The Full Moon, Hawridge Common

It should first of all be said that in these outrageously expensive eating out days, it has to be expecting too much to get a turkey Sunday roast for �9.95 that will do more than ward off the reasonable need to eat something at lunch time. It was therefore a case of hope once more triumphing over other recent cases of disappointing Sunday lunch experiences in the South Bucks area, that my wife and I visited the Full Moon Pub at Hawridge. We had eaten there a couple of years earlier as part of a group of local Atheists and had been rather impressed with the cooking and presentation. We had, however, paid rather more for our food on that occasion.

The Full Moon without doubt has a lot of traditional olde English pub atmosphere and the welcome as one enters it - from the Autumnal cold sweeping across the scenic common across the road - and comes immediately face to face with the bar, is as jolly as one should expect. It was warm there too � unlike the dining room area to one side where we were be seated, which had yet, at 12.45 to be affected by the radiator and the arrival of other guests. The olde English pub chairs were therefore not only hard but also penetratingly cold. We will bring cushions next time we said, not knowing at that stage that a further visit to the Full Moon was to be an unlikely event. On the plus side we were given a table for four and so had plenty of room, although the peaked folded napkins placed in the already tall large wine glasses on ours and on the several other tables in the �at that stage � empty room, produced a quixotic white forest appearance at odds with the otherwise olde English pub ambiance. But I digress.

In choosing our main course we possibly made the mistake of being fixated on the Sunday Roasts. The sound of roast turkey seemed inviting, however and that is what we both ordered. It was served relatively quickly - by the friendly but clearly waitress-unschooled staff - and that was in itself a clue as to the quality of the food on the plate. The �roast� turkey it transpired was turkey roll so there was only white meat and no dark. The vegetables, the Yorkshire pudding cakes and the roast potatoes were identical to the accompaniments we observed were served with the roast lamb and the roast beef to fellow diners. We also had the same brown gravy. So no bread sauce or even stuffing.

While the turkey had been nicely cooked, any taste it might have had was covered up by the brown gravy. The roast potatoes looked as they should, but they had clearly been kept in a very hot oven too long and their leathery skins needed some very heavy wrist work to break through to the meagre amounts of potato within. The carrots, parsnips and mange touts peas had all been undercooked and had to be left. My wife and I mused once more on why restaurants in this country, and especially country pubs offering Sunday roasts, find it so difficult to cook vegetables, which really are so very simple to prepare properly.

We shared a toffee and Baileys flavoured cheesecake served with Movenpick vanilla ice cream (�5) which was very acceptable if quite rich and we both had rather good coffee served in a properly sized cup (unlike the buckets some restaurants consider appropriate these days) which at �2 each was right and proper. The pub's desert menu was, however, devoid of the simple standard olde English pub offerings like Apple Crumble and custard and concentrated on more high falutin sounding afters. That has to be seen a purely personal taste thing by this reviewer and the comment is not offered as a serious criticism.

The Full Moon management obviously have to tailor the food they serve and the prices they charge to the clientele who visit. With a little more thought and perhaps some acceptable increase in pricing to cover the costs of improved quality though, it might, however, be possible to satisfy more customers. If the turkey had been carved from a full roasted bird to provide white and dark meat and served with proper turkey gravy and either bread sauce or stuffing it would have made such a hugely improved impression. We would have been glad to have paid an extra two or three pounds each for that. The chef might also benefit from a refresher course in how to cook vegetables so that they are succulent (without being overcooked to a softness). The very pleasant and obviously intelligent young ladies who did the serving could benefit enormously from a �how to wait at table� course.

Finally I was not impressed to get a bill from this kind of establishment to which a 10% service charge had been added and which I asked to be deleted, given the less than impressive performance of the kitchen and the restaurant staff.

7 Nov 2011 17:11