Sunday Lunch Pub of the Year 2008: The Chaser Inn
The Chaser Inn has a margin-conscious approach to its menu along with a dedication to providing quality dishes in the kind of relaxed environment customers expect from Sunday lunch in a pub.
It is part of five-strong independent pubco Whiting and Hammond, a group based on the concept of country inns serving seasonal English food - "quite different from gastro-pubs," says the pub's manager Richard Barrett.
This translates to a Sunday lunch menu that, apart from several roasts that are permanent fixtures, changes each week, and has a strong focus on freshness and traceable ingredients.
Judges were impressed by how it fitted the bill for a perfect Sunday lunch pub. The menu features a selection of classic roasts including beef sirloin, stuffed leg of lamb, and half-roast barn chickens. These run alongside an à la carte menu comprised dishes such as braised shoulder of lamb, fishcakes, and Kentish bangers and mash.
"If a customer goes to a pub on a Sunday and they don't have a choice of a few roasts, the pub has missed a trick, as long as there's the other things you'd expect on a pub menu to satisfy everyone else," says Barrett.
They were likewise impressed by the Chaser's willingness to take cheaper, less fashionable cuts of meat for kitchen staff to turn into quality dishes for customers who demand value in these tough financial times.
Barrett explains: "We are trusting the flair of the chefs so we can make better margins from the produce.
"These are budget-conscious times and we don't want to alienate customers with high prices."
All dishes are sourced through local suppliers. Beef has come from the same butcher for the five years the Chaser has been open, and the main veg supplier's range comes from visiting Covent Garden market daily.
The focus on free-range and organic produce is motivated, not by some cheap marketing trick, but out of the belief that it genuinely contributes to better-quality food.
The pub gets regular updates from suppliers on seasonality and special offers, and suppliers are involved with social activities across the company in order to make them feel directly involved in Whiting and Hammond's success.
The pubco has worked hard to associate the Chaser Inn with the local community, and this ties in with the marketing of fresh, local produce on its menu.
It gets a small amount of supplies from the farmers' market that takes place weekly in the church next door and of which the Chaser Inn is the main sponsor.
The menu is printed daily, meaning dishes are kept fresh and seasonal, giving the chefs freedom to experiment. Barrett says that they take a trial approach to new dishes - successful ones become permanent fixtures and they learn from flavour combinations that don't work.
The pub has a signature dish in its popular mixed roast - a "real man's portion" which is a selection of roast meats.
Mystery visits revealed tasty, well presented dishes and a high standard of customer service.
