The White Lion, Whittington

Reviewer's rating: **** Sue Austin attended a ladies' night out and gave in to temptation

More and more restaurants and pubs are offering special deals to woo diners to their tables to help them through the current economic climate.

But sometimes the early bird specials can leave a bad taste in the mouth with few choices and poorer quality dishes. Not so at the White Lion in Whittington.

Our regular Tuesday ladies' night-in became a ladies' night-out recently when 10 of us decided to sample the early bird menu at the picturesque pub that sits alongside Whittington's historic castle.

I remember when the White Lion started serving meals more than two decades ago, just a couple of tables squished into the tiniest dining room.

It was some of the best food I had tasted in a pub at a time when good food was just beginning to sneak into pubs replacing the chicken and chips in a basket.

Most of the White Lion's interior is unrecognisable from then, with a large lounge extension and a lovely, airy conservatory for diners, combining wood and stone to give a really homely feel.

The early bird deal allowed us to have a starter and a main course from a special menu and also a glass of wine.

There was a large choice which, we noticed, included many dishes on the main a la carte, blackboard menu in the dining room and also any of the vegetarian dishes.

And the wine turned out to be a litre carafe of any of the 'on tap' wines that the White Lion has.

We could have had two half carafes, for instance one white, one red or one dry and one not so dry. But unusually for our group we all plumped for the Pinot Grigio after the first half carafe we bought for those not driving, which met with great approval.

I love to see a carafe rather than a bottle on the table - which shows I am certainly not a wine buff. It might be daft but it always reminds me of holidays and I find myself subconsciously relaxing.

Our choices ordered, we perused the blackboard menu with curiosity and my friends were impressed with both the large number of vegetarian options and of fish dishes. Prices ranged from just over £8 for many, including all the veg, main courses to around £15.

The arrival of the starters was the first sign that there was to be no skimping for early bird customers.

Those having garlic mushrooms topped with a pancake and cheese found theirs in an oversized ramekin dish, plenty of mushrooms in a creamy sauce hidden under the blanket of a pancake and melted cheese. Two large pieces of French bread completed the dish.

The vegetable soup was declared much better than expected and the only disappointment was that the deep fried brie wedges were, apparently, not hot enough.

My home-made fishcake was huge with both white fish and prawns inside. It came with lots of lovely parsley sauce, not the usual version based on a white sauce but a thinner. Most people would not want any more than that but having just done a training run, I was grateful for the bread donated by one 'low-carb' friend.

I promised not to mention any of the Tuesday night ladies by name so I can't embarrass them by mentioning that the starters were complemented by our wine carafe.

Main courses arrived to appreciative noises. Low-carb friend had one of the vegetarian courses, stir-fried vegetables with noodles in a chilli sauce. It was an enormous plateful and, she said, very tasty.

The fish dish was on the early bird menu, again fishcake but this time two and served with chips.

Others chose either the braised beef which was accompanied by mashed potato or, like me, the slow roasted belly pork with gratin potatoes.

The braised beef, in its rich, dark gravy, apparently fell apart it was so tender. My belly pork had a fantastic, crisped crackling, cooked to perfection. My only gripe was that the cheese sauce in the potatoes was just a tad too salty. It was a shame because the accompaniment had been assembled in an individual baking dish and otherwise was a lovely idea.

Dishes of side vegetables arrived, new potatoes, carrots, French beans, broccoli and peas.

We certainly couldn't moan about value for money with our early bird.

I should have stopped while the going was good but found myself ordering from the dessert menu after hearing that the ice-cream was north Shropshire's Top House ice-cream.

My choice was a mistake. The lovely, white chocolate ice-cream was overwhelmed by the large choux bun filled with slightly overwhipped cream and lashings of tasty chocolate sauce. It was chocolate heaven but I looked at the low-carb lady's choice, lemon posset with raspberries, and wished I had gone for that.

The maple syrup pancakes with walnut ice-cream were also a much better choice - I know because I stole some from Mrs B sitting by the side of me. The pancakes didn't overwhelm the absolutely delicious ice-cream, they complemented it.

We all thoroughly enjoyed our evening out and said we would definitely be tempted to return to sample the ordinary menu.

Contact

White Lion, Castle Street, Whittington Tel: 01691 662361

MENU SAMPLE

Starters

Black pudding, apple sauce and onion gravy (£4.75)

Smoked salmon and prawn salad (£5.50)

Main courses

Rack and Black - loin of lamb (£12.95)

Braised beef in ale (£8.95)

Desserts

A selection of sweets (£4.75)

ATMOSPHERE

Friendly, home from home atmosphere.

SERVICE

Again friendly and prompt.

DISABLED FACILITIES

No problem going through to restaurant.