The Lamarsh Lion
The Lamarsh Lion is in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, noted for its beamed interior, and its view over the Stour Valley. It was originally a boar lodge called Brownings, and became an inn in 1305. Well, it was a misty day today, so the view wasn’t the greatest, but the pub, the beer and the food made up for it!
Lamarsh is a small village just north of Bures, itself a small village halfway between Colchester and Sudbury, somewhat off the beaten track. The area is popular with walkers and cyclists, and great for a drive around the north Essex countryside.
It was quite chilly out, and so the open log fire was very welcoming. The pub was quite busy, and booking a table is probably recommended for a Sunday. The pub had four main areas : one with a pool table and a sofa and a -big- tv showing the football, the main bar (with a beautiful reclaimed church pew to front the bar), a smaller dining area with the log fire, and a further dining area.
The beams in the bar were testament to the quality of the beer on offer, with pump clips from a wide range of breweries stapled to them.
Today there were a couple of real ales on, the ubiquitous Greene King IPA, Stonely Bitter from the local Shalford Brewery, and Woodforde’s Nog, a previous Champion Beer of Great Britain, which I opted for. Delicious! Dark, smooth and velvety.
There was quite a reasonable selection of food on offer – not limited to just a Sunday roast.
We skipped the starters, and between us had: roast beef, sirloin steak, cod and chips, burger and chips. Not the most inspired of choices, but it was cold out and we wanted some substantial Sunday grub! And that is what we got. The beef was great, served with a lot of gravy, beatiful roasted potatoes, and the veg was carrot, cauliflower cheese, and kale : a big improvement of the usual cauli, broccoli and carrot. The cod was nice, although the batter a bit soggy for my liking, but chips and mushy peas top quality. The steak was attacked with vigour and was (and looked) delicious. And the least adventurous of us was more than satisfied with the burger. The two of us young enough to still have a metabolism took on the apple crumble which was nice, but were polite to say that it wasn’t as good as mums!
The young waiting staff were polite and attentive. They did warn us that the puddings would be slightly delayed, but it didn’t take that long.
All in all it was an enjoyable Sunday dinner, in a traditional, comfortable countryside pub. And another CAMRA Good Beer Guide pub visited!
I’m now thinking that come the summer we would take our bikes on the direct train from Colchester to Sudbury, and cycle round the country lanes, stopping at the Lamarsh Lion and the nearby Thatcher’s Arms before picking up the train again at Chappel and heading home. Hmmm, watch this space…
Google Map for The Lamarsh Lion :