THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING
This week has been all about our talented and tenacious restaurateurs and innkeepers. We’re so happy to see such an overwhelming support pushing them all forward. It’s clear now just how important these businesses are and we’re grateful to each of you for what you do for our communities. Now that I’ve got that out of my system, can we talk about our first post-lockdown review on Wednesday? If you didn’t see the instagram stories (Firstly, I’d find that hard to believe because it felt like our whole follower list was messaging us) we took a trip to see our friends in Drum and Monkey in Alderley Edge.
You already know how we feel about The Drum, following our previous visit (review here). You know how we love it’s warm and happy welcome, how we laugh and smile with it’s beautiful staff and how we lose ourselves in the evening surrounded by neighbours and friends. Well, we can tell you, none of that has changed… well, apart from the hand sanitising stations, no standing at the bar and individual condiment sachets on your table.. But in all honesty, I hate standing at the bar, barely use condiments when I’m eating out and love the smell of bleach and sanitiser. Winner, Winner, Drum ‘n’ Monkey Dinner!
Small disclaimer; Lockdown hasn’t been kind to either of our waistlines… We were hungry, so please no judging... We had, the salt and pepper calamari with aioli. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of squid. I think it’s a little bland. Jamie, however, really enjoys it (no reflection of his personality) and assured me it was good calamari..
That said, the calamari was completely overshadowed by its veggie counterpart; The Salt and Pepper Cauliflower. My. God. Before you scrunch your nose up because there is no meat on your plate, hear me out. The herbivores in our audience won’t need to be convinced because they already know how well this mighty veg holds flavour. I wasn’t quite prepared for it. Salty, spicy cauli-nuggets. Really packed a punch! Smokey and wholesome, had it been served as a larger portion it would easily serve as a main meal
To complete our first course, we had our favourite Baked Camembert with chutney. Top tip - Open the camembert in the middle, dollop your chutney inside and get it all gooey with cheese then scoop it up onto your garlic ciabatta sticks. When you catch your breath back, you can thank us for that one!
Move over starters, we’ve opened our second stomach for the main course! The weather outside was frightful, but the mood was quite delightful (too soon?). I’m sorry, just trying to set the scene. It was cold and wet outside so I wanted something hearty. I ordered the Steak & Ale Pie. Having tried the gravy with my lockdown fish and chip fix (thanks for always providing guys) I knew I would be onto a winner. Out it came, standing tall and proud. My pie. A shortcrust with a lovely bottom. Not a sog in sight. Mouthfuls of steak and streams of ale-rich gravy fell about my plate as I tore my way in. Given the expansion of our waistline, Jamie opted for the new spin on a Drum favourite, Crispy Halloumi Stickty noodle salad. Yep, you can now swap the beef for fried halloumi. It was stunning. Another triumph for the veggies. When you get inside of your mountain of halloumi and noodles you’ll find another stream. A stream of sticky sweet chilli sauce. The portion sizes are really impressive. Jamie couldn’t finish his. All too happily, I swooped in to snuffle his halloumi, like the supportive partner that I am.
When Nicki asked if we want a pudding I gave Jamie that look of “I want a pudding, but don’t want to be the fatty that says they do so you need to say it”. He didn’t pick up on my signals, but thankfully Nicki did. She gleefully interjected and said “I’ll get a brownie and two spoons”. Thank the heavens for you Nicki because that Brownie is a masterpiece, in my humble opinion of course. With its distinctly cracked topping hiding a fudgey gooey shrine to indulgence. Throw in some icecream strawberries and caramel sauce, and I’m done. Legitimately done, I was falling asleep as I got into the car.
As always, it was a complete pleasure to come and visit The Drum and Monkey. They have shown true guts and determination throughout this pandemic and found new ways to adapt. We felt safe, assured and welcome. We can’t wait to come back.
While this meal was gifted to us, they are not exempt from our honest opinion. This is a true reflection of our experience.