The Whitehouse

Chain Road, Slaithwaite, HD7 5TY

Rating

VenueThe Whitehouse

Tel 01484 842 245

Websitewww.whitehousepub.net

Opening hoursFood served on Tuesdays from 6pm to 8.30pm; Wednesdays and Thursdays 12noon to 2pm, 6pm to 8.30pm; Fridays and Saturdays 12noon to 9.30pm; Sundays 12noon to 8pm; closed on Mondays

ChildrenWelcome

Disabled accessYes

The bill£41.15 including drinks

NORMALLY I’m not best pleased when someone pinches my pint.

So I was a little taken aback when the bar lady at the Whitehouse in Slaithwaite removed my untouched pint of Landlord from the table.

But I needn’t have worried. She was back in a few seconds, complete with freshly topped-up pint.

It’s the kind of great service you get at the Whitehouse. If I was more hackneyed I’d say something at this stage about being treated like a president – good thing I avoid such cliches.

Anyway, the English version of the Whitehouse is a pub, restaurant and B&B just off the road between Slaithwaite and Meltham. It’s got the log fires and friendly atmosphere you’d expect of the country pub.

And it’s got some good food to boot.

I kicked off with the grilled goat’s cheese with red onion marmalade. It was a real treat, a sort of mini-quiche of rich goat’s cheese goodness. Make it a bit bigger and bung on some veg and it would make a great main course.

Jenny opted for the salmon and dill fishcake with salad and chilli jam. Regular readers will know that I go nowhere near fish dishes.

But I can report that Jenny appreciated the big chunks of salmon.

On to the main event now.

Before we went to the Whitehouse a colleague had urged me to go for the mixed grill, with the suggestion that I wouldn’t be man enough to finish it.

Good thing I’m so secure in my masculinity that I didn’t feel the urge to prove her wrong.

Instead, I went for the piri-piri chicken with tomato puree served with tomato, cucumber, mint yoghurt and wild rice.

The yoghurt reminded me of the sauce you get in Indian restaurants for dipping your poppadom. Its cool taste complemented well with the spice of the chicken to make for an interesting experience.

The meat was pleasantly juicy as well so I’d give the dish two thumbs up. There was certainly nothing left on the plate at the end.

Jenny was considering the lamb chop in Provencale sauce. “What’s Provencale?”, she asked.

I shrugged. “What am I, someone who knows things about food?”, thought this restaurant reviewer.

Turns out it’s a French sauce made from basil, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, lavender, and sage. Sounds good.

But just as I took down the details of Jenny’s order on my little restaurant reviewer’s piece of paper, she had a change of heart and went for the roast half-chicken cooked in orange, garlic, thyme and white wine instead.

Maybe she should have stuck with her first choice, as she wasn’t too impressed with the half-chicken.

Apparently the carrots were “wizened” while the two boiled potatoes would have been better off as roasties or a pile of mash.

But Jenny was more impressed with the chicken itself rating it as “tasty” and use of orange making for an “interesting” sauce, which was “a bit different.”

So I think that’s a mixed review for the half-chicken.

Apart from the minor carrot and potato issues, it’s hard to fault the Whitehouse.

The food is hearty but imaginative and the service is excellent. And there’s always something satisfying about eating out in the beautiful Colne Valley countryside.

Apparently, if we’d hung around a little longer we’d have heard the jazz pianist who plays from 8pm on Saturdays.

Ah well, maybe next time.