The gorgeous looking Flying Horse

Fly Down To The Flying Horse

The Flying Horse

Food - Restaurant/Cafes
in/near Clophill, Bedfordshire,
England Heart Of Inc Birmingham

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Review added: 10/12/2007 22:40
By: dewberry (£0.00 earned from reviews) Earn £££'s

"During a recent fleeting visit to Bedfordshire, Mark and I were on the look out for somewhere to stop off for a bit of lunch before heading back home. Driving through the village of Clophill we saw The Flying Horse and decided that from the attractive exterior of the building it looked like a nice place to eat.

The inside of this lovely Beefeater restaurant was full of advertising for their Christmas menu's, with the disappointing note on the bottom that these meals needed to be booked in advance with a £5 deposit to be paid at least seven days before eating. I commented to the guy behind the bar how much I love Christmas dinner in the pub and that had I known I was coming this way I would have booked – it was lucky for me and Mark that I did say this as it turned out that a party of ten had cancelled at the last minute so there was, in fact, a few Christmas dinners being cooked at that precise moment! He explained that we were welcome to order two of those at a small discount as we wouldn't have the usual choice of menu had we booked in advance. No problem, as long as the original party had ordered turkey with all the trimmings I was happy.

We were given the only table for two available which was in the window of the large restaurant area; a perfect spot for looking out over Clophill on a crisp wintry lunchtime. The restaurant has loads of seating; tables and chairs are everywhere you look and I'd say there were at least 50 people eating at the same time as us – this to me says much about the character of The Flying Horse that it's so popular even though it's slightly out of the way compared to other pub restaurants we passed that day. Even though the restaurant was busy, it's so open plan that there was still lots of room to walk around and I didn't feel enclosed by other diners at all.

In contrast, the pub has a very small bar by usual standards. While waiting for our table to be ready we went for a quick drink in the bar. The décor in here is very traditional and made the small room feel old fashioned – old fashioned in a good way of course, the long wooden bar made it easy for me to imagine people in the past coming to the beautiful old listed building for a pint of ale (or two!). The bar is well stocked with lagers, spirits, and wine and there is a very good selection of real ales produced both locally and further afield. Mark was driving so chose his one drink carefully, eventually ending up with a pint of Greene King IPA while I drank a glass of Malibu and Coke. The prices for drinks are extremely reasonable for a pub of this type in this area, with Mark getting change from a fiver for our two drinks plus a packet of nuts.

After around 15 minutes we were advised that our table was ready and were shown through to the restaurant. Our starter was being brought to the table as we sat down and because we still had our drinks from the bar I didn't bother to look too closely at the wine menu, although at a glance it looked to be extensive and tailored more towards people who would buy and drink a full bottle rather than by the glass.

We both had Soup of the Day as a starter which was absolutely delicious. A thick, tomatoey vegetable soup containing enough chunks of perfectly cooked veg as to be called a stew, not a soup! This wonderfully tangy home made soup was served with wedges of fresh crusty bread which mopped the last of the liquid up perfectly. I'm not a big soup eater, but can honestly say I could have eaten another bowl as it was so deliciously tasty.

When the waitress noticed we'd finished she asked if we were ready for our main courses – we were as we wanted to finish our meal fairly quickly so we could get back to Birmingham before the weather turned too nasty as it had been threatening to do all day. Within five minutes our gorgeous looking Christmas Dinner arrived (note the capital letters – that's how important Christmas Dinner is in the Dewberry household!).

Delicious. That's the only word that can be used to accurately describe our turkey dinners. A huge portion of white turkey breast meat was beautifully arranged on the plates with a tangy sausage meat stuffing placed on top. The meat literally melted in my mouth it was cooked so well and the stuffing enhanced the delicate turkey flavour rather than masked it as it so often does. The two sausages wrapped in bacon were thoroughly cooked and not greasy at all, again unusual in a pub as it usually feels as though these have been cooked in fat and simply dropped on your plate still dripping with hot oil. There was also a deliciously crisp Yorkshire pudding and a pile of tasty roast potatoes on our plates, accompanied by sweet baby carrots, peas and a rich, meaty gravy. All in all, our main courses were fabulous. Every component of the meal was of the highest quality and cooked to absolute perfection. The addition of a small pot of cranberry sauce only added to my enjoyment of the meal – although I actually ended up with two pots as Mark detests the stuff, every Christmas enquiring as to why anyone would want jam with their dinner…!

For dessert Mark ate a rich fruity Christmas pudding which was served with a tasty brandy sauce – he's not usually a pudding kinda person so I was surprised when I glanced over to see he'd eaten the lot! He commented on how fresh and delicious it tasted and he seemed surprised that he could actually taste the brandy in the sauce. I finished my meal off with Orange Profiteroles which had a wonderfully festive orange liqueur cream inside fluffy choux pastry; this was topped with a glossy hot fudge sauce which was amazingly chocolaty. I felt like licking the bowl when I'd finished!

While eating I had a look over the standard menu at The Flying Horse and I've got to say it looks pretty damned good. A fairly upmarket menu featuring such luxuries as Atlantic scallops, rock lobster, venison and Spanish Chorizo Linguine. Set meals are served starting at just £5.95 and if everything is as excellent as the meal we ate today then I can understand completely why the restaurant was so busy. Having said that, I honestly do think that standards in The Flying Horse would be fantastic at any time of the year, not just Christmas. It has one of those kinds of atmospheres which makes me think that most of the diners in here are regulars who have been impressed with previous service and meals.

The staff in here are great. Everyone I encountered was helpful, polite and friendly without fail. Throughout our meals I thought the level of attention we received was just right; we were approached midway through each course with a quick courtesy check that everything was OK, and if there was anything we needed (Mark asked for mustard with his dinner) then it was no problem for them. Everything was done with a smile and I really got the impression that they wanted me to enjoy my meal rather than just going through the motions – which makes all the difference sometimes.

We paid £8.99 for our three course Christmas Dinner, which I thought was an absolute bargain. In all our meals and drinks cost us around £26, the sheer volume and quality of the food made it worth every penny. I'd have liked to spend more time having a drink in the bar, but we were on our way back to Brum so will have to pencil it in for a weekend away sometime.

Disabled access is fine. Doorways are wide and there are no steps in any part of the pub or grounds, disabled toilets are available and there is disabled parking near the entrance. The car park itself is large and well maintained, there's plenty of lighting so I'd imagine it would be a secure place to park your car in the evening as well as during the day. Children are welcome and there's a nice kids' menu featuring the old favourites (burger & chips, spaghetti Bolognese) as well as the more unusual salmon fillet or crunchy vegetable kebabs. A pretty beer garden and patio area is provided for the smokers and it's quite well protected from the elements meaning we don't get too wet when popping out for a fag!

The Flying Horse is located on the main A6, the closest motorway is the M1 and it's fairly straightforward from there along mainly A roads. Worth a bit of a drive out though as the service, food and atmosphere here is the best I've sampled for a long time.

The Flying Horse
2 The Green
Clophill
Bedfordshire
MK45 4AD

Tel: 01525 860293"

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