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After yesterday's lapse, it's time to get back to talking about food and beer. Last night we dined at The Three Horseshoes, over in Allensmore, down Kingstone way, around the corner from Lock's Garage (pronounced ga-raj.) You know the place, right? There are at least six places by the same name in Herefordshire so make sure you get it right if you ever get out this way. I added it to the map below just in case.

I would go back for the beer but I'd think twice about the grub. I had two pints of Wye Valley Brewery Butty Bach. Nice, golden beer with out much bite. I could drink this one all night without too much trouble. They had a bunch of beers on draft and I also noticed a new certification, Cask Marque, that is similar to the Beautiful Beer award I blogged about a fortnight back. There are many, many more local pubs on the Cask Marque certified list, so I'm not sure if its just more accepted or more lenient. I think I want to become a Cask Marque field acreditor. You show up unannounced and they have to give you six free pints of your choice. I might start my own acreditation that requires the qualifying pub to provide six rounds for me and my 'tasting crew'.

Service was excellent and the wait staff was very friendly. They always seem quite surprised when they ask us if we are on holiday and find out that we actually live here.

To start, I had some duck pate (3) while the missus had cream of mushroom soup (2). The pate was decent enough but I wouldn't get it again. The soup was quite good -- thick with chunks of mushrooms and a broth that was not too heavy.

For dinner, I had the 'monster mixed grill' (3). I had a very similar dish at the Grafton near our place, and it was good when I had it there. The basic idea is they bring you a small chunk of about 7 or 8 different grilled meats. Last night it was beef steak, pork chop, kidney, blood sausage, some other sausage, lamb chop, gammon (smoked ham), a fried egg, some grilled tomatoes, and some sauteed mushrooms. All of this with a giant side of fries. And all of it cooked well past a happy medium, even by English standards. Not so good. The missus had the faggots (3) with mushy peas (2) -- which ended up being large meatballs with a livery after-taste in a rich sauce. They were better than my mixed grill. The mushy peas were the best I've had.

No dessert on this trip. I helped the hostess swipe our credit card (she'd never done that before) and we went on our way.

I think I might get back and try a few more pints here, and maybe something different off the menu (should have got the steak and Guinness pie!) It's right between home and work so for convenience alone, it's worth a trip back.

Cheers!