The Bear at Hodnet

Star rating: * * * 

People who have never heard of The Bear at Hodnet must surely be new to the area, as it is famous for its medieval banquets.

A 16th century coaching inn, it has a former bear pit and secret passages to the village church and Hodnet Hall, hence its name, and offers bar and restaurant dishes as well as medieval functions, weddings etc.

On hearing it had recently been taken over by Allison and Ben Christie of the award-winning Saracens in Hadnall, Simon and myself felt it was well worth the short drive out from Telford to Hodnet to check out its restaurant menu.

Since taking over the place in May this year the Christies have already refurbished the large function room and restaurant, and more work is planned to update both the inside and outside.

I hadn’t been there for years; in fact Simon and myself both remembered it as being called The Bear Hotel, but now it is simply known as The Bear at Hodnet.

Visiting on a Friday night we’d booked a 7.30pm table. We were given a warm welcome by the barman and, after ordering a couple of drinks, (a large glass of red wine, £4.35, and a pint of Carling £2.40), he kindly showed us to our table.

The Bear has a traditional bar with log fires and plenty of beams featuring in the restaurant section. The bar was already quite full with what looked like locals and the interior white walls appeared newly painted.

It looked like new curtains had been put up, but I personally felt one or two pictures on the bare walls would have been a nice touch.

Although the food was destined to be excellent, I have to say we found it all a bit open plan at The Bear, and would have perhaps preferred to be seated in a far corner of what looked like more of a restaurant area.

However, as space was obviously tight, the owners have to plan the tables the best they can.

We were sat on a table for two on a raised section and both felt a bit on show at first, as the spotlights above us were a tad too bright. Now in my late thirties, I appreciate the kindness of cosy ambient lighting when dining out!

But, as the restaurant section quickly filled up, the voices of happy diners soon matched those of happy drinkers coming from bar area. Simon and I both felt that it was a relaxed dining experience - quite far from formality - meaning that families with children could comfortably enjoy eating there as well.

The waitresses were very professional and courteous throughout our meal.

For starters I ordered the classic prawn cocktail (£4.95). I know they’re very 1970s but I still love them, so I don’t care. Simon ordered a mushroom and cheese melt (£5.65).

For our main course we were delighted to choose from such a good selection of beef/steak dishes.

I chose fillet steak provencal: fillet of beef with a classic provencal sauce, served with dauphinoise potatoes (£16.95) and fresh vegetables. Simon ordered fillet of beef with chips, peas, grilled tomato and mushrooms (£16.50).

Our waitress soon returned to apologise that the kitchen was out of prawns. Did I want to choose something else for my starter or did I want someone to go and get some? Did I mind waiting? No, I didn’t mind waiting and said so. This was very commendable of them.

The chef could have just said “Sorry, the prawn cocktail’s off”. We were brought bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a small dish of olives to snack on while we were waiting, which was appreciated.

It didn’t take too long for my specially couriered fresh prawns to be transformed into my starter and be served up, along with Simon’s.

It was well worth the wait. There were plenty of fresh, plump prawns, fresh sliced lettuce and seafood sauce and my dish was decorated with sliced tomatoes and cucumber. Although they forgot my teaspoon, this was soon remedied, and I used it to good effect. Yummy.

Simon’s dish was hot and tasty. It came with bread and butter, as did mine. He was very pleased with it.

The food continued in this excellent way for our second course. We had both asked for our steaks to be cooked medium.

I had a great piece of steak. It was a good size, tender and juicy and effortless to cut through. It was nice and brown on the outside and beautifully pink on the inside. I enjoyed the sauce. It had a strong tomato flavour and there was enough of it.

My dauphinoise potatoes were perfectly golden in a creamy sauce and my vegetables of carrots, leeks and broccoli just could not be faulted.

Simon’s steak was good, again nice and brown on the outside and good and pink on the inside. He had plenty of big-cut chips, peas, grilled tomato and mushrooms and he was delighted with everything.

For pudding I ordered a creme brule (£3.75), which was lovely. It has a nice crispy caramelised topping to crack through, under which lay the custard, which was tasty, golden and still warm.

Simon had an excellent cheese-and-biscuits selection (£5.10) with a good chunk of Stilton, Brie and Cheddar. It came with celery and apple slices, biscuits and butter and when he asked for more biscuits this was not a problem.

We followed this with a very decent cafetiere of coffee (£1.75 each), which came with mints and milk or cream.

Later inquiring about the menu we were told that the menus were going to be changed at The Bear. They were going to have a separate a la carte one as well as one for pub meals. Diners will be able to choose where they want to sit.

By Cathy Stanworth

MENU SAMPLE:

Starters: Chicken liver parfait, red onion marmalade and homemade bread (£5.75); smoked haddock and salmon fishcake with chef’s salad and lemon butter (£5.95).

Main courses: Chicken fillet with white wine and mushroom cream sauce (£7.75); Bear mixed grilled - gammon steak, sirloin steak, sausage, two fried eggs, bacon, mushrooms and chips with grilled tomato and peas (£13.50).

Desserts: Sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream; lemon tart with clotted cream and raspberry coulis; chocolate bread and butter pudding with crme anglaise (all at £4.95).

Atmosphere: It was busy in the bar at 7.30pm and by 8pm the restaurant section was filling up too. The Bear is obviously popular and you are made to feel welcome by smiling staff.

Service: Very professional. Efficient and courteous and we got the impression that they would ‘bend over backwards’ to ensure your happiness with the food.

Disabled facilities: None at present.