The Griffin in Plumtree is just off the main road through the village, on their website they describe themselves as ‘a traditional English village pub at the centre of the community where diners and drinkers alike are welcome throughout the day’ Sounds alright doesn’t it?

I haven’t been here for ages, I checked my own blog and saw that it was back in 2014 when I was last writing about the pub but I still remember what I ate that day as it was a Roast Beef Dinner in a Yorkshire pudding wrap (read more here)

A lot has happened since then but most recently the pub has undergone an ‘extensive refurbishment’ and I didn’t really recognise the place when we wandered in looking for a spot of lunch this week

It was a bit posher than last time when I sat in the corner of the bar with a pint and a wrap. Today we were ushered gently into the large spacious dining room (hall might be more apt) at the back of the building.

We took our seats and perused the menu looking for a light snack

BIT OF MENU ACTION

On a normal day I would have been all over the Beer Battered haddock with ‘triple cooked chips, minted pea puree, and home-made tartar‘ even if £14 did seem a little bit more that wanted to part with for my lunch. It seemed that this place was a lot fancier than the last time I visited 🙂

I was in a bit of a quandry as I viewed the menu, you see even though we had come out for lunch, I wasn’t really that hungry and while I really did fancy the sound of the stuff on the menu I kind of knew that I could not do it proper justice. It happens sometimes

Then I saw the Little Griffins menu, which I assumed was the kid’s menu but it didn’t say that it said ‘Certain items of our main dishes can also be made smaller‘ so I asked if it was just a lighter option and was told yes that not everyone wants a large meal at lunch so they offer some smaller plates.

That sounded good to me as I reckoned I could manage a mini meal, so I ordered the Fish & Chips with garden peas for £8.

LITTLE GRIFFINS FISH AND CHIPS

I was pleasantly surprised how good the Little Griffins Fish and Chip plate looked when it came to my table. Clearly it was a smaller option but the piece of battered fish was a reasonable size and the big thick cut chips were more than enough for a lunchtime snack.

I chuckled to myself as my Uncle Tony always asked for exactly 7 chips with his meals when we ate out at the pub and he might have been happy with this portion. He might have said there were still too many though 🙂

So the batter on the fish was thick but quite light and airy in the crunch, the fish inside was a bit lost but it tasted good enough, a little squeeze of lemon juice onto the battered fish enlivened things up a little. I imagine that the full sized fish portion would be pretty decent

I did like the chips as they were proper chunky chips, nicely cut thick batons, crisp on the outside, full of soft potato on the inside. A good dousing of vinegar and a dip into that tartare sauce was increasing my enjoyment.

So it was a smaller meal but it was just about right on this occasion and yeh I might have the bigger one next time or maybe the Little Griffin Cheeseburger, hey why not?

NORTH ATLANTIC PRAWN BAGUETTE

My companion had one of their ‘freshly baked baguettes‘ filled with ‘North Atlantic prawns, baby gem lettuce & lemon mayonnaise‘ which came with ‘skinny fries & salad garnish’

It was a really big plateful, the baguette might look small in the picture but that is only due to the vastness of the skinny fries which took up half the plate

I did like the look of the plump prawns mixed in that mayo inside the bread roll, I reckon that would have been a winner.

It must have all been good as there was nothing left at the end of the scoffing and I heard a few appreciative murmurs across the table in between mouthfuls.

I would say that the whole baguette scene here at the Griffin was looking good. I saw a Roast sirloin of beef option on the menu with local Stilton and pickled shallots and I reckon that would be my choice if I was perusing a sandwich scenario on another day

All in all a rather nice little bite of lunch at the Griffin. I know that this place seems a bit posher than your bog standard pub lunch spot, but it was nice to find that there was still some place and welcome for us casual passers by who had just chanced in for a snack in our lunch break

The final comment though is the comedic twist that my ‘lighter’ meal which *”was not from the kids menu” was indeed described as “1 * Childrens Fish & Chips”.

I tell you this much, kids eat well here and no mistake, even 50 plus year old kids like myself.

The Griffin is located at Griffin Plumtree, Main Road, Plumtree, Notts, NG12 5NB

It is on the aptly named Main Road through the village and had a decent car park off the road

You can check them out on their website, their Facebook Page and their Instagram Profile