Dog in the Lane, Astley, Shrewsbury
Rating *** Russell Roberts and his fiancée enjoy bumper meals at the Dog in the Lane at Astley.
and his fiancée enjoy bumper meals at the Dog in the Lane at Astley.
Situated on the main Shrewsbury to Shawbury road, the Dog in the Lane at Astley is perfectly placed to take advantage of many a hungry traveller looking for some good pub grub to fill a spot.
I've driven past it a number of times but despite knowing about its weekly quiz which has apparently been voted the best in the county, I'd never actually been for a meal or even a drink there.
So when it came to finding a place to eat one Sunday night, myself and fiancée Alison thought it would be a good choice.
We hadn't eaten much all day – which was just as well judging by the huge portions of food we were about to tuck into. We arrived at the car park with the rain lashing down so we couldn't wait to get inside.
Walking into the bar it was similar to many other rural pubs with a number of local people enjoying a relaxing weekend drink, but although slightly cliquey it was still welcoming.
We made our way into the dining area of the pub which was on the far side and set back from the main bar, and appeared almost as if it wasn't in the same place. It is a fairly small area but it looks perfectly inviting with pictures of flowers hanging on the walls and matching mats at the tables.
The Dog in the Lane operates in a similar way to many pubs, where you select your meals and drinks and order from the bar, so I decided to order a nice pint of lager and a wine for Alison whilst we looked through the choices on offer.
For the starter I picked the Mozzarella fingers, which were covered in breadcrumbs and came with a sweet chilli dip. It arrived fairly quickly from the kitchen and was tasty enough but didn't excite me quite as much as I would have liked. Nevertheless the cheese was delicious and the dip accompanied it well.
Alison, who is a big fan of mushrooms, opted for the garlic mushrooms, which were served with a garlic dip. Again, they were nice enough, although the coating the mushrooms were in was so hard she could hardly cut into them.
Looking at the menu it was clear the Dog in the Lane specialises in pub grub with options like gammon, burgers, steaks, curries and the traditional fish dishes such as haddock and plaice.
There were also other favourites like lasagne, lamb hot pot and cottage pie.
I was tempted by the sound of the sirloin steak, which was good value at £10.95 and just 20p more than the rump steak.
I asked for my steak to be cooked medium to well done and it was nice to have the option of whether to have chips, mashed or jacket potatoes and either salad or vegetables.
Alison, meanwhile, chose the giant Yorkshire pudding filled with sausages, mash and onion gravy.
When our dishes arrived we could hardly believe our eyes and I half thought about phoning a friend to help me out as I did not know if I could manage it all.
The portions were huge but whether they would pass the quality test was another thing. Fortunately both meals were winners, with my steak cooked to perfection and in addition to the generous salad there was also onion rings and mushrooms.
Alison was also enjoying her battle with her giant Yorkshire pudding dish which was almost the size of her plate and piled high. She said the sausages were cooked well and the onion gravy was delicious. Unfortunately the mash let it down a little as it was slightly lumpy.
By the end of our main courses we were feeling absolutely stuffed. We decided to have a drink while we thought about whether to go the whole hog and order a dessert.
We could have both easily left it there and gone home happy but the puddings were too good to resist.
We both had ice cream desserts, which were delicious and light enough that we were just about able to squeeze them in.
Overall the Dog in the Lane offers good, traditional pub food at affordable prices and you cannot argue with that.
ADDRESS
Dog in the Lane, Astley, Shrewsbury SY4 4BU
Tel: 01939 210244
