The White Lion, Brinsley

Update - New review http://thebungalowblues.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/fathers-day-featuring-white-lion.html

Update - the restaurant opened again mid May 2013 with a new chef - will blog an update once we've been for dinner on Fathers Day

Update 30/04/2013 - the restaurant closed at the end of February due to staffing issues, there is a new head chef and they are back to serving bar snacks - home made pizzas and White Lion burgers, Caesar salads, fat chips, chicken or steak ciabattas between Wednesday and Sunday and sometime around 17 May the restaurant will be re-opening with a new menu - I'll keep you posted .


I've mentioned the White Lion before, we went there for Tony's birthday last year.

Just recently I've been lucky enough to go several times, well when I say several I mean four times! Once for a big family meal when my mum and dad were visiting, then just me and Lauren, then another family meal on a smaller scale and then finally for Father's Day.

It's a really relaxed atmosphere, the staff are always really friendly. They do nice beer, when we went they had Sharps Doom Bar and Blue Monkey BG Sips, both award winning beers. I am always really amazed at how all these wonderful meals come out of such a tiny kitchen.

Rather than going through each visit one by one, I thought I'd just go through a selection of the food we've had. I've included the prices but usually there is a special price of £14.95 for 3 courses on a Sunday.

The pub was refurbished and reopened about a year ago and at the moment we can't believe our luck that we've got such a little gem on our doorstep, let's hope it stays that way.

Starters

Pan-fried English Duck breast with a beetroot and pear salad £3.95
This was my first starter on the first visit, it looked beautiful, I love duck.
The first piece of duck I had was the very end of the breast and it was quite chewy
and I was worried I'd made the wrong choice but the rest was totally soft, with that lovely
irony, duck taste, sitting on a crunchy salad and dressed with a little sweet sauce.

Woodland mushroom on a baked crouton £3.95
This was my mother in law and aunty's choice.
They said the mushrooms had a lovely earthy taste all in a
rich creamy sauce on a crunchy, fresh bread, toasted crouton

Scottish rope grown mussels in a tomato and basil sauce £4.25
The remaining 5 starters (one person abstained!) were the mussels
including Lauren. The staff were very helpful and arranged a half-portion for her
and this is what is pictured. The mussels were huge and juicy and smothered
in a thick and tasty sauce, packed with tomato and basil flavour.

King scallops and black pudding with slow roast belly pork and a tarragon sauce
(part of Fathers Day menu 3 courses £18.95 and 2 courses £14.95)
My husband actually said this was the best starter he's ever eaten!
Lauren pretty much said the same, again they were very accommodating and
served hers with the sauce in a separate jug. The scallops were cooked to perfection
browned on the outside and meltingly soft inside...sitting on a piece of belly pork that was
not too fatty, but deliciously crispy...sitting on a round of amazing black pudding,
sweet and soft...if you didn't know, you'd never guess!
Even Lauren ate half her piece were she's never dared try it before.
And then there was the sauce, buttery and full of tarragon, smooth and rich

Breaded brie with a sticky onion chutney (also Fathers Day menu)
No matter how much I enjoyed the duck salad, this was my favourite starter.
Usually when I see it on a menu I never have it because it's just too naughty!
But, as it was Fathers Day I thought I would treat myself!
I cannot describe just how crispy it was on the outside, but how light
the crumb was and the onion chutney was delicious, sweet and sticky but full of texture.
There was also a lovely drizzle of balsamic to accompany the leaves.

Mains

Rump of local beef with Yorkshire pudding, creamy mash, dauphinoise potatoes and a selection of seasonal vegetables £8.95
This is my favourite dinner to have on a Sunday at the White Lion.
The beef is locally produced in Selston and is meltingly soft thanks to it's slow cooking.
It always served with an epic Yorkshire pudding, which unlike many you get these days where
size seems to be everything and you usually end up with something that explodes into burnt tasting pudding sawdust, this is actually high, a little crisp on the top, but delicious and puddingy at the bottom.
It's served with buttery, smooth, creamy mashed potato - which Lauren says is the best in the world "even better than yours mum - sorry!", a small slab of dauphinoise potatoes, soft slices of potato, laced with a rich, seasoned cream, lovely and browned on top. We also got bowls of firm cauliflower,
delicious roasted sweet, Chantenay carrots and mixed greens - tender stem broccoli and cabbage, accompanied by a meaty gravy.
They do a children's version of this for £4.95.

French trimmed pork loin, on the bone with creamy mash, apple compote and a whole grain mustard sauce £8.95
My husband said the pork was soft and really tasty and the sauce was mild and mustardy,
creamy but with the whole grain texture, bot over powering.
It was accompanied by the same vegetables as the beef, but no Yorkshire pudding, however,
if you are a pudding-a-holic they will add one in for you if you ask nicely.

Slow cooked lamb shank with roasted root vegetables,
dauphinoise potatoes and a red wine just £8.95
The accompaniments were as with the pork and beef. The lamb itself was literally falling off the bone and so soft and tasty. It was resting on a bed of diced, sweet roasted vegetables and the red wine just, rich and  full of wine flavour.

Goose breast, cooked pink with a port and shallot jus £8.95
I've had this twice I loved it so much. I've never had goose before and me and Lauren
went on our own for dinner one Sunday just to give it a try! 
The accompaniments were similar to before, with a lovely bowl of greens and the goose was
on top of those tasty little roasted vegetables.
The goose itself was cooked pink as promised, it has a soft texture and was very like a meatier version of duck, a similar irony taste, the fatty skin had been rendered so it was crispy. The piéce de resistance of the whole dish those was the sauce, I am not a big lover of sauce but this was delicious, juicy and winey with the most delicious little sweet, soft shallots. 

12oz rib-eye steak, fat chips, tomatoes and beer battered onion rings (Fathers Day menu)
So I wasn't crazy about the tomatoes, one or two would have been plenty. However, the steak was amazingly soft, cooked medium rare just as I asked and seared on the griddle. The onion rings were super crispy and the chips were fat! Like a cross between a chip and a roast potato, totally soft all the way through with a browned exterior, like a roast potato and hidden beneath the steak some lovely, tasty
 fried mushrooms.

Fat chips and hidden mushrooms!!

Children's meals

Childrens sausage and mash £4 or Children's Penne Pasta
in a Tomato Sauce £3.50
The sausage were decent quality, locally produced ones, the
dinner came with fresh greens and a little pot of gravy.
The pasta was in a home made sauce - there were empty
plates on both days - you can't ask for more than that!
Lauren does usually have the children's roast dinner - pork, lamb
or beef for £4.95

Desserts

White chocolate cheese cake, with dark chocolate sauce (Fathers Day menu)
This was a total indulgence that I shared with Lauren, after she's convinced me we had room for it!
It tasted exactly how it looks, chocolatey and creamy, topped with the sweetest strawberry and
sitting on a crunchy biscuit base - everything you want from a cheesecake, very soft textured though.

Apple and Blackberry pie with thick vanilla custard £3.50
This was my father in laws choice, he was over the moon that
it was a slice of a big pie, he said the pastry was lovely and light and crisp
and the custard was delicious and below is the individual portion my husband had the week before,
equally appreciated

and finally...last but not least...the Cheeseboard (Fathers Day menu)
with locally produced cheeses, Stilton, a cheddar type cheese and a soft, brie type
with apple, grapes, celery and water biscuits, with some butter and
a spoonful of onion chutney - enough for two and no complaints!