Dinner / £££ / 8.5/10

“We had the best Sunday dinner at the Old Vol” – my neighbour

“Have you been to the Old Vol?” – my colleague

“They do amazing sushi” – my sister

It is fair to say I have heard a *bit* about The Old Vol over the last 12 months, I even read a long article on facebook about how they were simplyfying their menu and reviewing prices after a few people had complained it was getting too expensive for a village pub. The place itself remained unvisited, until today. Deciding it was long overdue I booked in between Christmas and New Year for a mid afternoon meal on a day that felt like a Sunday but wasn’t.

From the outside the old pub looks handsome, all fairy lights and decorations with a nice outdoor seating area, smart signage and a giant polar bear. So far, so ‘Oh that’s a bit odd’. We were warmly greeted and walked through the cosy snug, past the bar to our table at a wall of plants with a neon sign behind it. Oh there is that feeling again. Lovely, lovely, odd. Pushing all that aside someone has spent a lot of money making the inside of the restaurant area feel modern and instagrammable, clashing slightly with the country pub aesthetic (that I love).

The menu at the Old Vol is vast and diverse, half country pub, half sushi with a side of Salt Bae (Wagyu cooked on hot stones). I opted for a country pub starter, a sushi main course but The Northerner went classic pub fare for both courses. The starters arrived, I had Wild Mushrooms on toast and the northerner had Curried Parsnip Soup. My starter was excellent, a thin slice of toasted bread with a variety of well cooked and seasoned mushrooms, the confit garlic puree added a sweetness and the kale a crunch. I was very happy. The Northerner was happily making his way through the soup and telling me how good the bread was when he found a bit of yoghurt, on further investigation it turned out there was quite a lot so he mixed it all in and immediately regretted it. The sweet, spicy soup turned pale and the warm flavour vanished. There it was again – lovely, lovely, odd.

For our main course I had 2 portions of sushi rolls (more on those later) and the northerner had fish and chips. I gasped when the fish and chips arrived. It looked EPIC, the batter was deep and embalmed the fish completely. The mushy peas had a minted flavour that set off a load of happy pods in my brain, the tartare sauce and chip shop curry sauce were shiny and tempting. The chips were shards of fried potato with a pillowy centre, I was ready to eat all my words, willing this dish to be as perfect as it looked. The Northerner tucked in excitedly and there it was. The fish still had the skin on it, slimy, sticking to the batter and rejected by the majority of eaters. I am not sure the reason some restaurants leave it on but I do know the best fish and chips I have had don’t. He looked at me “it was a 10/10 till then”

Now a disclaimer – I ordered sushi as my sister had raved about it but my relationship with sushi is ‘complex’. Complex in that I don’t like raw fish or avocado so I normally order a bastardised version of sushi that the Japanese would probably laugh their ass off at. Enter ‘Chicken Katsu’ and ‘Aromatic Duck’ Sushi Rolls. They were really good, room temperature (as they should be) and I could pick out all the individual flavours of the duck, hoi sin and heat from the ginger in the chicken katsu. The rice was seasoned well with vinegar to cut through the richness of my wagamama-esque fillings. I really liked the way they breadcrumbed the nori on the chicken katsu and avoided soggy breadcrumbs in the middle of sticky rice. It was well thought out and executed, a clean plate went back to the kitchen.

I loved both my choices, on my food alone the Old Vol was 10/10 and this is where I struggle on how much my scores are based on food, service, atmosphere and the company I am with. The Northerner didn’t enjoy his food as much as I did, the restaurant decor is not to my taste (the neon plant wall made my teeth itch) and while we were there another diner ordered the Wagyu cooked on hot stones so the small dining room filled with smoke for 5 minutes and I still smell a bit like BBQ. However, if it was on my doorstep I would be back weekly for those sushi rolls ……….but I’d probably ask if I could eat them sat at the bar, away from any hot stones.