A ‘REAL’ pub is often hard to find these days, it seems every village or town has at least one public house that has or is on the verge of closing down.
Thankfully, Studley seems to be one of the luckier ones and has an array of pubs dotted throughout the village and the Standard’s Beth Wright was delighted to sample a hearty home-cooked meal at one of them.
The Little Lark Public House, on Alcester Road, has recently announced the appointment of new head chef, Andrew Mulcock.
The local chef – who prefers to call himself a ‘cook’ as he doesn’t like the ‘attitude’ that comes with calling himself a ‘chef’ – hopes to bring back simple, hearty, home-cooked food to the Lark.
Andrew is currently in the process of introducing a new menu and has already added a number of mouth-watering, home-prepared dishes.
Amongst those are the 8oz ‘Lark Burger’ – handmade and topped with bacon, cheese and onion rings and his home-glazed ham which comes in deliciously thick slices topped with double eggs.
But before the feast that was the main course, we opted for the Brie and rosemary wedges which were served to perfection with beautifully crunchy breadcrumbs on the outside and deliciously soft, melting cheese in the middle.
Served alongside balsamic glaze and fresh salad, we didn’t want it ever to end.
Following such a wonderful starter we were left wondering how the main courses could possibly be any better but they were.
We finally opted for the burger and ham and eggs – following a tough decision over the mouth-watering ham and turkey home-made shortcrust pastry pie and the caramelised red onion and goats cheese tart.
When the burger was brought out – complete with a skewer securing no-less-than four home-made onion rings on top of the bun – I was lost for words.
And the feeling didn’t stop once I took my first bite – it was without a doubt the best burger I have ever had.
My partner devoured his ham and eggs, declaring the ham to be among the tastiest he has ever had the pleasure to taste.
Ignoring our swelling bellies, we thought it would be rude not to indulge completely and plumped for the apple pie – complete with home-made pastry, baked by Andrew that very morning.
Served cold with vanilla ice cream the pie was delightful, oozing with apple sauce and a tint of toffee complete with huge chunks of apple.
Our Little Lark visit from the roaring fire that welcomed us in out of the wild and rainy night to meeting with Andrew and pub manager David Abbott – we couldn’t have been made to feel more at home.
The rustic decor combined with the fresh, home-made food was requisite of a ‘proper pub’ – something I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed.
As we were leaving my partner turned to me and suggested we meet for dinner at the Lark after the next meeting of Studley Parish Council – I think it’s safe to say we will be back!
