Grub

Being off piste yesterday morning, I happened to go past the Spring Tavern, once a haunt of thirty something lager people, now upping its game to fine dining. I was amused by the talk of rotisserie and crustacea, not to mention other culinary delights on the sign illustrated, while remembering the memorable occasion when I passed the place late one Friday night to find about a dozen assorted police vehicles parked there. Visiting the following morning to gloat, I found a barman busily sweeping up all the glass in the car park, a barman who assured me that they would be opening on time. Very commendable.

Then a lucky result. The plan had been to lunch off some confection made from the day before's left over mashed potato. However, this had been cunningly hidden in the microwave where I did not find it, so I started from scratch. Take two large red potatoes, peel and dice into 2cc chunks. Add to saucepan and just cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer. Take a few rashers of bacon and cut into 1 sq cm pieces. Add to saucepan. Take one medium onion, peel then chop finely and add that. Continue to simmer for about 10 minutes in all. Meanwhile slice the green outer leaves of a crinkly cabbage into strips maybe 1cm by 10cm. Add them and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Serve with brown bread. All went down very well, with the potatoes working particularly well. One still had lumps, but enough had disintegrated down into the water to thicken it nicely. A very good and a very quick meal, just a little salty on account of the bacon (Manor Green Road butcher at http://www.masterbutchersepsom.co.uk/), but not an e-number in sight, let alone a monosodium glutamate, assuming, that is, that the latter had not found its way into the bacon. One can't be too careful about such things.

Later in the day, off to the Shy Horse on the Leatherhead Road, a full member of the family to be found at http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/ and a place which we use from time to time with generally satisfactory results. Grub yesterday was pretty good - including in my case cod and chips, which I thought was better than might have been had at the average fish and chip shop. And the twiglet style chips might even have been cooked on the premises rather than being the rather fatty & heavy oven chips one often finds in such places. The wine we chose was cheap and palatable, a 2012 Valdivieso from Chile, with (according to the wine list) just a hint of ripening blackberry; entirely seasonable. Meal only marred by rather a long wait between first and second courses, a wait during which we wondered about the builder's van which had arrived in the road outside labelled something to do with drains.

I had originally thought to have bangers and mash, but desisted when I found that this traditional dish had been modified by including cheese and other stuff in the sausages. I like my sausages to be made with meat and rusk and don't approve of such exotica, any more than I do in cabanos, some of which come these days with both chicken and cheese. Once again, one can't be too careful. Cod and chips was the right move.

PS 1: checking the Spring Tavern this morning I find that their otherwise sophisticated web site (http://www.springtavern.co.uk/home/) does not admit to any corporate affiliation. To being in some such family as Vintage Inns. I could try asking them on the contact form but perhaps I will just drop in and ask them face to face. Will the front of house staff know? Will they be proud of their corporate affiliation or will they be ignorant of it, dreamily thinking that they are employed by an olde worlde village diner? One of that dying breed, the independent?

PS 2 (much later): now checked and a personable young front of house personess did know that her employer was the Mitchells & Butlers PLC, from whose site you can find this Spring Tavern fast enough. And also learn that this is the parent outfit of the Vintage flag under which the Shy Horse flies above.