Review: Brown Horse, Winster (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Review: Brown Horse, Winster

9:00am Monday 20th February 2012 in Leisure By Scott Kirk, Reporter

WINDING country roads are a pleasure to drive on during the day, but with night surrounding us as we wended our way to the Brown Horse, it became an altogether more frightening experience.

After driving round yet another blind corner, I just hoped that it would all be worth it when we arrived at the restaurant.

Which it most definitely was. And then some.

It was impressive how lovely and light the atmosphere of the place felt as soon as myself and a friend walked through the door, with very friendly staff waiting at the bar.

A word of warning to those of you with light wallets — the Brown Horse is not a cheap place to eat. But if you want some of the best food that South Lakeland has to offer, then you had better stump up and drive to Winster.

It is not costly out of pretention. The dishes on offer are extremely impressive, which was all the better considering how hungry I was.

For starters, I went for the Confit Gressingham duck leg, cassoulet of white beans, truffle and parsley (£8.95). It wasn’t a lie when the menu said ‘leg’ — it really was a full leg. But it was sumptuous, and the truffle’s rich flavour was out of this world.

Steaks really are my thing, and I always think that a rare steak is the best way to test how good a chef is.

The 21 day mature 10oz rib eye with twice cooked chips, tomato and mushroom, fine beans and creamed peppercorn reduction (£19.50) was stunning. The sauce added a little kick that danced on my tastebuds. The chips were at their crunchy best, and the carrots and green beans were also cooked to perfection.

All in all, it was an absolutely fantastic way to spend an evening, and if I hadn’t been driving I’d have sampled some more of the home-brewed Winster Valley Lakes Lager, as well as maybe the Chaser and the Hurdler.