This West End is worth a visit (The Inn @ West End (Surrey))

Member Name: grahamt

Product:	The Inn @ West End (Surrey)
Date:	25/03/07 (392 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good food in pleasant surroundings

Disadvantages: Not all on the menu always available

On one of those roasting hot summer Sundays that we seem to be enjoying more and more these days, thanks to Global Warming, we had two choices; go home and sit out on the patio with a selection of cheeses and biscuits and a chilled bottle of a good rosé or let someone else do the work. At the time we were just passing The Inn @ West End located, not in The West End but in West End, near Lightwater in Surrey.

I had noticed the pub before and had been intrigued by the ampersand in the name, assuming an owner with more than a passing familiarity with the Internet. I was right. A little search of the Web uncovered a website that is not afraid to blow its own trumpet with an address of www.the-inn.co.uk and email address of greatfood@the-inn.co.uk. Apart from a very representative picture of the pub itself you are informed that the pub, owned by Gerry and Ann Price, has won an award as Gastropub of the year 2007, South East England. The website also has a booking form for requesting a reservation. I used it and it was responded to promptly so this is clearly not just a “shop window” although I did notice that the menus shown there were not the same as we found during our most recent visit.

But, before I was able to discover all this we were to sample what the pub had to offer on that Saturday lunchtime.

The pub has a good amount of car parking space out front. The interior is attractive with a somewhat rustic feel to it. The bar is in front of you as you enter and extends to the left, in front of which is primarily the eating area. The room extends in front of you to the right of the bar to the Garden Room, which is the extended dining area, and from there through french windows into the back garden. It was here we chose to eat, beneath the verandah overlooking the garden, where we could get some relief from the heat of the midday sun.

Now, to be honest, I can't remember what we ate then other than it was delicious and accompanied by a glass of an excellent chilled white wine. What I do remember is that we both agreed that we should return one evening to sample their dinner menu. Like many such intentions, it was some time before it was realised.

The occasion that presented itself as an ideal opportunity was the joint birthday celebrations for my wife and son, only two days apart but celebrated normally together on the next weekend after. I hadn't revealed my choice to them and so it was with the normal process of turning up at the door, all the time with them trying to guess where we were heading (“I know where we're going. Oh, shouldn't we have turned down there? Ah, OK, now I know. Oh, wrong again”). In this case it was my daughter's boyfriend who was our chauffeur for the evening so I didn't have to worry about drinking.

The Inn @ West End can be found by coming off of the M3 at J3, Lightwater, and following the Lightwater by-pass to the first roundabout. Straight on over the roundabout to the first set of traffic lights and The Inn is very shortly after them on the right, so don't go roaring off from the lights.

This evening the five of us were seated in the Garden Room. It was still too cold, due to a sudden cold snap, to eat outside. By this time it was also dark so we couldn't enjoy any views of the garden either. Right by our table was a bookcase set into the wall with a whole stack of popular novels, should your company for the evening prove boring!

At weekends the offering is a set course menu of two or three courses. The three course menu at £29.75 per person. There is plenty of choice of both fish and meat dishes for both the starters and the main course and in addition you can choose from a chalkboard of specials of the day, starters and main courses. Even though fairly early in the evening however, the sea bream was already all gone, which was a great disappointment to my wife as it is one of her favourites. We also overheard a nearby table being told that there was only one helping left of the cod! Maybe anticipation of demand is not the restaurant's strong point?

For starters we variously chose the watercress and potato soup with lemon cream, mussels and for my daughter, grilled goats cheese. Everyone expressed themselves very pleased with their chosen dishes.

As most of us who were drinking wine were also having fish, we stuck to convention and chose a white wine. From the restaurant's interesting list I chose a Gavi de Gavi from Italy, not because I had ever tried it before but because it intrigued me. Described as coming from vineyards set in the hills and from 50 year old Cortese vines, I had to give it a go. It proved a good choice. The wine left a slight tingle on the tongue although not a sparkling wine, and an after-taste of peaches in the mouth. A truly excellent and unusual wine that I shall look out for again. Such a success was it that we ordered a second bottle. This particular wine was £20.75 a bottle.

For he main course both my wife and I had New Forest reared Barramundi (a fresh water fish native to Australia) and Black Bream. This was served on a bed of cabbage and bacon bits and with new potatoes. My son had the guinea fowl, my daughter the mussels (these served both as a starter and a main course) and her boyfriend the cod. Once again, however, my first choice was foiled. The specials menu had monkfish with ginger but it turned out that this was only available as a starter. Nevertheless, once again, all of the dishes were superbly served and everyone was very happy with their choice. Throughout the service was attentive but not intrusive.

And so to the desserts. Looking down the menu I spotted the “Usual Suspect”, Crème Brullee. Now, I have to say that since I sampled a Crème Brullee “De Luxe” at one establishment, I have been spoiled. Most of you will be familiar with the usual run-of-the-mill offering, a sort of custard cream with a crystallised, caramelised sugar coating on the top. However, once, some time ago, what I was served turned out to be, in place of the usual custard cream, pure Cornish Clotted Cream with real vanilla (you could see the tiny black specks). I was the nearest I've ever come to an orgasmic eating experience.

Now, Gerry is obviously proud of his “traditional” version, and rightly so. He offered me an opportunity to try it even though I decided to choose the caramelised Bread and Butter pudding instead. I have to admit that as Crème Brullee goes, his is as good as it gets. The Bread and Butter pudding though, was not entirely as I would have liked it. I prefer mine where the bread is still very distinct rather than almost “dissolved” into the mix. However, it did taste very good even so.

The whole evening was great success, rounded off with coffee and spirits. The bill for the five of us came to just under £220.

The Inn is a very good location for a special occasion and even just for a pub lunch. We will undoubtedly return again, especially as it is so close to home for us and we could get there by taxi so as to fully enjoy all that is on offer.

Summary: A good local pub with excellent food into the bargain