I have happy memories of playing in the garden at The Three Cranes as a child, but I haven’t been there in years, so I thought it’d be the ideal place for a relaxed dinner.
So my boyfriend, Scott, his dad, Neil, and I went there for a Bank Holiday Monday meal.
We were seated in the far corner of the pub, near to a window. The pub wasn’t packed, but there were other tables of diners, as well as people at the bar, and the atmosphere was warm and welcoming. I was extremely impressed with the menu. For a start, it was vast.
I find choosing what to eat from a menu difficult at the best of times, so in this case I was very indecisive, particularly when the specials’ board – which featured a number of meals I’ve never seen on some pub’s entire menus – was presented to us.
The menu itself featured four different burgers, a choice of four home-made pies and an impressive six different curries, not bad when many menus offer only a token chicken tikka masala and little more.
All the dishes were reasonably priced, with most coming in at around £8.
I was severely tempted by the lamb shank on the specials board, but decided to go for a rump steak (£9.95) with a Stilton sauce (£1.50) and chips.
Scott ordered the gourmet burger (£7.95) and Neil went for the Minted Lamb and Red Onion pie (£8.50).
We also chose to share a combo sharing platter (£8.95). Again we were offered plenty of choice, as the pub also serves an ocean sharing platter and an Oriental sharing platter, as well as a range of other starters.
Our platter arrived quickly and featured breaded mushrooms, potato wedges, onion rings, chicken wings and vegetable parcels. None of the components of the platter were greasy, as can often be the case, and the three of us quickly ate it.
The plates were cleared and our mains promptly arrived. My steak was perfectly cooked and the Stilton sauce was really tasty. The steak came with chips and a bit of salad, both of which were nice.
My only niggle is that it would’ve been nice to have had a couple of onion rings and a grilled tomato on there too.
Scott’s gourmet burger, a beef burger with mayonnaise, mozzarella cheese and relish, was a decent size and went down well. Neil was also pleased with his pie, which he had with vegetables and roast potatoes.
By this point we’d had a good feed, but when our waitress brought the blackboard over with the desserts – again with a vast range on offer – we all relented and ordered.
I chose the Malteser ice cream sundae, Scott had an After Eight sundae and Neil chose banana and toffee waffle. Each of the sweets was £3.95; not bad at all in my opinion.
Both of the sundaes were made up of scoops of ice cream complemented with our chosen chocolates, while Neil’s waffle was served on a plate and surrounded by slices of banana.
With our drinks – we had one round and I ordered a second soft drink – our bill was £58.90. Considering we had three courses each, albeit the starter shared between us, I thought less than £20 a head was very good indeed.
Ratings at a glance:
Value: Good
Food: Tasty
Service: Friendly
Disabled Access: Yes
Parking: Plenty on street
Cost of our meal
Final total: Two courses each plus a starter to share, and drinks, came to £58.90.
Bernie’s star rating: 9/10