As we travelled through the gloom on a dark and rainy night, the Nags Head was instantly recognisable as we entered Pontesbury – a most welcoming sight.
Despite the seasonably miserable weather, stepping into the pub we received a warm welcome from staff – particularly welcome on our first ever visit. The main room is split into a bar and dining area which are both well laid out and decorated, maintaining the feel of a traditional village pub. The food on offer lived up to the traditional billing, with a wide choice of starters, main courses and desserts on offer. The pub was quiet on the night and all the courses were served promptly and well-presented. To start Sherree chose the soup of the day – cream of tomato – which came with bread and butter and was a sizeable portion. I went for the deep fried combo, which included breaded garlic mushrooms, brie bites and potato wedges, and was simply heavenly.
For the main course, Sherree chose scampi served with chips and peas while I had the 8oz fillet steak cooked medium, with mushrooms, onion rings and chips. We also had a portion of garlic bread as a side order.
The scampi was well cooked and not too greasy, and Sherree gave it the thumbs up saying it was delicious. The fillet steak was cooked perfectly and the mushrooms helped add texture and taste to the dish.
As with the starters, both the main courses came in large – and very generous – portions, leaving us both feeling pretty full and satisfied. We had to wave the white flag at the dessert menu, although there was a variety of choices to cater for all appetites.
The Nags Head serves food all day at weekends and during lunchtimes and evenings mid-week.
The menu contains a number of unusual dishes and vegetarian options and the plentiful portions are also welcome.
We hadn’t known what to expect when we set out in the rain – when we left we were in no doubt we had found a gem of a venue which we would have no hesitation in recommending to friends and family. We hope to return ourselves in the near future.
