Jezz and I decided to take a short two-day breakaway. It started with a three and a half drive to Derby. Jezz had booked an overnight stay in The Cow, a bed and breakfast hotel pub in Dalbury-Lees. It was absolutely superb.
We arrived around 2.20pm and had a couple of drinks in the bar, waiting for the check-in time of 3pm. Once checked-in, we walked through a maze of stairs and corridors to a corner of the building, which was room 12.
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Front of the pub This is the view from the green that sits in front of the pub. The building is postcard-beautiful and dominates the view upon approach. The building behind is connected and has luxurious rooms. The windows of the room we stayed in can be seen in this photo.
The Cow Appropriately situated on one of the walls in the bar, proudly sits The Cow.
The bar The bar is spacious and beautifully decorated. There is an amazing array of gins and ales to choose from. The drinks are served as though you were in a cocktail bar… the gin and lemonade had a raspberry and lemon wedge included with ice. The tables are sensibly spaced and sized, so a party of eight would be as comfortable as a romantic couple of two.
Seating outside We picked an excellent day as the weather was warm, sunny and had a lovely breeze. It was comfortable and cosy to sit and enjoy a drink outside, down the side of the pub.
Room We stayed in room 12 which had a large TV and remote with Freeview channels. A coffee machine, kettle with speciality teas, hairdryer, a safe, big double bed with crisp clean linen, a chair, en suite bathroom with separate walk-in shower and large bath.
En-suite bathroom En-suite bathroom with separate walk-in shower (out of shot in this photo) and large bath. It has a hand basin and loo. Two walls are covered with mirrors and the rest of the walls, ceiling, and floor are tiled.
A jar of bacon-infused popcorn Also on the starter menu, this is a jar of popcorn that has been infused with bacon fat. I wasn’t so convinced, and this was probably our least enjoyed item on the menu, but was still nice all the same.
Cau Buns Asian steamed buns served in a traditional bamboo basket, with a choice of two fillings and a trio of toppings. We chose pulled pork in BBQ sauce and roasted corn and duck with plum sauce and sesame oil. The toppings were Asian coleslaw, pickled ginger and Soy and sesame dressing.
Cau Buns Asian steamed buns served in a traditional bamboo basket, with a choice of two fillings and a trio of toppings. We selected pulled pork in BBQ sauce and roasted corn and duck with plum sauce and sesame oil. The toppings were Asian coleslaw, pickled ginger and Soy and sesame dressing.
Chunky homemade chips These were excellent, quite salty but lovely.
Chantenay carrots Beautiful cooked Chantenay carrots served with cumin butter.
Lincolnshire poacher Cheese puffs These were pleasant enough… pastry balls filled with cheese and mixed with smoked bacon jam.
Miso glazed crispy pork belly, This is by far the best dish… the flavour was incredible. Tender beautifully cooked pork belly slices with crispy crackly top flavoured delicately with a sticky miso dressing.
Pork Scratchings You get loads of strips of pork scratchings with a portion of homemade chorizo jam and smoked paprika. We chose this as one of four starters to share between us.
Rum Baba A drenched doughnut in rum and served with raspberries and whipped cream.
Full English, My choice for breakfast A full English breakfast consisting of bacon, eggs, chipolata sausages, grilled tomato and mushroom, black pudding and baked beans.
Eggs Florentine, Jezz’s choice for breakfast A toasted muffin with spinach, poached egg and topped with their homemade hollandaise sauce.