TWO weeks ago, Sylvia asked somewhat petulantly why she had been dragged to the admittedly underwhelming Bridge House Hotel at Catterick Bridge. This week the question was: “When are we coming back here, then?”
I’m not quite sure what the answer to that question will be because the Buck Inn at Maunby has the disadvantage of being on the road to nowhere. A few miles from the A167, the village is the end of the road. There’s no passing trade. It is the ultimate “destination pub”.
Based on our Saturday lunchtime visit – far and away our best experience of 2013 so far – there should be plenty of folk taking the short detour to excellent food and service.
You just know a place is trying when you find fresh flowers in the gents’ loo.
Ninety-nine per cent of male customers won’t give a fig but it shows the pub’s owners are prepared to attend to the details other establishments ignore.
Samantha Clark, her partner head chef Matthew Roath, helped by Matthew’s father Peter, clearly take this food and drink business very seriously. On the walls of the Buck are bills from some of the best eating places in the North England – the Star at Harome, Cafe 21 at Jesmond Dene, Newcastle, the Oak Tree at Hutton Magna – and further afield, Raymond Blanc’s two Michelin starred Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire.
There’s posh for you.
But don’t panic. The Buck’s not gone all fine dining. It’s still very much a village pub and on the grimmest of winter Saturdays it got the basics right with two wood fires going in the bar and the dining area where we ate. The Roath/Cameron team took over last November and say they have carried out a top-to-bottom refurbishment.
I can’t recall how it used to be but it certainly looks the part of a tidy, traditional pub with contemporary touches.
The front bar is lounge style, the two dining areas to the rear are lighter and smarter with tables set formally with decent napery and quality cutlery and glassware.
At lunch time, a short “market menu” is supplemented by a lite bites and sandwiches selection, featuring lots of local produce – fish from Hodgsons of Hartlepool, meat from Country Valley at Hurworth and Yorkshire Dales Meat from Patrick Brompton.
Head chef Matthew, who has no formal training, has previously worked under Marcus Bennett at the Bay Horse, Hurworth, and at Chadwicks, Maltby. It has proved a sound training ground.
From the very reasonably priced market menu (two courses £11.95, three £14.95) I chose a chorizo and butterbean cassoulet with “James Munroe’s pork sausages” (that’s James Munrow of Country Valley).
This was a great winter warmer of a dish, the spicy richness of the chorizio cassoulet playing a great support act to the fat, herby bangers. It was thankfully not a massive portion but just right for a lunch dish.
The interior of The Bucks Inn
It, and Sylvia’s Buck Club sandwich, came with some really super bread which is baked every day on the premises.
We were presented with a mix of soft wholegrain with black pudding and a herb variety which I can’t recall now but was one of the highlights of the meal.
Sylvia’s club sandwich (£6.50), from the lite bites menu, was pretty much perfect.
Crispy bacon and lettuce, tender chicken and tomato tucked into a wholemeal bap and accompanied by a homemade mayo and chunky, twice-fried, chips.
I enjoyed a darkly sticky treacle tart featuring some very good buttery pastry and clotted cream from up the road at Stamfrey Farm.
She loved the homemade choccies that came with the bill.
Service from a very capable young woman, who turned out to be Ms Clark, was top notch, particularly given she was running the whole front-of-house operation (bar and restaurant) entirely on her own and the place was by no means empty.
Well done to her and everyone in the kitchen. Although it was only a simple lunch it demonstrated great promise and potential.
We shall return to sample the evening fare which is a little more ambitious but sticks to the same principles of local sourcing and cooking in the modern British style.
There’s also a good selection of real ales from Copper Dragon and Black Sheep. I enjoyed a pint of Golden Pippin from the former, with a soft drink for her.
The bill came to just £27.
Ratings:
Food Quality: 9/10
Service: 10/10
Surroundings: 9/10
Value: 10/10
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