The Air Hostess in Tollerton is an Everard’s pub with a good selection of ales and on the food front it is another hidden away lunch option with some real bargains on the menu. You need to be careful when you choose to go as they only do food from Wednesday to Sunday. I have been in on a Wednesday on a couple of occasions and have been quite satisfied each time.

The first time I visited I ordered a good old fashioned toasted ham and cheese sandwich. This was a sandwich of crispy toasted bread griddled between two hot plates on a press. It was like being back in the 1980’s with my Breville Toasted Sandwich maker, only much better. Their “toasties” are a real bargain at just £2 for a plain cheese toastie, and £3 for a cheese and ham one, you can add some chips for another £1.30 and you also then get a big plate of side salad as well. For this meal the salad was good but came with a random salad item, which in future visits I was to learn was a theme. This day it was slices of rolled up lunch ham.

After the successful hunt, that culminated in the capture of one of the hostesses toasted sandwiches, I returned to try one of the hot lunch specials. They had a ‘homemade’ Lasagne listed on the menu so I felt game to give that a whirl. It was a nice slice of lasagna, a bit small, but it was quite a good taste and had that lovely comforting feeling as you ate it. There were way too many chips, I didn’t need them all, they were just plate fillers really (I still ate them all though). There was another good sized portion of salad as well on the plate, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, and a nice light vinegraitte. Just before I forget, today’s random salad item were chunks of melon. That made it a little more of an interesting salad plate.

What I do like about the menu here is the common thread running through it of using their local butchers and suppliers to source the ingredients. It is also pretty good value with two meals for £9 and two light meals for just £5.

I am quite keen to try “Steve’s homemade chilli”, and their Cottage Pie described as “Our delicious homemade cottage pie is made to a family recipe, using the finest minced beef, carrots & onions”. I can see both of those being possibilities for a lunch when the colder weather arrives and I need some lunchtime warmth. Check out the menu on their website.

It was a surprise to learn that The Air Hostess is a member of the Petanque East Midlands League (that’s French Boules to you and I). They have a club website if the thought of a toasted sandwich is not enough for you.

The Air Hostess pub is located on Stanstead Avenue in Tollerton and they serve Home-cooked food Wednesday through Saturday between 12-2.00pm and 6.00 – 8pm. They also serve Sunday lunch form 12 noon – 2pm