Christopher’s stepfather, Peter, usually goes to stay with friends in Wales for a week over the summer, and his route home to Kent takes him through Ledbury, only a few miles from me. We don’t see each other very often, so it makes sense for him to time his journey so that we can meet up for lunch. Last year we had thoroughly enjoyed a meal at the Inn at Welland, so we decided to go back there again.
The pub gets very busy, especially for Sunday Lunch, so I thought I’d better reserve a table. However, when I called them mid-week to do so, I couldn’t get anyone to answer the phone. Annoying, as I didn’t just want to turn up on spec without a reservation and get turned away. I had another look at their website to check I’d got the right phone number, and saw that they offered the option of booking on-line via something called OpenTable. I’d not come across that before, but I can report that it works well. I was able to choose a suitable time-slot, received a confirmatory email from the pub, plus a reminder yesterday that I was due to eat there today. I was pleased to see that when we arrived at the pub this lunch time, they were indeed expecting us. And it was just as well that we had booked, as by 2pm the place was heaving!
We both had the roast pork, with herby roast potatoes, cider-braised onions and mixed vegetables, followed by a freshly-baked cherry clafoutis. It was all delicious. I also thoroughly enjoyed the home-made fudge that came with the coffee. In fact, the only problem was the over-designed coffee cups, which looked very elegant but were only designed to be used right-handed. I am extremely left-handed and found the cup very awkward to drink out of. I commented on that to the bar-man, and he said that this has been raised before and they do actually keep some lefty-friendly mugs in stock for use on request. I shall have to remember to ask for one specially next time!
