I had never been to the Crabmill at Preston Bagot before but I had heard good things about it. It is situated between Henley-in-Arden and Claverdon and it is what I would call a modern dining pub. I would say it is a fairly sophisticated venue, yet the atmosphere is informal and relaxed and you immediately feel welcome and at ease. The décor is a mixture of old and new. The interior has been styled in a particularly charming and unique manner. The bar area is spacious yet cosy at the same time. The restaurant area has been split into four sections, all of which are individually decorated. The chairs in each of the sections are different, one section has white and black leather chairs, another has wicker like chairs, with arms, that are covered in grey fur and another has a leather bench running down one side of the table, this being in the narrower section of the restaurant. There are old beams which I adore. They give the place character and the feel of a ‘proper’ pub. The beams are complemented by antique mirrors and open fires. There is a small outside area where you are able to drink or dine al fresco. Dogs are allowed in the bar area, where there is a glass jar of dog treats awaiting them. The place is always busy which indicates its popularity. My only initial criticism was that there was a waiter wearing shorts, skater trainers and white socks. It just looked SO wrong. He looked like he belonged down the local skate park, not at work. Smart, converse like, pumps have become good friends to waiters and waitresses feet, but trainers, for me, are just a huge NO NO!!! However, they have their own staff t-shirts which is something I really like.
My brother, James, and I visited the Crabmill at lunch-time. The menu was fantastic, I didn’t know where to look first as I was handed three menus; the a la carte, a specials menu and a lunch-time snack menu. The a la carte menu would have been enough on its own, but by no means am I complaining, it’s lovely to have so much choice, although it does make ordering very difficult when there are so many delicious sounding dishes to choose from. I think I was practically drooling as I read the menu. The menu changes on a regular basis which I love. The snack menu wasn’t just simply sandwiches, you had; paninis, bagels, pittas and chapatti. I was beginning to think this place was a little bit unique and something quite special.
We ordered 3 starters because the menu was that good that it just HAD to be done. We opted for; Smoked haddock gnocchi with spinach, bacon and applewood cheese, Salt and pepper whitebait with straw chips and tartare sauce and Seared scallops with English asparagus, parma ham and hollandaise. Whilst we were waiting for our starters we were given some bread. It was really soft and fresh and it was served with a really interesting and tasty butter. The butter consisted of sun-blushed tomato, spring onion, onion and black pepper. It was only a small adaptation but it made such a refreshing change. The gnocchi was extremely good. It was of a particularly generous size and was neither stodgy nor overly creamy. You could taste each individual ingredient and no ingredient was more prominent that another. You didn’t have to go ‘fishing’ through the dish with your fork to find pieces of haddock, there was plenty. The applewood cheese flavour didn’t overpower the dish, it was quite subtle and it complemented the smoked haddock really well. The bacon gave the dish a bit of texture as it added a crisp element to the softness of the dish. Some gnocchi can be overly filling but this dish was spot on. The whitebait was a really intriguing dish in terms of aesthetics. It was like a miniature fish and chips presented in a unique and imaginative way. Whitebait isn’t something I would usually choose but I am glad I did. The whitebait had been battered in flour and salt and pepper and you could really tell that it had been done in-house. The pepper gave it a little kick when you bit into it and this was then cooled by the refreshing tartare sauce, which red onion had been added to. This was a really lovely twist and gave it the edge over bog-standard tartare. The straw chips were like ultra-thin dried chips that were perfectly salty. It was served with lime instead of lemon which I liked. It was both a brilliant concept and starter. The scallops looked incredible. The dish sounded quite unusual when I read it on the menu. I had never seen scallops done with asparagus before but it worked beautifully. The dish consisted of four scallops and the corals had been left on. So many places don’t leave the coral on. It is a delicious part of the scallop, it adds a little colour and I think scallops look more appetising with it on. The scallops were cooked to perfection. It was an amazing dish with lots of different flavours and textures that complemented one another perfectly. You had the softness of the scallops, the saltiness of the parma ham and the crunchiness of the asparagus, which was gorgeously fresh. What pleased me the most is that there wasn’t too much hollandaise on the plate as it can sometimes be too rich and overpowering.
For main I chose the; Gressingham duck breast with dauphinoise potatoes, roasted courgettes and red pepper and tomato salsa and James chose the; Parmesan and caper crumbed lamb rump with dauphinoise potatoes, samphire and basil jus. My duck was unbelievable, it just melted in your mouth. It was cooked to perfection, pink as I’d asked for. I thought salsa was an odd thing to serve with duck, which is what intrigued me to order it but it worked beautifully as it complemented the flavour of the duck. The salsa was exceedingly fresh. It was made from red pepper, tomato, spring onion and fennel seeds. The fennel seeds gave it a slight aniseed taste and a bit of a kick. The dauphinoise potatoes weren’t too creamy or garlicky. The roasted courgettes were lovely and still had a slight crunch to them which gave the dish texture. The courgettes also worked well with the salsa. The jus served with it was lovely and light and didn’t overpower the salsa. I had a taste of James’ lamb and like my duck it was amazingly tender and just melted in your mouth. I’ve never seen samphire served with lamb before, I’ve only ever seen it served with fish. However, it worked as the saltiness of the samphire complemented the saltiness of the lamb’s parmesan and caper crumbed crust.
You would think by this time we were fit to bursting but oh no! I’ve talked about that separate space in your stomach for pudding before and this was still definitely the case, even after three starters and two mains between the two of us. Quite frankly, it’s rude not to have pudding. In true ‘Staite’ style we ordered three puddings. We ordered;Strawberry ice-cream and chocolate sundae (we saw one arrive at another table and had to have one, who says looks don’t matter?), Warm chocolate brownie with vanilla ice-cream and Baked blueberry cheesecake with rhubarb compote. The sundae was my favourite out of the three. It had lots of hidden elements to it which I loved. The chef had put exotic fruits in it which gave it an interesting texture. You would get a soft piece of chocolate brownie and then the crunch of a pomegranate seed. It was yummy. The chocolate brownie was fairly average. It was lovely and gooey and not overly rich. The cheesecake was a bit of a let-down. The rhubarb compote was unnecessary as it completely over-powered the cheesecake. The blueberry flavour wasn’t apparent throughout and the base was a little soft and soggy, I prefer it to have a crunch to it.
All in all; a stunning place, impressive and unique food, reasonable prices and outstanding service. The staff were attentive, friendly and knew their stuff. If I asked them a question they could answer it without running off to ask the chef. The Crabmill is definitely now a strong contender for the title of ‘my favourite place to eat in Warwickshire’.
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