Inn its rightful place

AS a former restaurateur and the man now making a success of the Nearly Naked Chef delicatessen in Darlington town centre, David Burrow should know a thing or two about food. So when he said The Village Inn, at Brompton, near Northallerton, was well worth trying, I took his word for it.

The fact that Brompton had been making headlines for not such appetising reasons – a raid on the local shop by a man armed with an axe – seemed all the more reason to drive into North Yorkshire in search of some good news.

The Darlington & Stockton Times had reviewed The Village Inn in August 2011, weeks after it was rescued from years of dereliction by the Price family.

The review – pretty optimistic but wary of some service teething troubles – concluded: “This should be a pretty good value restaurant, once they sort out the snags. Then The Village Inn can take up its rightful place as a diners’ destination once more.”

So have they sorted out the snags and has The Village Inn returned to former glories? I took my wife, Heather and two of our sons, Chris and Max, to find out last Saturday evening.

The Village Inn overlooks a lovely village green in Water End. It is a smart, modern, yet cosy place with wood floors, beams and an offwhite and sage green colour scheme that adds a freshness. Our table was booked for 7.15pm and it was already a lively atmosphere, something I hear is replicated throughout the week.

We were swiftly approached, shown to our table, and served drinks, including a pleasant pint of Wainwrights for me and a suitably cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc for my wife. No sign of service snags so far.

We mixed up our selections from two separate menus – the regular bar menu and the Twilight menu which offers two courses for £10.95 and three courses for £12.95.

The starters were with us quickly: three of us choosing the brie and wild mushroom fritters, with red onion and spinach salad, apart from Chris who plumped for the vegetable soup. The fritters were tasty and light with a zing in the salad. The soup was hot and flavoursome and came with a mini loaf, warmed right through. So far so good.

For mains, I chose chicken breast, marinated with honey and paprika, creamy chorizo mashed potato and jus.

Heather and Chris liked the look of the tomato and mozzarella risotto cakes with mixed salad, and Max switched to the bar menu for a lentil burger, with chips, salad and tomato relish.

Fries and fat cut chips were listed in the side orders so we asked for both.

My chicken was spot on, with the flavours of the honey and paprika working well with the smoky mash.

Heather thought her risotto cakes were a bit stodgy and the tomato sauce could have been sweeter but she was contradicted by Chris who declared them “delicious”.

Sixteen-year-old Max is notoriously fussy but he never left a morsel of his lentil burger and clearly enjoyed his meal.

When our pudding orders were taken, we were told there was a vanilla pannacotta with plum and star anise compote on the specials board.

This came as a surprise because it was the first mention of the specials board, which was a shame because I’d have considered the chicken and leek terrine with apricot chutney for my starter, and there’d have been definite interest among the others in the home-made pizza.

To be fair, there was a small mention of the specials board on the menu, but it’s easily missed and the lack of a mention by our waiter was the one black mark with regard to service, which was otherwise excellent.

My profiteroles, filled with Chantilly cream, coated in butterscotch sauce, were as good as they sound. Three of them, nice and plump, came as a reminder that I’d need to do a bit of extra work in the gym on Sunday morning.

Chris had the sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream, and Max went for the warm raspberry and double chocolate brownie with chocolate sauce.

My wife didn’t order her own but dipped into all three and thought the sticky toffee pudding edged it. The bill came to a very reasonable £75.70.

John Price is the cheery face among the customers and his sister, Donna, is head chef. John served his time as manager of Bannatyne’s Hotel in Darlington before deciding to take the plunge on his own.

“It seemed a shame not to use the experience Donna and I had built up. This place had had a good reputation but then was closed for several years, and it just seemed right for us.

“The village has been hugely supportive and we’ve got people coming from further afield as well so it’s gone better than we could have hoped.”

To return to the Darlington & Stockton Times review: the snags have been sorted out and The Village Inn has returned to its rightful place as a diners’ destination with decent, value for money food in pleasant surroundings.

Food facts
The Village Inn, 88 Water End, Brompton,
Northallerton, DL6 2RL
Telephone: 01609 771040
Website: villageinnnorthallerton.co.uk
Email: villageinnbrompton@hotmail.co.uk
Food served (booking always advisable):
Monday to Thursday – 12pm-2pm, 5pm-9pm;
Friday and Saturday – 12pm-9pm;
Sunday – 12pm-3.30pm, 5pm-8pm (bar menu)
Food 4/5
Service 4/5
Value for money 4/5
Ambience 4/5