on the classic marriage of Cheese and Onion.
In another twist, Elmer serves his Parsnips as batons, using smaller ones so as to not fall foul of any tough, woody traps. Younger Parsnips also tend to be much milder, with less of that distinct ‘perfume’ that turns many folks off them (including The Man Bird, usually, though he did have them on this occasion), so I would encourage you to give these beauties the benefit of the doubt.
Mummy Bird and His Nibs had both larruped Elmer’s meat-juice gravy over their morsels (as well as Horseradish-, Cranberry- and Mint-sauces!) but, as I tried my first bit, I was very happy that I’d bucked the trend and gone for the White Onion sauce. The white base was deliciously subtle and creamy, the taste and texture coming from finely chopped pieces of mild White Onion; understated, but not shy, this was another genius touch from Chef de Villa! You can’t beat a properly done, homemade Yorkie either, and by that I mean ones done in fat, not oil. As we bit into the rich-tasting batter bodies of these minxes, Mummy and I looked at each other and said in unison “these have been cooked in meat fat, you can taste it”.
I won’t pretend that it didn’t take some time, but I did finally, actually manage to clear my plate - if there is a medal for perseverance then I jolly well deserve to win it, let me tell you!! Possibly more podged than I’ve ever been in my life, I was also incredibly happy to have tasted such marvellous morsels. Without doubt, this is my favourite carvery; a view that Mummy Bird and His Nibs agreed with. The food is superb, taste-wise (that’s a given, because it’s got a review!) and in terms of cost, the quantity and quality, and the fact that there’s no surcharge for Lamb, you won’t find a better offering! Adults are priced at £13.95 and children at £7.95 ,and there isn’t a great difference in the size of the plates either!
Hot Wings very happily awarded to this brilliant Matlock Bath venue! Huge thanks to The Fishpond’s incredible team for looking after us all so well, and also to the lovely Elmer (Chef Extraordinaire) for inviting us along; we’ll be back in the very near future as I need to try pudding! The Fishpond also make their own pizzas – which I also need to try (!) and source their ingredients as locally as possible for their wide-ranging menu.
To book a table get in touch on 01629 55006 (yes, it is a 5-digit number, I haven’t missed one off!) and head to the website www.thefishpondmatlockbath.co.uk to see what events are on. Opening times are Mon-Fri 12-10pm (last food orders at 8.45pm) ,Saturday and Sunday Noon-11pm (last food orders 8.45pm and 7.45pm respectively).
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