Tag Archives: local sausages

Tanhouse Farm Shop

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Tanhouse Farm Shop, Rusper Road, Newdigate, Surrey, RH5 5BXOutdoor covered seating area

 A stylish little farm shop and café selling their own cakes and pies alongside select groceries.

 Go there for: Lovely savoury pies, cakes and soups made with local produce and their own free-range meat.

Avoid: Ignoring this venue: even if it’s off your beaten track this little gem won’t disappoint.

Is it worth the calories? Pies are a sensible size and salads generous so they have the balance just right.

Tips: The farm sells its own jams and honey: great for unique foodie gifts. Or call in for a takea-way pie and coffee.

What a treat to find this farm shop and café just as my internal lunch bell rang. The vibrant covered outdoor seating area overlooks over the playground so you can keep an eye on your brood while they play. Inside, you can peruse the shelves while enjoying a home-cooked treat or two from the kitchen. They are big on traditional cooked breakfasts here and serve delicious pies and pasties for lunch, complemented by a selection of salads.

Their chicken and wild mushroom pie (£6.50) is a world away from commercial imposters with pale gloopy middles. Here a handsome pastry encases free-range chicken chunks and flavour-packed mushrooms in a light creamy sauce. A portion of roasted Mediterranean vegetable salad and some green leaves turns the meal into a balanced plate. Home-made soup with bread (£4.85) also makes a delicious lunch.

Wild mushroom and chicken pie, play area and tea with florentine slice

The cakes were all saying ‘eat me’ but I was tempted by the lovely Florentine slice (£2.50), a layered affair of shortbread topped with caramel, fruit and nuts.

Sausage rolls and pasties, scotch eggs, meat from the freezer and carrot cakes

All the food served here is made by a team of chefs who also manage outside catering events such as weddings plus preparing hampers for those enjoying the local fishing.

Tanhouse honeyThey serve Higher Nature tea and single estate coffee from Coffee Real, craft roasters situated just behind the farm. Luckily you can buy their ethically sourced and expertly roasted coffee in the farm shop to take home too. They sell a small range of jams, chutneys and marmalade produced on site plus honey from their own hives. A bank of freezers house their free-range Aberdeen Angus beef, lamb and Gloucester Old Spot pork; I made a gutsy cottage pie from their minced beef (£5.13 for 750g). Potatoes and seasonal vegetables from the farm are on sale when in season. They also sell old-fashioned sweets in jars and a few really useful items like liners for food-waste bins.

Located in some of the prettiest Surrey countryside, it’s a joy to travel to this lovingly thought out little café.

01306 631 891

www.tanhousefarmshop.co.uk

 

Croissants chalk hills

Chalk Hills Bakery Shop and Cafe

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 75 Bell Street, Reigate, RH2 7ANChris & Rosie owners of Chalk Hills Bakery

A bakery and café delivering artisan bread and pastry magic to the lucky folk of Reigate.

Go there for: Handmade artisan bread, gorgeous pastries, tarts, and a bacon sandwich to shout about.

Avoid: Trying to resist anything in this café; it’s futile.

Is it worth the calories?: I should say so: this is the ultimate good food experience!

Tips: The sandwiches on the menu are fantastic but if you want a bespoke combination just ask.

Walking into Chalk Hill Bakery on a rainy autumn day to the smell of toasting bread and aromatic coffee is a truly uplifting experience.Chalk Hills Bakery shop front

Chris and Rosie Robinson sold their gastro pub, The Stephen Langton in Abinger Hammer, to start a proper artisan bakery. Coincidentally, Priory Farm had a kitchen to rent in the old tractor shed and in November 2010 the first loaves were sold in the Priory Farm shop.

Chris and his team make sour-dough bread by hand the old-fashioned way and let it rise naturally over a 2-day period to develop flavour and texture ­- don’t think of muttering Chorley Wood, dough improvers or high-speed mixing here. Sourcing fine ingredients such as Shipton Mill organic flour gives added provenance to their products. The long fermentation process means the bread stays fresh for longer and is easier to digest.

Chalk Hills Bakery produce 17 different loaves, including fig and walnut sour dough (£3.65), large rye (£2.75), and other classics such as ciabatta (£2.50) and focaccia with a selection of toppings (£3.95). They also make a Surrey bloomer (£1.75) and Italian sticks (£2.10). Even the yeasted breads have a flavour boost of sour dough starter and are slowly proved in a refrigerator. The full range of products is on sale at Priory Farm and at Chalk Hills Bakery every day. They sell wholesale to a handful of local businesses.

Artisan bread selection at Chalk HIlls

Chalk Hills Bakery has definitely got the X factor (but with classier music). It’s modern yet rustic, charming and friendly, and has a simple but innovative menu. They cleverly match their bread to the sandwich fillings so you get the best texture and flavour combination. In addition they make croissants, scones, sausage rolls (with free-range sausage meat from Bowles farm in Ewhurst). Ham and beef for their sandwiches are cooked in the bakery; meat comes from Robert and Edwards of Reigate. In fact everything on the menu is made at the bakery, even the soup.

The bread menu, sweet tarts and bacon sandwich on white bloomer

I tucked into their classic bacon sandwich made from Gloucester Old Spot free-range bacon on toasted Surrey Bloomer (£3.95). What a triumph! Crisp, salty bacon, sweet herb jelly and perfectly toasted bread. The Sage Jelly from local producer PickleCake Parma ham and mozzarella with sage jelly (produced locally by Picklecake) also caught my eye – next time! I rounded this off with a pot of Barry’s Irish tea. I’ve never heard of it but apparently if you are from Southern Ireland it’s the only tea to drink and Chris (who’s from Dublin) won’t sell anything else. Coffee comes from Union, a craft roaster in East London, and soft drinks from Luscombe organics in Devon.

