The Goose at Gamston is located on the edge of the housing estate just off the A52 on the roundabout where you cross into Morrisons. I guess that does not sound that glamorous but it is accurate. It is part of the Eating Inn group and so is one of many pubs in that chain serving up the same menu and fare up and down the country.

I am not a fan of the chain pub, but I am a fan of pub food and so when it was suggested that we hit the nearest pub for a quick bite of food I was not going to turn down the opportunity to stuff my face. I might be a food snob, but I am a bad one and like to eat like the honest man about town.

I drive past the Goose a lot at the moment as it is pretty close to my office, each time I see billboards advertising a breakfast deal, sometimes a lunch deal, and it always seems to be calling out to me to come in. Today though it was Alison’s choice, so I suggested going to the Gamston so that I could get some Fish and Chips, so I guess it was my choice, but I did let her drive me there (and erm pay) 🙂

Cod and Chips

So as it was a Friday, we know that can only mean one thing ‘Fish and Chips!’ which I ordered!

I asked for the “Hand Battered Cod with seasoned chips, tartare sauce, and your choice of peas or mushy peas” from the seafood section. Now I will admit that I did not read the menu properly I just said I would have “Fish and Chips”

It wasn’t my turn to pay for the MyFoodHunt lunch, so I left that to Alison to navigate the bar situation, and judging by her opinion of my stomach’s ability to consume I ended up with the “Large” portion. That was fine as I got a massive great big bit of excellent fish. Sadly it meant that I was not able to eat all the chips (such sacrilege)

I also made a mistake in not asking for the correct peas, there was a choice of peas or mushy peas, I should have asked for mushy 🙁

Catch of the Day?

The huge piece of Battered Cod was the star of the plate, I was so pleasantly surprised at how good it was: ‘I usually like Haddock, I normally despise eating in a chain pub, and I feel guilty about eating Cod’. Despite all of that I am going to say that the Battered Cod at the Goose at Gamston is well worth ordering. In fact I would like just a piece of Fish, leave all the other stuff off the plate.

It was so well cooked, the batter is light and crispy (a phrase often overused), the flesh of the fish was firm to the bite. moist, light and shiny white. It was really quite decent.

Even though it was huge I made sure that I ate it all in deference to any opportunity to scoff chips.

There was nothing wrong with the pot of heated up frozen peas on my plate, but I will never know if the mushy peas were worth coming in for and that makes me somewhat sad.

The chips were OK at best, the menu said seasoned? I had to add loads of salt and pepper and tramp juice (malt vinegar) to make them anywhere close to verging on exciting. I didn’t eat them all and felt no guilt leaving them.

All that was missing was a slice of bread and butter and a cup of tea. Well a man can dream, cannot one?

Seafood Menu

There was a lot to like about the Fish and Chips at the Goose especially when you consider that this is part of a chain, a fact that often twist the knob upwards on my “being a snob about it dial” 🙂

I can be a sanctimonious arse about stuff like that, but when I am hungry I will eat anywhere, and if I can squeeze a blog post in about that place even better ( I am so food shallow when it comes to copy)

I almost went for “The ultimate fish and chips” which was way more than just the name, this was billed as “Battered plaice fillet, battered scallop, wholetail scampi and breaded prawns, served with seasoned chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce”. My comment was that we were a long long away from the sea, so I wasn’t paying (or asking someone else to pay) £11.29 for a bag of stuff that I could get from Iceland or similar 🙂 or 🙁

I am not really much of a fan of the chain pubs, but you know what, on occasion they can throw out a little bit of a surprise. It just goes to show that there is no need to be too much of a snob about these things and everyone and everywhere has it’s place in mine and your MyFoodHunt worlds 🙂

That Battered Fish was tasty, I am still thinking about it, so that has to be a good thing, does it not?

The Goose at Gamston is located at

Ambleside,
Gamston,
Nottinghamshire NG2 6NA

It is part of the Eating In group