Dragon’s pub food lacks bite

Ours does.

It sits, unused and pristine in pride of place on the plate rack, adorned with a date in 2007, our names and those of two dear friends. Oh, and one other word: “Result!”

The date was the wedding of said friends, at which my wife and I were presented with said peeler.

We’d earned the unusual reward for bringing the happy couple together at a house party a couple of years before, by encouraging the then strangers to get to know each other at the kitchen sink while they peeled enough potatoes to feed 30. When the sack was empty, we sent them out to buy some more.

It was a crude attempt at matchmaking, but effective.

Back in the region for a fairly rare visit (with their two lovely young boys), Dougie and Sarah joined us for dinner recently – but were spared trial-by-peelings this time.

I can’t quite remember why the Green Dragon ended up on the to do list. It’s had a chequered recent past, with the last incumbents appearing not to have lasted a year.

An Enterprise Inn, it was taken on by Carl and Alyn Tinkler, who have run the New Inn at Thrintoft, near Northallerton, since 2010.

They’ve installed a manager, Helen Jessup, and chef Terry Bolam, and opened up to locals in this small village south-east of Bedale in March. But on the basis of our recent visit, they still have their work cut out.

It’s a handsome enough pub, nothing special on the inside.

The cheerful welcome from behind the bar was warmer than the fireless grate. A handful of drinkers chatted at the bar, but we were the only diners after 8pm.

Three pumps promised offerings from the Black Sheep Brewery up the road, but only one was in use, which was a little surprising for a Friday night.

We settled at our table and checked out the vinyl-clad menu. It had a couple of items scored out by black marker pen as if it had been through a wartime censor’s hands, which was odd – how hard is it to print fresh versions, or politely explain omissions to diners when they order?

First up, two prawn cocktails (£4.95), a grilled flat mushroom topped with goat’s cheese (£5.75) from the specials board, and a parsnip and apple soup (£3.95) for me.

Dougie and Anna’s prawn cocktails were conventional and competent. The soup similarly unexciting but with a flavour better than the combination of sweet root which sweet fruit might have threatened.

Sarah’s mushroom and goat’s cheese was the show-off dish, with a carved and curled spring onion bursting out of the top of the grilled cheese like a fountain.

The women both had pan-fried chicken with mushrooms and tarragon sauce (£10.95) from the specials menu. A generous serving of vegetables came alongside.

The sauce was creamy, the flavours good, but somehow the chicken managed to be dry and oddly pink.

Dougie’s steak and ale pie (£13.95) was okay enough, with shortcrust pastry and plenty of chips, but the latter were unremarkable and the gravy “a bit Bisto-y”.

I’d fallen foul of my old error of ordering while very hungry.

The resulting Green Dragon mixed grill (4oz gammon, 4oz rump, 4oz pork loin, sausage, chicken breast, black pudding, fried egg, tomato, onion rings and chips, £13.95) turned out to be complete overkill for me.

Not the chef’s fault, I hasten to add, although much of the meat was on the dry side – particularly the chicken.

I couldn’t finish it. I’ve no idea how anyone survives the pub’s “Ultimate” mixed grill, which is double the size for £19.95.

Alternatives I could have gone for on the menu included a nice sounding Cajun-spiced salmon salad (£9.50) or one of a range of burgers (from £5.95 to £10.50 for a huge triple-decker version – perhaps the vertical equivalent of my mixed grill?). A two-for-one section of the menu would certainly make a visit more economical, with such options as fish, chips and mushy peas (£12.50), scampi, chips and peas (£11.95) and chicken and mushroom pie (£12.95).

Because they’d been good and finished their main course, Sarah and Anna both chose a pudding – warm chocolate brownie and ice cream (£4.95).

Not very brownie-like at all and effectively the ubiquitous chocolate fudge cake by another name, it was dull.

Two gin and tonics, three pints of black sheep, a fizzy water and a couple of glasses of wine added up to a drinks bill of £26.75 which, added to the food, amounted to an overall tab of £105.60. It had not represented good value.

The Tinklers seem to have made a good go of the New Inn – a pub in a similarly small and fairly out of the way village – so it is to be hoped they can iron out what’s wrong with the Dragon, give it a clearer sense of what it aims to be, and build it back up to be the popular pub it once was.

But a meal like that makes me want to stay at home and cook for myself, even if it means taking down that commemorative spud peeler.

Ratings:

Food quality: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Surroundings: 6/10
Value: 5/10