The Riverside Inn, Aymestrey, Leominster - food review
Times have changed when it comes to eating out and now it's all about creating dishes with seasonal food. Andy Richardson has found a gem...
The dining scene is changing. Ten years ago, people wanted to eat out at fine dining restaurants. Celebrations were held at special occasion venues and restaurants with Michelin stars and several AA rosettes flourished. Things are different now.
There's a smaller number of such restaurants and the gap has been filled by a wellspring of bistro-style independents.
Restaurants that offer informal dining at affordable prices are more fashionable than ever. They tend to offer standards higher than traditional pubs but that don't match the level of fine dining restaurants. They focus on locally-sourced ingredients that are in peak condition and their menus change with the seasons. The Riverside Inn, at Aymestrey, not far from the south Shropshire border, is the perfect example.
Run by chef patron Andy Link, the Riverside Inn combines traditional British flavours with a modern influence. Dinners are served in olde worlde surroundings: the venue oozes history with old wooden beams and tiled floors.
It is located in the heart of a thriving farming area and consistently promotes local produce from specialist producers and farms in north Herefordshire, the Welsh Marches and south Shropshire.
Farm-to-fork eating is a reality, rather than a trendy marketing slogan, and at any time Andy and his team can point out ingredients on plates that were harvested from their own gardens and orchards, just 60 steps from the kitchen door.
On a daily basis, Andy along with his kitchen staff will pick, dig or pluck what's in peak condition as well as forage in the hedgerows and along the nearby riverbank for wild garlic, elderflower, nettles and more, cleverly using what is naturally available.
