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Area 33 Sunday Lunch August 22nd - The Swan at Stratford St Mary |
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The Swan is situated on
the Essex/Suffolk border at Stratford St Mary in a tricky place
to find as I found out! Having left the A12 in the right direction and loosely following the sat nav, well one has to believe we know better than machines; I turned down a little lane hoping to cut off the bend but found myself at Le Talbooth PH in a small cul de-sac; a narrow one at that meaning a five point turn between parked cars to exit! |
| I arrived at The Swan
to meet Tina & Bernie, Reg & Ronnie and Ron & Anita without
drinks; how come? We sat chatting to the Chef; he’s the one just visible in the picture in those Zebra spotted pants, but wondering who was cooking our lunch? We ordered a bottle of white wine and beers, unfortunately the wine had not been chilled and so had to be returned. The Chef recommended “the roasts”; but Roast Lamb was Lamb Shank, great for some but two ladies changed to Roast Beef; no starters meant we had no more decisions to make. As we waited for our main course we ordered more wine, those ladies do drink and savoured the garlic bread we ordered earlier. When our lunches arrived they were unfortunately swimming in gravy, too much even for Essex guys; however the flavour of all the meals was very good. The more than ample servings meant that Bernie & Tina were able to take a couple of beef and pork slices home in a doggy bag. Fortunately the puds redeemed the service as although the staff were not sure what type of sponge pudding was available it turned out to be scrummy treacle sponge and custard, very nice. Ron must be doing a “Taste Test of Essex profiteroles” as yet again he choose them, and piled high with cream this time; nice Ron? Needless to say the conversation was varied and continuous; from scuffed wheel repairs, living abroad, Muscovy ducks and finally to internal hydraulics whilst water skiing; that one is best left for you to talk to Reg about! See you next time. Eric |