The Golden Fleece, Shaw
2:00pm Thursday 4th June 2009 in
Where to take some friends for dinner as a thank you for cat-sitting while we were on holiday was our dilemma. Somewhere new or a tried and tested eatery?
I pass The Golden Fleece at Shaw on my way to work, but it’s years since I’ve been inside and we decided it was time to take another look.
It’s an attractive building from the outside, pale yellow washed stone. The inside is even more interesting, full of twists and turns.
Our table had an obviously ancient and slightly tipsy looking mullioned window in the wall – probably once exterior – behind it, looking into another dining area.
For a country pub, the menu is exotic with daily specials – which I spotted online – including quail salad and a guinea fowl and pistachio nut terrine.
The menus change frequently and neither of those were available when we went, but I couldn’t have faced the guinea fowl as a couple have adopted our garden and we have grown very fond of them.
However I was not averse to warm salad of fresh figs and wood pigeon (we have a lot of those dining in our vegetable garden and there is no love lost on them at all).
Two of us had pigeon and the other two had smoked trout pate. The pigeon was tender and tasty and the figs made an excellent partnership. The trout pate also earned universal approval.
For mains, Sandra decided on pigeon and figs, Tom chose a chicken tikka masala and I chose Devon dressed crab salad. All were very satisfying choices.
My husband had ribeye steak which came with beans and potatoes. He would have liked more vegetables, but the steak was rare and succulent, just as he likes it.
For dessert, Sandra chose vanilla crème brulee with a berry compote and a boudoir biscuit, partly because she wanted to know what a boudoir biscuit is. It turned out to be a sponge finger of the kind you put in trifles.
Tom had an orange and amaretto pudding with Marshfield ice cream and my husband had apple and wild berry crumble with custard which he said was nice but was bit light on the crumble.
My meringue with marshmallow mousse and exotic fruits was as yummy as it sounds.
Our bill, including a bottle of wine and three beers, worked out at a good value £25 per head.
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The Golden Fleece serves satisfying, and slightly exotic, food
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