A Sunday Carvery At The Cross Keys In Newbold, Coalville
Published On Tuesday 17 Sep 2024 by Sticky Beak
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One of the things that His Nibs and I like best about the blog is visiting somewhere new; specifically, somewhere new that’s not in our immediate patch. An invite from Donna and Peter to visit their pub, The Cross Keys Inn, in Newbold Coleorton village, just over t’border in Leicestershire, for Sunday lunch, and we eagerly accepted. If you need a place to rest your head, they also have a couple of rooms as well, in the converted cowshed.
To be fair, it wasn’t a bad run over and it actually wasn’t as far away as you might first think: East Midlands Airport is 7 miles from them, and Ashby de la Zouch 3 miles away. There’s a small amount of on-site parking at The Cross Keys, all of which was taken, so we grabbed a spot on the road – and there’s plenty of room here.
As soon as we stepped through the door we were greeted warmly by the lady, who immediately asked if there were any allergies or dietary requirements the team needed to know about when we said that we’d got a table booked for the Carvery. The restaurant is literally in the heart of the pub, with no separation from the bar and, whilst this sounds a bit odd, it means that it has a really homely feel to it; like you’re in a friends’ house, and they’re cooking for you.
Our server was a lovely young lad who got our drinks sorted quick-smart, and brought some table water over for us as well. I’d decided that I was going to have a traditional Sunday Carvery - which is also available on Thursday lunchtime - , opting to go for the three-meat option (£16.95) and The Man fancied the Lamb Shank in Minted Gravy (£16.95) which allowed him to grab his veg and gravy from the Carvery counter. Playing nicely (for once!), we ordered the Salt n Pepper Squid with dressed Leaves and Chipotle Mayo (£5.95) to share as a starter, as we didn’t want to fill ourselves up ahead of our mains.
It wasn’t long before the starter was placed before us, and it was beautifully presented in a miniature, metal frying basket. On top of the Squid pieces was a wedge of fresh Lemon, and the leaves provided a bed on which everything sat; a small bowl housed the Chipotle Mayo which, we soon found out, certainly packs a hefty punch! A light, super-crisp batter wrapped around the pieces of tender Squid, and because it was light and non-greasy, the subtle taste of the Squid shone through brilliantly in the mouth.
Having checked earlier that we were enjoying our starter, our server took a couple of plates and the dinky frying basket back to the kitchen with a smile on their face. In the interim between courses, I had a glance around at just who dines in The Cross Keys, and it was pretty much a cross-section of general society: families with children of all ages, couples, and groups of friends. There was a lively atmosphere but at no time were there lots of folks waiting for their meals. Staff carefully managed tables so that there was a trickle of diners going up to the Carvery counter, which served two purposes; a) waiting was kept to a minimum, and b) Chef and his kitchen team could keep food on the counter replenished and hot easily.
I’d been given a ticket for the Carvery when our drinks had been brought over, but I chose to wait until His Nibs’ Lamb Shank came out, so that we could dine together. Talking of the Lamb Shank, it was a good size – even those who are chewing their knuckles in hunger will be satisfied! The meat itself was marvellously tender and fell apart at the lightest touch of the knife, and its flavour was just as excellent; sweet, rich and deep, with a gorgeous kiss of Mint at its edge.
On this particular day, the Carvery meats on offer were Turkey Breast, Beef, and Gammon Ham and Chef was kept busy carving slices of them all off for keen diners. The regular Carvery allows you to choose any two of the three, whereas my Keys Carvery Platter let me indulge in the full trio – as well as getting an extra Yorkshire Pudding. Without exception, all the meats on my plate were wonderful: tender, flavoursome, generous in size and cooked through. Those who like their Beef ‘un-pink’, you’ll love the offering here; those who prefer to see pink in the centre will be disappointed, but not with the taste – that was super. I loved how moist the Turkey Breast meat was, and the Gammon was lovely and bold in taste.
Matching the meats in quality were the vegetables and sundries. Both the Roasties and the Yorkshire Pud were a bit smaller than other venues, but they were absolutely spot-on in terms of taste and texture. Two types of Cabbage were served – shredded green Savoy and Red; the Red Cabbage had a beautiful hint of spice to it and was comfortingly soft, whereas the Savoy leaves had been finely sliced and cooked to retain their crunch. Mashed Potato was skilfully seasoned and super-smooth, and the stuffing balls were flavoursome, too.
Unusually, Chef at The Cross Keys serves his own Ratatouille and this was blooming marvellous! Rather than being a medley of veg that just gets bunged in a Tomato sauce and cooked, resulting in a somewhat soggy, disappointing dish, Chef carefully dices his vegetables, combines them with Tomato and cooks the mix until it is softened but not soggy. A pop of Chill adds some heat on the palate, enhancing the other flavours in this morsel.
Again, our plates were clean - making our server’s task easy – and, after a few minutes rest, we were offered the dessert menu to peruse. No surprises when I tell you that The Man Bird chose the Homemade Sticky Toffee Pudding (£4.95), having it with Ice Cream rather than pouring Cream or Custard! I fancied the sound of the Honeycomb Cheesecake (£4.95), and asked to have the pouring Cream with my dessert.
As per our usual ‘in-house’ competition, I declared my Cheesecake to be the ‘Best Presented’; not that His Nibs’ pud was shabby in any way, just that my Cheesecake had subtler tones within it. The biscuit base was nice and easy to cut into and was beautifully buttery in my mouth, topped with an impossibly creamy body. A decorative top of multi-toned Toffee, Chocolate and Honeycomb pieces looked beautiful and added a great injection of texture into this dessert. I didn’t really need it (the dessert was already indulgent enough!), but I took the little jug of cream and emptied some of its contents over the Cheesecake…yum, yum, yummy!
The dark, homemade Sticky Toffee Pudding sat proudly in the centre of a paler lake of Toffee Sauce and, oooh, this was seriously moreish. His Nibs’ keen eye watched me as I dabbed my spoon in to the sauce, making sure that I wasn’t being [too] greedy – as if! As his spoon pierced he surface of the pudding, you could see that it wasn’t as dense in texture as some, but it certainly punched in the taste stakes. In a lot of venues, the Ice Cream is served in the bowl with the Sticky Toffee Pudding so that the warmth melts it, but here the Ice Cream was in its own little bowl so that the contrast between the two temperatures was even more striking. Both of us said how much we’d enjoyed our respective sweet treats, and at £4.95 each they were great value for money.
This was one of the visits where we’d asked to not reveal who we were - not that we go around saying who we are, anyway – so that we could then feedback to Donna and Peter how their team did. I’m happy to say that everyone was really pleasant and that they kept customers happy and the premises clean. Hot Wings happily given to this fab Leicestershire team, and thank you for inviting us along to sample your Sunday Carvery; on the back of this, we spotted several dishes on the ‘regular’ menu that we’d love to try, so we’ll be returning at some point.
To book a table, ring 01530 224799 and if you jump over to their Facebook Page – The Cross Keys Inn Newbold – you can have a look at the menu and see when they’re open. They also have a website www.crosskeysnewbold.co.uk for you to get more info from.
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