The Village Inn, Beoley
YOU don’t have to visit the West Indies to get a taste of the Caribbean as I discovered at one of the themed nights at the Village Inn in Beoley.
Restaurant manager Vanya and her partner/chef Jamie offer an excellent selection of traditional British delights but occasionally branch out to offer the world on a plate to diners.
And tonight was Caribbean night, with Bob Marley providing the background music and the aroma of food first devised 3,000 miles away filling our nostrils.
I plumped for the sweet potato soup for starters followed by the curried goat and rice (with Scotch bonnet chillis!) while my much more sensible wife went for the Caribbean marinated chicken to start with the baked cod as a main.
Both starters were excellent; the soup was just delicious, the flavour of sweet potato really coming through, while my wife fairly tucked into the chicken.
On to the main courses; now I had been warned but nothing quite prepared me for those chillis – it wasn’t a burning sensation just a very warm intense glow that lingered in the mouth and really brought out the flavours of the goat meat.
Luckily the Village Inn is known for a quality pint so help for overheating diners is easily at hand.
The cod of course was delicious, a crisp, lightly spiced outside revealing beautifully cooked white flesh inside. Complete with delicious accompaniments, it was quickly devoured.
There was only one taker for sweet and that was lip smackingly tasty as well – a chocolate tart with icecream. Unbeatable.
Ross Crawford
