Olive Dragonfly: The Buxted Inn

Monday, 18 April 2016

The Buxted Inn - a review by Bex

It's a while since I've published a restaurant review (I don't think I've done one since moving down and having the twins) and I feel I should probably apologise for the excessive twin pictures included but they're just too cute to leave out of the experience. Although I am of course biased ;)

I've been to The Buxted Inn to eat once before, on Father's day last year with Nik's parents. This year, they've had a total refurb and we headed back for a Sunday roast with my parents the week before Easter. It was the BEST meal I've had in a long time! Everything is home made and the staff are welcoming and friendly. They're also very knowledgeable about the menu which makes such a difference.

We had come prepared with snacks for the twins while we ordered and waited for the food and Kalyan was fascinated with his real cutlery.

While Priya shared her carrot with Daddy.

We all opted for the roast, we got the kid's portion of roast chicken (£7 including a scoop of ice cream and a drink) for the twins, Mum, Dad and Nik chose the beef (£13) and I couldn't decide between the pork (because I love crackling so much!) or beef. Once I ascertained that the mixed roast (£12) came with some crackling, I went for this option - best of all 3 worlds!

The food arrived pretty quickly, it was piping hot and looked great. I was thrilled to receive a nice chunky piece of beef, a wee piece of crackling and good sized portions of all three meats. The Yorkshire puddings looked amazing and I had 3 huge crispy roast potatoes as well as a piece of stuffing with some apple sauce. Our veg soon followed, I forgot to take a picture of these but there was a good selection with red cabbage, caraway carrots, courgette, broccoli and parsnip. Unfortunately, the quantity of veg was lacking. We were asked if we needed any more veg or gravy and I requested some more broccoli but wish I'd asked for some more of other veg too. I didn't get a bit of parsnip as there were just 4 pieces between the 6 of us despite ordering 5 meals, Kalyan ate most of the red cabbage and Priya almost all of the carrots! We should have just asked for more as I'm sure they would have brought some.

The roast itself was delicious and very satisfying, although still left us with room for pudding. The beef was pink, the chicken was juicy and tender and the pork very tasty. The Yorkshire puds didn't disappoint, they were the perfect combination of crispy and stodgy and nice and big too! We also had some nice strong horseradish to go with it all and an extra jug of yummy gravy. I like that they ask if you'd like more gravy, despite there being a good puddle on the plate, as there's nothing worse than just a trickle of gravy on a roast. We all really enjoyed it, especially Priya!

I have to say though, pudding was the best bit! I opted for a proper treat and ordered the Oreo, salted caramel & chocolate chip cheesecake. Oh. My. God. The photo doesn't do it justice. It was amazing! It wasn't too sweet, was nice and light and absolutely delicious! The caramel was drizzled through the filling with a couple of chewy chunky bits and a good few dark chocolate chips and the Oreos made up the base. Nik also had the same, despite not usually being a fan of cheesecake and he loved it too.

Dad had the lemon meringue which arrived de-constructed and looked lovely and judging by the appreciative noises he was making, it tasted as good as it looked!

Mum (and a cheeky Kalyan) enjoyed the rhubarb & ginger sponge with rhubarb & vanilla jam and sauce anglaise. All of the puddings were £6.00 each.

Priya loved her strawberry ice cream too and made a good effort at scooping it herself. (We usually still had to load the spoon for them at this point, but they've mastered it now!)

When she'd finished it, she was soon checking if there was anything else left for her to sample and enjoyed my berries! (My cheesecake was long gone!)

We finished with coffees and teas while Priya played with the Jenga bricks and Kalyan snuggled with Granny. My latte was too strong for my liking, despite being very pretty, so I didn't drink mine but I thoroughly enjoyed my glass of Malbec with dinner!

As for the Inn itself, the refurbishment has made a big difference, it seems much brighter and more spacious than I remember from last year. The chairs are very comfortable and the twins' high chairs were a very funky, practical design. They still don't have baby changing facilities in the bar or restaurant so they let us use a room upstairs when we had to change the twins which makes a nice change from balancing things on a pull down table in a toilet. (And the rooms are lovely too, I'd definitely recommend it as a place to stay.)

Another nice touch is that they grow their own herbs and vegetables by the car park out the back in raised beds, which Kalyan and I had a wander around before the food arrived. We love that there's a really well run Inn near us which serves great food and drinks (they serve Harvey's, our local beer which Dad and Nik love) and has a really good ethos with home grown and home made food as well as friendly staff. Not to mention, it's within walking distance of our home! We'll definitely be going back more often, in fact, I've already got another girl's night booked there, this time with dinner. (I was there recently for a few drinks with new friends.) I'm definitely going to indulge in that cheesecake again!