Business has been booming ever since the bakery opened and they plan to open another shop. Just make a wish that it’s on your doorstep: I have.

www.chalkhillsbakery.com

01737669116

Free range pigs at Joe's farm shop

Joe’s Farm Shop

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Joe’s Farm Shop, Elm Nursery, Sutton Green Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU4 7QDEntrance to the farm shop

A delightful family run business with delicious home-reared pork and local lamb and beef  

Go there for: Local beef, lamb, pork, sausages, milk and free-range eggs – and hanging baskets!

Avoid: High expectations: this is a small shop with a limited range of produce.

Is it worth the calories?:  Our rib of beef was heavenly and surely special treats don’t count!

Tips: This is a small farm shop with big plans: support them to make their expansion a reality.

It’s really all about the meat here. The story began 31 years ago when Emma and Kate’s mum wanted a bigger back garden: she acquired a small farm shop and continued to grow and sell their produce. When a large supermarket opened in Burpham they lost all their trade overnight. Forced to diversify, Rita Thorpe bought herself some books on growing plants and Elm Nursery was born. Thanks to Rita’s green fingers, it’s now a thriving business and they offer a friendly bespoke service you can’t get in bigger nurseries. Over filled hanging baskets start at just £20.

The alarm clock, freshly laid eggs and Emma with some free range pigs

Things were ticking over when Joe, a local farmer needing a retail outlet for his small supply of beef, pork and lamb, popped in for a chat, the timing was right so they went ahead. Animals are free-range and slaughtered as A selection of fresh meat for sale needed by a local abattoir using humane methods that don’t stress the animals prior to slaughter. Hung after slaughter for the optimum time, the meat is mouth-wateringly tender and flavourful. Fridges and freezers were installed and they now stock local milk and cheese (Norbury blue, Dirty Vicar and a selection from High Weald) and their own eggs. They grow a small selection of fresh produce on site – next year they want to grow more in their polytunnels.

To complement the core business Emma and Kate also sell a limited range of locally made cakes and preserves. Jams are made by a local lady Tina who gives 75% of her proceeds to a local hospice in Woking and they are keen to expand what they offer in the future.

Joe’s farm shop is a low-key operation, but there’s a lot to like. Maybe it’s the way the chickens wander in the shop, or that Rita, Emma and Kate always offer such an energetic welcome. There is also the added satisfaction that whatever you buy is helping the local economy stay afloat – at prices that are competitive.

Joe’s farm shop and Elm Nursery

01483 761748

The Parrot Inn

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The Parrot Inn, Forest Green, Surrey RH5 5R2

A pleasing country pub with locally sourced food on the menu.Parrot Inn Forest Green

Go there for: Hearty pub food with a modern tweak featuring the owner’s farm- reared meat and produce.

Avoid: Thinking this too far off the beaten track to travel too: the journey is well worth it.

Is it worth the calories?: We think so! But careful, the portions are generous here.

Tips: Make sure you try the unique air-cured ham made in their own butchery. Request that your pudding is heated in the oven and not the microwave.

This has the double whammy of being a highly regarded gastro pub and an award winning farm shop. This is a Gotto family affair and they have a wealth of experience from enterprises in London and Surrey. Enjoy a sandwich from the specials board at the bar or order from the main menu in the dining room or pub itself. On sunny days, sit in the garden and gaze across the green into open countryside: it’s a tantalisingly relaxing location to watch the world go by, on horseback, horse-drawn carriage and other modes of transport.

We visited last November on a crisp autumn day: Jane ordered a deep dish steak and ale pie with a puff pastry crust, mashed potato and vegetables. The filling was perfectly cooked, full of autumnal feistiness, the meat mouth-meltingly tender. I had the pork and pistachio terrine with goose rillettes and toasted sour dough. The terrine was a little dry but perfectly balanced by some wine jelly and they were happy to bring some more. The waitress also bought us a sample of their homemade soup to try, which was delicious. For dessert we shared a chocolate and cognac flan with salted butter caramel sauce with a hand made biscuit and ice cream.

Pork and pistachio terrine and Beef and Ale Pie

A disappointing finish, as the flan had been microwaved (a pet hate of ours), which made the pastry soggy. We didn’t finish it and explained why we had left it. Without hesitation the dessert was removed from our bill. We felt that they had been extremely professional as the meal had been delicious apart from the dessert.

Bar menu, Pub from the road and Cognac and chocolate flan

On a summer visit I sampled a starter from the main menu: scallops in sauce vierge. This was an interesting version of this sauce, a little more cooked than you would expect a true vierge to be. It worked well, as the bacon and tomato flavours accented the fat juicy scallops with great aplomb. It was essential to try another dessert: this time I couldn’t resist lemon sponge with vanilla ice cream and lemon curd. The lemon curd was tart and sweet, a perfect match for the warm sponge and cold ice cream.

Scallops in sauce vierge, cut juicy scallop and lemon sponge pudding

I have a niggling feeling that the sponge might have also had its molecules realigned by waves generated by a magnetron, but the food is good enough to withstand this very slight criticism. I got chatting to some American tourists, who had also had a great lunch. We agreed that the setting and food in this pub was worth the journey through some gorgeous Surrey countryside.

01306 621 339

The Parrot Inn