Essex Days Out

This evening we decided it was time to go back to The Peldon Rose, on Mersea Road, a few miles out of Colchester and close to Mersea Island. We hadn’t been there since about 1987, and as it is only about 5 miles up the road, long overdue.

Memories of that earlier visit were very sketchy! The pub is some 500 years old, but has clearly had a makeover very recently. The front of the pub is a traditional, dark-oak-beamed interior with low ceilings, and the wonderful smell of open fires. We sat in this part of the pub – out the back is a new conservatory, giving an altogether different experience.

The food was excellent, and the service quick and professional. After sharing some olives and bread with a balsamic vinegar dip, two of us opted for the sirlon steaks (one rare with blue cheese sauce, the other well done with red onion and mushrooms. The steaks were thick and large, and done to a treat, served with delicious chips – nothing else though, which is my preference, as you don’t want to be bothering with veg or salad when there’s a hunk of steak to be eaten. The local skate wing was also admired – a large, thick wing, cooked to perfection; and the scampi were clearly a superior scampi. (Pub Quiz Tip : a single scampi is called a scampo).

There wasn’t room for desserts, so it was back home, some of us to watch Dr. Who on Catch Up TV, and one of us to do some blogging!

You’ll find The Peldon Rose’s temporary website at http://www.thepeldonrose.co.uk/

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