Game Mixed Grill
On Sunday, February 1st, my wife and I walked out of Heathrow's baggage claim past customs to be greated by our dear friends Lidia and Daniel Freitas. We were almost neighbours when we lived in the Netherlands, and we had not seem each other for several years, since their visit to our home, at the time in Mattawan, Michigan.
After leaving the airport we drove to Windsor to meet their daughter Jessica, then stopped by their home at Maidenhead to drop our luggage, and very soon we were on our way to a proper pub lunch.
The Chef & Brewer has the looks of a real pub, including the low ceiling with plenty of old dark wooden beams supporting it, and multiple beer taps behind the counter.
Each one selected what I would call a "normal" dish of beef, pork, chicken or turkey, but not me. We happened to stumble in the first day of a month long "Game Festival", and hunter that I am, I just could not pass the opportunity to taste a bit of the British wilderness, even if it is rather civilized by certain standards (at another opportunity we may discuss wildlife and wilderness conservation versus land management and animal husbandry, but not now.)
Among a multitude of options I selected the the Game Mixed Grill, not because it was the largest as some of my detractors would point out, but because it afforded the greatest opportunity to taste different game preparations and their flavours.
The menu stated that the Game Mixed Grill presented "whole roasted red leg partridge wrapped in bacon and filled with stuffing, Scottish pheasant, pork and fennel patties, Gressingham duck sausages and wild Scottish venison medallions." The french fries were fresh and to die for, and the red wild berry sauce complemented the game very well.
My only complain is that the venison and partridge were slightly over cooked, and overall the duck sausage was the winner.
I believe I forgot to mention that this great meal was washed down by a great pint of Guiness. It looks like Ireland own the beer war!
