There is something reassuringly robust about The Punch Bowl Inn.<br>
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Not just in the old-fashioned bar, where the Wainwright Gold is well kept and a huge leather sofa <br>
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sits before a blazing wood burner; or in the dining room, solid <br>
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and comfortable, with its old beams, well-trodden wooden floors and tables <br>
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unadorned with cloths; it's in the menu, too, mainly British with a Gallic burr, <br>
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that makes full use of the magnificent local Lake District larder.<br>
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Stornoway black pudding with crispy egg and bubble and squeak: ‘pure <br>
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Cumbrian comfort by way of Lewis', is Tom's verdict<br>
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We're here with Peter Gott, that great Cumbrian hero, and the man behind Sillfield <br>
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Farm, who has invited me up to cook at the Westmorland County <br>
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Show; also chef Phil Vickery, who certainty knows his alliums; and the force of nature <br>
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that is Lorraine Stanton, something of a legend around these parts.<br>
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But first dinner, and a sublime twice-baked Mrs Kirkham's cheese soufflé, <br>
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the texture as light as a sigh, the flavour profoundly, lasciviously rich.<br>
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Mrs Kirkham's, now made by her son Graham, is one of the world's great cheeses,<br>
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and this is a soufflé of quiet majesty. A mushroom soup is equally splendid, managing to be both light and gutsy, while Stornoway black pudding with bubble and squeak and a deep-fried <br>
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egg is pure Cumbrian comfort by way of Lewis.<br>
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There's a fundamental generosity here, matched by assured technical <br>
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precision. Duck à l'orange sees a plump <br>
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breast cooked rare, the skin crisp, the sauce just the right side of bitter.<br>
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It comes with a fat potato fondant and cabbage spiked with shards of smoked bacon. <br>
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I eat rump of lamb, four vast just-pink slices, drenched in the stickiest, most gloriously intense of gravies;<br>
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by its side, a tiny shepherd's pie, one bite of pure ovine brilliance.<br>
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Puddings are every bit as fine: a lemon tart, beautifully sharp, with damson sorbet (this <br>
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part of the Lake District is famed for its damsons); along with a banana <br>
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soufflé, this time the classic version but ethereal, <br>
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served with vanilla ice cream and a pot of <br>
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sticky-toffee sauce to pour deep into its molten centre.<br>
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This is good old-fashioned food, immaculately done, in the sort of pub designed <br>
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for lingering. It's getting late now, and we've an early <br>
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start. But first, another bottle of wine. Dinners like this are too <br>
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rare to be rushed.<br>
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About £45 per head. The Punch Bowl Inn, Crosthwaite, Cumbria; the-punchbowl.co.uk<br>
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★★★★✩ <br>
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