TRYING to find a venue for Sunday lunch with a very young family can be tricky you don't want the entire dining room staring at you as your kids display their usual exuberant behaviour, and then again Sunday lunch to my family means a roast and at least two veg, not fast food.
The Neston Country Inn, in the charming little village between Melksham and Corsham, proved an excellent answer.
Although the pub serves food every day, with an attractive-looking menu chalked up in the bar, they only do Sunday lunches by arrangement, £5.95 for adults and £3.95 for children. We were a little surprised to be the only family eating, but the warmth of the welcome soon made us feel at home.
I forgot to check when I booked if they had a highchair, so we took our own, which turned out to be a good move. We soon settled in, with drinks from the bar. When the food arrived we gave our eldest child the choice of roast beef or lamb.
She went for beef, leaving us to split the second child's meal of roast lamb between the two younger children full marks to the pub here for not raising an eyebrow when we asked if we could do this, after all a baby and a two-year-old don't eat enough to justify a meal each, and one portion between them proved ample. They also provided an extra plate without demur, and had dessert forks laid on the table for the children to use.
Roast potatoes, cauliflower with cheese sauce, peas, carrots, broccoli and Yorkshire puddings came in separate serving dishes, handy for fussy children who don't like one sort of veg.
I had chosen the lamb roast, and was rewarded with three generous slices of meat, clearly carved from a real joint.
Pudding choices came from the main menu, and we all had something different: I wanted raspberry pavlova; my husband went for apple pie with a special topping; David had vanilla ice-cream; Katie dithered for ages, but finally went for cherry ice cream, while Merryn, choosing instantly after hearing the word chocolate, was confronted by a slice of dark and white chocolate layer cake which had her eyes popping out of her head.
If the main course had been well-cooked and homely, the puddings were to die for. The raspberry pavlova was yummy, lovely tangy sauce and chewy meringue; we had been promised the ice-cream was creamy and it was, too; the apple confection vanished so fast I never got a taste and the chocolate layer cake proved too much for Merryn.
We had a very pleasant lunch, and felt our bill of £36.45, for lunch for five, with two rounds of drinks, was good value.
Fact File
Open for food 7pm to 9.15pm every night, lunchtimes daily noon to 2pm including weekends.
Sunday Roast only available on Sundays. Other dishes including scampi, chicken, plaice and steaks available during the week.
The restaurant is a non-smoking area.
Children welcome. Children's portions provided.
Level disabled access to pub, restaurant area and toilets, but no wheelchair access to toilets.
Car park.
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