The Outside Chance

71 High Street

Manton

Tel: (01672) 512353 I WAS really excited to try the Outside Chance as it has been on my list of places to eat at for a while.

The traditional, cosy pub in Manton is jointly owned by legendary jockey A P ‘Tony’ McCoy, Howard Spooner and Guy Sangster.

Inside the traditional and cosy country pub the walls are adorned with equestrian-themed pictures and full of dark oak.

Despite us standing by the bar, next to a glum looking fish in a tank, the waitress took a while to acknowledge us. But when she did she was cheerful and polite. I went for a latte (£3.10), which arrived considerably later than James’ Peroni (£4.95), that I thought they had forgotten. There are no paper menus either, as I think they change the dishes so much, instead the food is listed on a blackboard which staff move around for people to see. We were told that they were low on food and there was only one starter of seared scallops (£10.95) left for starters, so James opted for that. which was accompanied by It came with pancetta, pea puree and black pudding bon bons, and he really enjoyed it.

I would have also chosen the scallops however I went for the crab salad (£9.95). It was made of up ‘blue swimmer’ crab meat, toasted pine nuts, green beans, watercress, chilli and lime with a dressing. I know the pub prides itself on fresh food but I felt it was lacking flavour and overpriced for what it was.

For our mains I went for the roast duck breast (£16.95) which came with such amazing dauphinoise potatoes I could have eaten it twice more, carrot purée, mushrooms, cabbage and pancetta. It was really tasty and the presentation was okay, however my one critique would be the duck was slightly cold.

James went for the Outside Chance 8oz burger (£14.95), which I had a bite of. It had a chutney kick that was very nice.

On the whole, the food was pricey and the kitchen staff seemed tired from a busy Sunday lunch earlier in the day, so the evening meals were perhaps not as good as they would have been if we had gone a different day. My bill came to £65.10.

Amber Hicks