The Jug & Glass Inn is a beautiful stone-built 17th century pub in the picturesque village of Nether Langwith near Mansfield. It sits proudly overlooking the River Poulter, which wends its way through the village, with a beer garden at the front with views over the river and village green with its small war memorial. It certainly has kerb-appeal, especially on a sunny day!
Inside it is relatively modern and is manned by a trio of young women. We were welcomed with a cheery smile and quickly shown to our table, a two seater next to the toilets.
The menu is very comprehensive with a specials board, starters, sharing platters, main meals, burgers, salads, sandwiches, baguettes, fish and seafood dishes, steak dishes and so on. You name it, they do it.
This is an ‘order at the bar’ pub and choosing our meals I returned to the bar. There is a modern touchscreen ordering system which sends the orders straight through to the kitchen so my choice of Spicy Chicken Baguette with chips and an accompanying side salad was quickly winging its way through to the chef. Mrs Wanderer opted for the Mushroom and Melted Cheese Baguette, again with chips and a salad.
On arrival the meals looked so promising. However, the spicy chicken had zero spice which was a real disappointment. At best it was chargrilled chicken, at worst over-chargrilled chicken with a slightly bitter taste to it. The chips were brown and soggy instead of golden and crispy as they should be. One chip was so concerned for its existence that it threw itself off the plate onto the floor as the waitress delivered the meal! I ate the chicken but left the majority of the chips as they were unappetising.
The salad bowl consisted of cherry tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce and raw red onion. There was no dressing and I now think in hindsight that the question of ‘would you like any other sauces?’ would have covered that but it didn’t occur to me to ask at the time.
It is difficult to say to the staff that a meal isn’t up to scratch, especially when they specifically ask the question ‘how are things?’ but I did so and asked for my comments to be fed back to the chef. There is little point in moaning about a meal if you don’t point out the deficiencies at the time. However, the disappointment on their faces was evident.
Bear in mind that this is just a snapshot of the menu and there could very well be other excellent meals on offer. The disappointment of this meal would certainly not stop me from returning to the Jug & Glass and try something else on the menu.
I would hope it was just an off day on the chip and spice front. Even so some game-upping is required.
One final point, the raw red onion has been making its presence felt for the remainder of the day. It is the gift that keeps on giving!
The Willoughton Wanderer 
Leave a comment