Food review: Wagon and Horses, Lancaster

Just weeks before, I was standing in the centre of the quayside pub interviewing licensees Paul Tarry and Carole Crossley over the devastation it suffered during Storm Desmond.

It was heart breaking to hear how this local business, among many others, struggled to get back on its feet.

But there was no evidence of this when I returned for an evening meal on Saturday. Sat by the roaring fire with views looking out onto the River Lune, we had the best seats in the house.

The menu was small but still varied, ranging from sea food to traditional roasts.

To start I chose the ‘Trio of Yorkshire Puddings’, which was the last one, at 6.30pm, quite lucky really. This was followed by the ‘Cannon of Lamb,’ a traditional must for Easter.

The portion sizes were perfect and the vegetables, which included vanilla mash, yes vanilla, were surprisingly delightful, if a little al dente but that’s how I like it.

If you do go and you are lucky enough to get the starter you will not be disappointed. Chicken liver pâté combined with pastry was a melt-in-the-mouth favourite.

It was good to see families with small children being catered to with special care by staff.

However, what was noticeable, which I couldn’t ignore, was the time it took to pay, we could have easily walked out. Whether staff cracked under pressure I don’t know but we did pay finally and fortunately this did not ruin our experience.