The Apple Tree on Compton Acres in West Bridgford is one of the pubs in the Ember Inns family. I drive past a lot on my way out of town when I avoiding the A453 and taking the back roads through Ruddington.
Loads of my mates tell me that it is good value and that you can get a decent deal here, so I figured what the hell lets pop over and test them out?
On their website they say “Visit The Apple Tree in West Bridgford for authentic British cooking and real ales in a genuine local pub warmed by a cosy fire. Our pub-food menu features classic meals made with award-winning ingredients”
Well lets be honest that does sound like a nice little sound bite. I was feeling fairly optimistic at that point.
Cod and Chips
I had the Cod and Chips officially described as “Hand battered in our own Ember Inns Pale Ale, served with seasoned chips, mushy peas and a sea herb tartare sauce”. It all sounds most lovely, does it not?
I have been eating a lot of Fish and Chips recently and sadly this was not one to add to my must have list. The Fish itself was not too bad, once you fought your way through the thick over crunchy batter there was some reasonable fleshy white cod to enjoy.
The chips were hiding underneath the fish, probably for good reason, they may have been ‘seasoned’ in one lifetime, but not in the lifetime that I was eating them in. They needed a whole lot of salt and pepper, tramp juice, and a lot of generic brand ketchup to enliven them to wanting to eat level.
I was saddened by my small pot of mushy peas, they were green and vibrant, they were also small and little more than a spoonful. If the pot had been bigger it would have been the highlight on the plate
I will be straight with you, if this was £4.99 or even £5.99 I would be saying it was OK and reasonable value. However at £9.79 it is well overpriced in my humble and my wallet’s opinion.
Bits of Menu
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The thing is or was that this cost £9.79! We dined, with me and my partner in crime Alison (who had Halloumi and Chips), with two diet cokes for basically just around £25 quid (#FFS).
This is in a pub, a chain pub, a not amazing gastro pub, just your run of the mill everyday happy go lucky …. pub!
I will be straight with you, paying something like £4 for a diet coke is still bordering on the piss take.
I will say that it seems to be a well kept and quite welcoming pub up on the estate, so maybe I was just unlucky with my choice. My biggest gripe was the pricing, but maybe those West Bridgford folks think it’s cheap 🙂
Well you can’t win them all, so lets move onwards to the next meal 🙂
The Apple Tree is located at Compton Acres, , Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK, NG2 7PA
You can see a map here