For delicious food and top-notch drinks you often need to look no further than the local village pub. Maintaining an intimate feel and local charm combined with excellent quality and well presented food is no easy feat, but The Rose and Crown in Yealmpton, Devon offers just this.
I popped over one Saturday lunchtime, and enjoyed a thoroughly good few hours sampling some of the finest grub this village pub had to offer. I started my afternoon with a glass of Prosecco and made my meal choices while admiring the local sports team’s photos on the wall. The whole pub has done its best to offer something to welcome everyone – from the cosy leather sofas by the fire to the plush carpeted dining area, beer gardens, dog refuelling area and the large bar itself, which offers an array of local drinks. I enjoyed the very comfortable feel of the place and felt completely relaxed.
The menu offers a mix of classic British pub classics done well, and some more contemporary restaurant dishes using local and seasonal produce. I opted for a starter of chicken liver parfait with red onion marmalade and toasted brioche, which was tasty and plentiful. My dining partner, Nick, chose well with his haggis scotch egg, which came with curried mayonnaise and a Roquefort and apple salad. He claims the meat was rich and suited the egg well and the crispy breadcrumb outer had a soft crunch. He added that there was a nice flavour to the mayo, which wasn’t too overpowering, and overall it was a good dish. I had a little food envy here!
That didn’t last very long at all as my main dish arrived and left me salivating! I very wisely chose the Dartmoor venison fillet, which came with confit potato, beetroot, parsnip puree, mixed vegetable crisps, mushroom petivier, cabbage, red onion and carrots. The venison hadn’t travelled far to my plate from nearby Dartmoor and the beautiful piece of meat just melted in my mouth! The dish was so well put together – it was full of colour, texture and taste. The mixed vegetable crisps added a crunch to the dish and the mushroom parcel was a lovely element with its crispy pastry. The sweet vegetables cut through the rich elements, the potato and parsnip puree were both wonderfully smooth and the beetroot and gravy had the perfect level of subtlety and richness making a perfectly balanced plate of food. Nick also went for the venison and enjoyed it as much as I did!
The chef generously gave us a pre dessert of chocolate orange cheesecake with candied orange and a mandarin sorbet. The sorbet was deliciously fruity and tasty and the cheesecake was smooth and subtle with crumbled biscuit and meringue on top adding a nice crunchy texture.
To finish off our banquet and to truly stuff ourselves on this sunny Saturday in September, we welcomed our desserts with open arms. I greatly enjoyed my apple and cinnamon doughnuts, which came with mini toffee apples and green apple sorbet – a truly autumnal dish. The toffee apples were lovely and soft in the middle and sweet and crunchy on the outside. The doughnuts were light, fluffy, warm and spongy and went very well with the warm toffee sauce. The apple sauce filling was the right amount for me and the sorbet (all of which are homemade) was very refreshing. Nick had chosen a lighter dish to end his meal of a passion fruit crème brulee with a tropical fruit salad and coconut sorbet. He said the crème brulee was well made, well flavoured and deliciously creamy and the sorbet had a lovely flavour making up a light and refreshing tropical dish.
The portions are all generous and the flavours fantastic, but that is nothing without serving up decent quality food in a great atmosphere and The Rose and Crown offers just this.
In a nutshell – The rose and crown is charming, comfortable, spacious and welcoming – all you can ask for from a village pub with a cracking seasonal menu.
Address: Market St, Plymouth, Devon PL8 2EB
