LIVE 24-SEVEN
PUB OF THE YEAR GETS OUR TOP MARKS...
Situated in Feckenham, a quaint village just outside Redditch, between Droitwich and Bromsgrove, is the award-winning ‘Les Routiers Pub of the Year 2017’, The Forest at Feckenham. Opened in 2013, it has won numerous awards and under the guidance of GM Karen Healey, will no doubt win more!
The pub was immediately welcoming, with drinks quickly served whilst we took our time to choose from the excellent menu, as well as admiring the fabulous views of the gardens. We relaxed and nibbled on bread and olives at our candlelit table; the sun was shining outside, but we were also warm and content in the restaurant.
Skilfully presented food is paired with excellent service; our antipasti to start was mouth-wateringly good. A super selection of Nocellara olives, hummus, Poponcini peppers, pickled garlic, marinated mushrooms, smoked mozzarella & chilli jam, roasted garlic and warm bread set our taste buds alight! This carefully curated selection of sharing items started proceedings with top marks.
The menu is a combination of traditional dishes with a twist and thoughtful seasonal dishes – the type you want to see on a restaurant menu. The pub’s reputation for excellent food and service is thanks to a strict sourcing policy that focuses on the very best locally-sourced produce where possible, then casting the net further afield for special produce and anything they feel is lacking in the standard they expect. The staff are ‘home grown’ too, very capable and loyal, the owners of the restaurant, The CD Pub Company have been in the top 10 Best Employers in Hospitality for the last five years! The staff are clearly happy, which reflects in the genuinely excellent service.
The main course dishes are generous and beautifully presented. The pan-fried monkfish was served with a delicate samphire and courgette salad, together with caper and spring onion croquettes and all I can say is that it is delicious and reassuringly healthy – not normally two words you would put together.
The Forest’s steaks are sourced from Aubrey Allen, who also supply many Michelin-starred restaurants. Our fillet steak was cooked perfectly to allow for the flavour to take centre stage. Both tender and pink, served with a delightful combination of blue cheese crème fraiche, roasted field mushrooms, watercress and of course wickedly good chips, we noted the steak had a strong billing on the menu, described as, “Both lean and tender, the true connoisseur’s choice, the Champagne of beef”. A weighty description that it easily lived up to!
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