The Grill Room at the Horse & Plough, Bingham

The Grill Room Restaurant, 25 Longacre, Bingham, Notts. NG13 8AF. tel. 01949 839313 

You will find The Grill Room upstairs at the CAMRA award-winning Horse & Plough in Bingham. Give yourself enough time to sample the atmosphere of this pub with its connoisseur’s range of ales, beamed ceilings and stone floors. The Plough often has a good cross section of local beers and keeps a very decent cellar. You may need to employ a little elbow work to get to the bar as it is always busy, whereas the restaurant itself has been refurbished making an intimate and comfortable dining space in which to relax. The kitchen is also serving up some very good value for money bar food (if, that is, you can find an unoccupied table).  Owned by Carl Bartsch and run by son Gareth, this is a family business with strong ties to the community, some of its waiting staff making up for a lack of experience with genuine friendly attitudes, seemingly picked from a pool of kids from Bingham's Toothill School sixth form. Interestingly Bartsch Inns are making inroads further into the Vale of Belvoir and have taken over The Manor Arms at Knipton, once owned by the Duchess, the village itself plum in the heart of the Belvoir estate. 

 

The menu usually offers a modern twist on traditional grill fare along with crowd-pleasers such as Smoked Haddock with wholegrain mustard mash, buttered spinach in a chive hollandaise topped with a poached egg; Rack of Lamb with seasonal vegetables, rosemary potatoes and herb jus; and Butternut and Cashew Nut Curry on a bed of coconut and coriander rice. The emphasis here is on the finest, freshest ingredients and great value for money. The beef steaks themselves are locally sourced and matured for at least 21 days, and the grill menu also includes fresh fish and some welcome (and surprising) additions like Ostrich and Kangaroo. The wine list is comprehensive, reasonably priced, with monthly special offers and a helpful section suggesting perfect matches for the food. Have to say it works best for couples or small parties. A large group booking can (and has, as we can testify) leave the waiting staff in a dither, with some rather variable food being served. 

 

Yet our last visit was defined by both exceptional plates of food and smoothly professional service. We began with Smoked Haddock & Prawn Fishcakes which were tasty and well-textured and a Salad of Wood Pigeon (from the local Belvoir estate), perfectly cooked and succulent. These were followed by a Mixed Grill, challenging with its meaty abundance, each component cooked wonderfully, and a Trio of Pork comprising of belly pork, spicy sausage and smoked bacon which only showcases the wonderful produce. We each finished with a Bailey’s Bread & Butter Pudding with coffee cream which is incredibly light, soft and melts in the mouth.

Nice to have the option of a decent, unfussy place like this on your doorstep and it serves the villages well, but I can't imagine The Grill Room drawing in diners from further than Radcliffe on Trent with Nottingham's restaurant scene so close.