A Sunday Lunch in the Country

Sunday Roasts are the fundamental part of every weekend. Whether they're consumed at home or in a Country Pub off the M25 they make the world a better place.

This Sunday we all popped off to The Stile Bridge just outside of Maidstone. The pub has been listed as one of the best CAMRA pubs in 2014, so expectations were high. To make things even better, the pub itself is independent, which is quite refreshing as just about every street is now littered with Wetherspoons.

Initial thoughts upon arrival were great. It was a truly traditional country pub in every sense; beer mats on the walls, different size pint glasses hanging from the ceiling and, the most exciting feature (other than the alcohol), an open roaring fire. The smell from the fire was fantastic, filling the room with that beautiful, wintery, smoky smell. Traditional pub quirks carried on throughout the restaurant, with big oak beams and bunting hanging over our heads. We had stumbled upon a great pub.

The Stile Bridge had an amazing selection of beers and gins; I opted for a pint of Whitstable Bay blonde lager, which was one of the CAMRA lagers on offer. It was great, really light with a fruity twist, and a nice change to the usual lager that I go for.

Crab Salad 

On to the food then.. after all, it's what we were there for. The Stile has an extensive but enticing menu, including a great range of specials, ranging from a duck and plum salad to artichoke soup. All 13 of us opted for the specials; I went for the crab salad, which was refreshing and light with its mayonnaise base and red onions. It was a perfect way to start the meal.

Duck and Plum Salad 

Despite the slow service our mains arrived. I had the roast beef with yorkshire pudding and seasonal vegetables. To be perfectly honest the roast wasn't the best I have ever had, the veg was a little tight as we only had two small bowls to go around 13 people. The beef was perfectly cooked but the yorkshire pudding was very heavy and not the usual fluffy goodness you would expect. Extra gravy was supplied though, which is always good as I can never get enough.

Chocolate Brownie 

Despite being full, there was room for dessert. Sticky toffee pudding, which is one of my all time favourites, was on the menu. I rejoiced, thinking this would redeem the average roast! But there was bad news. The dreaded nut. Oh how I hate it when places put nuts in their stickty toffee pudding. There was nothing else I fancied, so I sat there sulking for a bit. That got even worse, as everyone else had dessert and I ended up with food envy looking at the cheese boards, treacle tarts and brownies. They all looked amazing!

All in all the Stile Bridge was a lovely pub, and the staff were helpful and smiley. But the service was slow and the roast just didn't give me the warm fuzzy feeling that I usual get. After all, a roast is a special dish which just makes you feel amazing on a cold, wintery Sunday.

I would go back again however, just to try some more of the beers. The burgers also looked delicious and have been recommended.

Annie's Burger Shack.

Living in London it's hard to find a good new place to eat that isn't branded as 'trendy' or an all American diner with a twist. Yawn. London is saturated with burgers everywhere you go. There's Meat Liquor (I am still desperate to try) and Shake Shack (hasn't had fab reviews), as well as dozens of others. It's the new 'in' thing but I'm actually already bored of it.

However, this isn't the case in Nottingham. Nottingham doesn't have anywhere new and burgerfabulous. But anyone who lives in Nottingham knows the wonders of Annie's Burger Shack. From its humble beginnings at the Navigation pub (just like Meat Liquor started at a pub) last year, it has now got its very own home in the Lace Market.

Everything about Annie's is amazing; the atmosphere, the beers and the burgers are so good it's hard to explain! Everything is fresh, and what's better is it hasn't got the traditional American Diner feel to it, no red leather booths or black and white floors  it’s very... wooden. It has been referred to as the  New England in the Old England.

The bar has a huge selection of beers, most of which I am ashamed to say I didn't know what they were. We had a little wait for our table as we came a bit early, so I had a pint of Bitburger – a German lager. I actually really like having different beers instead of the standard.

We booked our table as, since it has reopened, it has literally been mission impossible to get a table by walking in, and if it’s for more than two people, make sure you book well in advance. (A sneaky tip: if you go in and look lovingly at the staff during the day they, tend to squeeze you in somewhere.

There have been a lot of complaints about the waiting time at Annie's - it is about half an hour until you get your food. BUT, even though Annie's Burger Shack is a typical 'burger joint,' it is by no means a fast food restaurant. Everything is made fresh to order - even the burgers - and so even though there is a bit of a wait it is definitely worth it.

The burgers... well there are 30 different types and you can literally have anything on them from a roast dinner to a pizza with a number of sides. But I do recommend the curly fries! On my previous visit, I had the Fajita burger which was amazing.

Surf and Turf 

This time I opted for the 'Surf and Turf' which didn't disappoint. The burger was cooked to perfection and it came with several king pawns, onion rings and thousand island sauce. You might thinkit would be easy for the pawns to be over taken by the beef burger, but in fact, it was all perfectly placed.

Jamie Blackmore was the other burger at the table, which comes topped with eight hour slow cooked BBQ'd pulled pork, melted red Leicester cheese and salsa.  This was welcomed with equal happiness. 

Jamie Blackmore 

I must say, I was starving by the time the burger came and do think I ate it within record time, which meant that I was bursting by the time I'd finished!

My favourite thing about Annie's is that it doesn't bore me like all the others. Yes the burgers we both had were very 'American' but others they have on the menu aren’t like the roast dinner burger so there is something for everyone.

What I'm really looking forward to is seeing what they do for their v day menu... What stops can they pull out for this?!

I really need to go back, and to be honest, I’m secretly planning on working my way through the entire menu! (Minus a few like the 'Elvis Presley' which is slathered in Peanut Butter – death in a burger)

My advice - definitely book yourself a table!

http://www.anniesburgershack.com/