Dinner / £££ / 8.5/10

After years and years of different landlords, reopening and closing The Trent in Radcliffe on Trent was bought by The Secret Pub Company (who at that time owned The Railway, a wonderful place) and reopened as The Radcliffe in 2017. I have been there a lot as it used to be my local and have visited the other venues since the chain has expanded (The Lambley and The Plough). On this occasion I was meeting some friends the day after I fractured my wrist getting my bike wheel caught in a bloody tram track. I was feeling a bit sorry for myself.

My friends, a glass of lovely prosecco and the menu cheered me right up. The pub and dining room are well designed, you feel relaxed and at home as soon as you arrive. The service was spot on, always there when you wanted something and unnoticeable the rest of the time. A perfect balance. I needed to order something I could eat one handed so we shared the garlic and tomato bread for starter and I had the cod and mussels for main course. Normally I wouldn’t bore you with a run down on garlic bread but it was delicious. The salty garlic butter making the soft bread melt in your mouth and the tomatoes were warm, but not sloppy and soggy. The herbs and fruity cheese finished it off perfectly

The cod came with buttered leeks, large steamed mussels, hazlenuts and a side of patatas bravas, which was a bit of an odd accompaniment. The fish was cooked perfectly, the cod flaking under the pressure of my fork and the mussels juicy and soft. The dish was a little light on flavour, it could have done with a bit more butter in the leeks, after I’d finished the hazlenuts I found myself wondering if I would be better tipping the patatas bravas into the cod dish to make it a bit more interesting.

One of my friends ordered the heritage tomato tart and it was a highly praised with it’s rainbow of tomatoes, courgettes and unctious blobs of goats cheese.

For pudding I went for the strawberry pavlova, my friend had the sticky toffee pudding but I have enjoyed that so many times I decided something new would make a better review (but for the avoidance of doubt it is one of the best Sticky Toffee Puddings in Nottingham, much like most of the ones I review)

The strawberry pavlova looked underwhelming when it arrived but it was hiding a secret. In the middle of the meringue was a beautiful strawberry sorbet and there was a (slightly unfortunately coloured) strawberry sauce on the bottom. It was a celebration of summer and even tempted my friend that avoids sugar to have a spoonful.

All the venues owned by The Secret Pub Company deliver this high standard and I hope they take over a venue nearer to me soon. The Secret Pub Company is expanding at a reassuring pace, each venue transforms a run down pub/handsome building into a local destination for special occasions and elevated suppers. The venues integrate well with the communities, hosting local events and are an asset to each village they move to. They remind me Mole Face Pub Company at the height of their success, but I hope they last longer. They are my fail safe if anyone asks for a good country pub (their roast dinner are delicious) I just wish there would have been a bit more flavour to my cod.

Family – All the pubs in the chain offer kids menus, have high chairs and some have seperate baby changing facilities. The Railway and The Radcliffe also have play areas in their gardens for children so make a perfect family pub.