This was the second time we've been to The Lord Palmerston, and were pleasantly surprised the first time.
Upon returning, I went for the pork roast, and it was pretty much spot on. The hunk of pig itself was very tender and had a nice full flavor to it. The applesauce, which didn't taste store-bought and had a dash of cinnamon, went very nicely with the meat as you'd expect. The vegetables, while rather traditionally 'plain' in the English Sunday Roast style, were pretty good. The stand-out here was the purple cabbage, which had a rich and sweet taste, and although it had probably been doctored up with sugar or some other sweetening agent in the kitchen, I gobbled it up quickly. Also good were the two flatbread shaped strips of crackling. One was slightly burnt, but they were otherwise deliciously simple. The roast potatoes were fine, though nothing to get excited about.
My wife really loved her piece of beef, and was extremely satisfied with her meal a rare feat in and of itself (god, my puns are awful). I tasted it too, and pretty much concurred.
Our friend reluctantly liked his lamb, which had gravy (as did the others) and a mint sauce on the side. Like me, he is not the biggest fan of the Sunday Roast, but he had to admit they had put in a good effort at TLP.
Although we were rather satiated form our meat and veg, Mrs. LF and I decided to share a dessert. We like a good crumble, so opted for the apple and berry one on offer. Unfortunately, it was pretty poor. The red fruit underneath was nothing special, but it was the top bit that really missed the boat. It was basically just some sort of raw grain granola which hadn't even been browned or crisped so it was sort of like eating a Pret a Manger breakfast bowl without yogurt and the granola being way too chewy and tasteless. It was a let-down after the very decent main courses. However, my sweet tooth was sort of rescued by a small glass of a decent Beaumes de Venise.
If in search of a place to have a decent pub lunch and linger on a weekend afternoon, I would definitely suggest TLP. It serves good traditional pub-grub and it's got a nice atmosphere. We noticed that they had a range of free games you can pick up and amuse yourself and your friends with. The table next to us was playing a nerve-racking round of Jenga, which looked like good fun. read more