by Martyn Pritchard
The Black Horse Inn, The Vale, Chesham. Telephone: 01494 784656. Website: www.Black-Horse-Inn.co.uk
Lunch served all week from noon-2.30pm. Dinner, Monday-Thursday, 6-9pm; Friday and Saturday, 6-9.30pm; Sunday 7-9pm.
CHIEF photographer Brian Jordan and I greeted Jan and Mick Goodchild when they took over at the Black Horse in November of last year.
We both felt they were a lovely couple and we promised to return for lunch – a promise made good on probably the most unpleasant of rainy days in July.
It has certainly pelted it down this July but there is always time for a good meal and Brian and I were soon comfortably sat at table with an extensive menu to ponder not to mention the dessert board.
The Black Horse is a real traditional pub which went downhill a bit, before Jan and Mick put a steady hand on the tiller.
Now the pub exudes feel good factor and the establishment is receiving tender loving care.
The Black Horse is all low beams, nooks and crannies – a nice interior, certainly, and now the menu is very much up to par.
I reckon the restaurant can seat about 50 comfortably and this pub has a lovely garden which means that, on sunny days, diners and drinkers alike can enjoy these facilities.
I always like fish and so perused the menu with a fish dish in mind – I came to a suitable one pretty quickly.
Haddock has always been my favourite fish, particularly in fishcakes.
My dish was exquisite, the fishcake done so perfectly that, at the merest touch of the fork, it yielded submissively.
The range of vegetables, including new potatoes, were also very nice and I had the feeling that there is a good catering team in the engine room.
Later, I had the chance to speak to one of the chefs and I congratulated him on a job well done.
For dessert I sampled a trio of Swiss ice creams, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, tastefully presented.
Brian, demonstrating much better taste than the last time I dined with him, ordered butterfly breast chicken, with brie and cranberry sauce.
My colleague followed this up with key lime pie, a speciality from the sunshine state of Florida, or so he tells me. This dish was an absolute delight – he certainly chose wisely