visited on the 11th January 2013,
for pre-quiz sustinence.
The Clifton Inn is still my local;
despite having recently moved two miles away it's still easily first
choice for Friday post-work drinks. It's one of the only drinking
establishments with minimal student trade, which renders it cosy and
fancy-dress free, with local regulars who are always up for a chat
whether you've met them before or not. Even if you have, chances are
they won't remember anyway and you can do it all again next time.
After a hard day at work, the straightforwardness can be therapeutic.
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| The Clifton Inn |
In the past month or two it's changed
hands and is now an even more excellent place to be- cleaner,
brighter, and with a barman who has my lager-top poured by the time
I've made it from the door to the bar. Even better, they've started
serving food (so I don't drink on an empty stomach and spend the next
day with my brain trying to escape from my skull).
Two Fridays ago, they introduced their
new pub quiz and I was as happy as an elephant in water (they really love swimming). Obvioulsy we needed brain food so we decided to
sample the day menu. As you might expect, it pretty much consists of
meat in buns, pies, and baked potatoes.
Somewhat surprisingly, there has been
effort made to provide veggie versions of everything. It is in the
detail that you discover that actually, we were probably an
inconvenient afterthought. The vegetarian version of the all-day
breakfast replaces sausages with it's plant-based equivalent- fair
enough you may say. Look a bit further down and you'll find the
Veggie 'Burger', is actually two veggies sausages in a bun. Can you
guess what comes with the chips instead of fish? The only thing that
doesn't come with veggie sausages is the baked potato with beans.
Uninspired, I chose the 'Veggie Burger'
(which I would have called a sausage sandwich), served with chips and
salad. At least there was still the quiz to look forward to!
At this point you're probably assuming
that I've been referring to traditional-style sausages, made from
soya or quorn. But no, for the first time since I first became a
vegetarian in 1992, I was faced with those mashed potato sausages
that you find in the Sainsbury's 'Basics' range; you know, those ones
with a bit of freeze-dried mixed veg thrown in for colour. Perpetrators of the
notion that veggies can only eat vegetables, and probably not
suitable for vegans.
So I'll rename the dish again; mashed
potato sandwich, chips, and an uncomfortable-looking salad.
Undressed, pale, and flaccid. It looked embarasssed to be on the
plate with the accompanying monster-stodge; like a geek forced to
play in a school rugby team. I picked up a sachet of ketchup to add
some colour to the beige, but decided against it upon reading that it
'may contain' any or all of the following: milk, celery, soya,
gluten, nuts, fish, eggs. Where the hell are they making this
stuff? In the middle of a farmer's market? The proximity of the
words 'fish' and 'eggs' did something to my brain that I can't
explain. And don't start me on kitchens that serve condiments in
eensy-weensy sachets instead of nice clumpy bottles...
All of that said, the food did the job
and given the price of £3.95, I probably got my money's worth. Also, they're not the kind of pub that'll spit in your food if you ask for something vegan. I'm
not sure if I'll make a habit of eating in the Clifton regularly, but
I'll certainly continue to drink there. On occasion, the food's fine
for lining the stomach- it's a pub, not fine dining. But if you're
veggie then you might as well just get a bowl of chips.
We didn't win the quiz. But they did
forget to put bacon and cheese in the other half's American Burger so
that was nice.
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