Essex Days Out

We had lunch today at The Victory, a pub on the Coast Road in West Mersea. It’s a big pub, nicely presented inside, with a focus around it’s recent re-branding around The Victory battleship, and the pub’s strapline ‘a great place to sink a few’.

In terms of sinking a few, it’s good to report that there were a good range of real ales on offer – Sharp’s ‘Doom Bar’, St. Austell’s ‘Tribute’ and Theakston’s ‘Best Bitter’. We had the Tribute and it was in ship shape and bristol fashion.

The food (and service) was far beyond what even the Rt. Hon Lord Nelson would have had on board his ship.

There was a good range of food available on the regular menu, but we plumped for the specials, and weren’t disappointed. The parsnip soup was excellent – not too thick and creamy as parsnip soup often is, but a nicely balanced soup which wasn’t overpoweringly parsnippy. Complementing the soup was some drop-dead gorgeous walnut bread.

For mains we had the beer-battered haddock, and the skate wing. The haddock was evidently up to scratch, and I can vouch for the skate wing – perfectly fried, with a great fresh salad and chips (I asked for them instead of new potatoes!).

The Victory at Mersea gets our hearty approval – it’s a big place, but even so will bound to get busy at peak times, but it will be a perfect place to refuel during a day out at West Mersea. You’ll find more out about the pub (which does accommodation) at their website.

More articles like this: | pubs, west mersea