Island Life Magazine Ltd January/February 2006 | Page 18

FOOD & DRINK
The beef and lamb were served on large white
plates, and whilst perhaps thicker slices would
have been preferable for those of us who like
our beef rare, or our lamb pink, to be fair we did
not ask the question. Accompanying the beef
was a rather large Yorkshire pudding and three
beautifully cooked roast potatoes. The rich
homemade gravy for both of the roast dishes
was bursting with flavour. Accompanying the
roast was a huge bowl of freshly cooked
vegetables for two, including peas, courgettes,
carrots, cauliflower, baby corn, and Brussel
sprouts.

Sunday Roast
at The Pointers
Inn, Newchurch
Quality: Below Average - Average - Good Very Good - Exceptional
Comments: Slightly reduce starter portions.
Nice Touch - Perhaps home baked bread.
Star Rating: 4/5
Total bill for three was £65.00, inclusive of
two coffees and 5 diet cokes.
Welcome to our new eating out slot, where
each month we’ll be sampling one of the
Island’s many venues for Sunday lunch. These
reports will differ from our restaurant reviews,
in that we’ll be focusing on value for money,
freshness of food, and the quality of
ingredients, as well as more practical
considerations such as general ambiance,
comfort and service.
Our first review comes from the acclaimed Pointers
Inn at Newchurch – a place that always enjoyed a
great reputation whilst under the control of Becky.
Since it is now under new management, we went
along to check out how it’s faring these days.
From the minute you arrive at the Pointers, there is a
warm and welcome feeling - a real local atmosphere.
The staff are friendly and helpful, and the service
was a delightful experience. We were presented the
Sunday menu and were also pointed to the Specials
board which in itself had a varied choice of dishes,
from pasta, to pheasant, good old traditional steak

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and kidney pie, and cod.
The main menu also had a good cross-section of
dishes, ranging from the classics - roast leg of
lamb and roast topside of beef - to pasta dishes
suitable for the non-meat eaters. After five
minutes with the menu, we were invited to go
through to the dining room, which was just as
cosy and welcoming as the bar, and had a
friendly ambiance emanating both from the staff
and the other diners.
Normally we would not have starters with
Sunday lunch, but this was a day for breaking
with tradition in order to gain an overall picture.
So we ordered Fresh Soup of The Day, which was
Curry and Parsnip, Deep Fried Blanch Bait, and
finally Tomato and Mozzarella Salad.
The quality of the food was exceptional, and our
only criticism would be the sheer size of the
portions, which were huge. In fact the member
of our party who chose the whitebait said he
could easily have given half of it to someone else
and still been happy. The whitebait was cooked
to perfection, not too heavy on the breadcrumbs
and not too oily. The same applied to the Tomato
and Mozzarella, this again coming as a huge
portion, although perhaps the addition of a small
drop of dressing would have increased the
flavours. The soup was just right, with just
enough curry so that the distinctive parsnip
flavour was still dominant. To sum up, whilst
the starters were frightening in size, their
quality was second to none

As for the pheasant, wow! We wondered if we
had another four people joining us at this stage.
The waitress brought over a plate with not one
crown of pheasant, but two! Once again, the
sauce was intense in flavour, and we loved the
julienne of fried leeks, carefully placed on top of
the crowns. As if that were not enough, we were
also offered with the crown of pheasant new
potatoes, sautéed potatoes, chips or roast
potatoes, together with the choice of three
different types of salad - Waldorf, Caesar, Classic
- or a selection of mixed vegetables. Looking at
the table at this point we could have easily have
fed six of us rather than just three.
Having worked our way through the main course
we decided to take a break at the bar, to decide
which deserts we would like – hard work on a
full stomach! However after ten minutes we
decided to go back into battle, choosing the
Sticky Toffee Pudding, Strawberry and Cream
Slice and Rum and Banana Crème Brulee. Once
again the portion control was generous to say
the least.
All through the meal we struggled, which was a
shame because the atmosphere was great, the
food quality was superb, and the price was very
acceptable. To sum up, Sunday lunch at the
Pointers was a very pleasant and enjoyable
experience, eased along by very attentive staff.
We would like to see some of the starters
slightly reduced in size, the main meals and
desserts were fine, although I think it may be a
case of opting for either a starter or dessert,
you’ll be hard pushed to eat all three courses.
This seemed to be the general feeling of other
diners in the room.
We will definitely be going back – however it is
advisable to book.
The Pointers Inn, Newchurch - 01983 865202

Next up were the main courses, and reluctantly
we had to abandon half of our starters in order
to leave room for our main courses. We opted for
Traditional Roast Beef, Traditional Roast Lamb,
and, from the Specials board we selected Crown
of Pheasant.