The Griffin Inn

Another Friday night and another meal out in one of Leicestershire’s beautiful villages…this time it was ‘The Griffin Inn’ at Swithland.

 

First used as a coaching inn back in the 17th Century, The Griffin is a quite charming traditional pub located in the heart of the beautiful Charnwood Forest. This small, idyllic country village, with its uniform buildings, historical past and close proximity to the great outdoors feels more like somewhere you might expect to find in the Cotswolds than in Leicestershire.  

 

The Inn and its various outbuildings date back to the early 1400’s.  All are located on quite a sizeable estate. At the rear there is a large open grassy area where you can sit and enjoy a pint of real ale or two.  Alongside the Inn there is a Mediterranean styled outdoor veranda complete with romantic lighting and a vine covered terrace.  Finally, adjoining the pub there is the ‘Old Stables’, a newly refurbished events room, so pretty it made even me want to get married there.

 

Once inside, the Inn itself is also fairly sizeable.   You make your way through several bars until eventually reaching the restaurant at the end.  With its high ceilings and exposed beams, the large squared shaped dining room is a pleasing place to dine.  There is a mesonene balcony, home to a colorful display of green wine bottles and a large stone fireplace with a rustic ‘specials’ chalk board hanging just above it.  Despite the fact the room is decorated with a surprising amount of items I recognized from ‘Ikea’, it all comes together to create a well presented traditional little pub restaurant.

 

Like the dining room, the menu is itself was an intriguing collection of traditional pub grub and something altogether more exotic!  On offer was the customary freshly Battered Haddock (£10.90), Rump to Rib Eye Steaks (£10.50-£16.95) and some modern British dishes such as Chicken Escallop, Pan Fried Lambs Liver and Pork Medallions with Black Pudding.  The rest of the menu takes its inspiration from much further afield.  Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Omelette, Lemon Sole, Wild Mushroom and Parmesan Risotto to name a few.  So although fairly small, the menu was varied and interesting.  All the dishes appealed to me personally, so I felt pretty spoilt for choice.

 

My guest and I kicked off our dinner by sharing the marinated olives (£3.95).  A perfect way to start the meal.  A generous bowl of juicy olives, all different shapes and sizes, served with a chunk of warmed bread and quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dunk it into.  Nice.

 

For my main I opted for ‘Authentic Paella’ – a Spanish style rice dish with fish, meat and vegetables.  An ideal dinner for a bright but chilly autumn’s evening. It sure did hit the spot!  A lovely big pile of steaming hot, fluffy rice, bursting with chunks of chorizo, pork, chicken and succulent prawns.  Flavored with garlic, paprika, sweet peppers and what I think were preserved lemon, the dish was perfectly spiced and beautifully decorated with a few mussels and a large prawn, all still in their shells.  The essence of Spain in one, wonderfully satisfying dish.  Very tasty and good value at £12.95.  My only criticism was that it was a little greasy.  My lips were positively slippery by the end of the meal.  Perhaps a little too much oil in the cooking or from the sausage?  Either way it wasn’t an entirely pleasant eating experience and it didn’t feel healthy! That said, by the time I had finished my Paella and my friend her Lamb Tagine, I felt quite inspired.  My mind was racing with recipes and I found myself itching to get back home and back in the kitchen.  A good indicator that I had thoroughly enjoyed my meal.

 

So the food at ‘The Griffin Inn’ was excellent and so was the service.  A number of well presented, polite, friendly staff assisted us throughout the meal.  Even when I tipped candle wax all over the table, allowing it to spill out all over the wooden encased menus and expensive slate place mats, the staff remained cheerful and unfazed by the event.  I also enjoyed the pace of service.  Staff seemed to appear at just the right time, as did the food, with just the right passing of time between the starter and the main.  That said, we did seem to get a little forgotten by the end of the meal.  All the staff suddenly disappeared.  As a result, we had to grab a waiter waltzing past us on his way to the ‘Old Stables’ to eventually get our bill.  But seeing as they were so gracious about my little incident with the candle wax I think I can forgive them for this slight oversight.  Only fair.

 

The website of ‘The Griffin Inn’ says, “we enjoy good food . . .Cooking it. Eating it. Serving and talking about it. This is why so many people enjoy coming to the Griffin”!  Based on what I experienced, I would say this appears to be true.  I think their passion for good food is evident in their menu and their meals.  I for one am certain to return and I am already looking forward to trying out some more of those inspiring dishes The Griffin Inn menu has to offer.

 

Restaurant                          4/5

Food                                     4/5
Service                                 4/5
Value for money                4/5

 Total                                   16/20

Five Thai

FiveThai is a new Thai Restaurant in the centre of Leicester. Previously Lanna Thai, Five Thai is ‘inspired by the five flavours of Thai cuisine’ and ‘aims to provide you with a complete dining experience’. Seeing as I am a fan of Thai food and this one is on my doorstep, I thought I would give it a go.

Five Thai is situated in a slightly strange location.  It’s certainly not somewhere you might stumble across. Although adjacent to THE CURVE, you have to walk right around the front of the theatre, down an ever darkening Rutland Street, until you eventually come across the entrance to the restaurant. However, if you successfully complete the journey your efforts are rewarded.

The building and restaurant itself are quite impressive. Previously a leather factory, this Grade 2 listed building has been transformed into a beautiful, bright, spacious, modern restaurant. The ceilings are wonderfully high and there is a mass of natural light coming through the restaurant from the glass wall at the rear.  This, combined with the white walls, wooden flooring, contemporary furniture and soft subtle lighting creates a really relaxing and soothing environment to dine in.

The restaurant therefore was very pleasant, as was the service. When we arrived, we were immediately greeted by a friendly and upbeat member of staff, who welcomed us in and showed us to our table. He then went through the menu, explaining some of the dishes and was polite and attentive throughout.

 

The menu itself was a little uninspiring. Unusually for Asian food, the menu was quite short and simple, consisting of two salads, six Thai curries, three noodle dishes and three stir fry dishes. Unfortunately our selection was limited further as a couple of items were unavailable.  The waiter reported they been unable to source key quality ingredients locally which was a shame in terms of the impact on the menu but reassuring that Five Thai set, and adhere to such high standards.

Unfortunately, I didn’t feel these same high standards were achieved by the time the food reached the table.  Like the menu, the food was also a little uninspiring. To start, I shared a selection of Dim Sum.  A mixed platter, with mixed success. The Satay Chicken had fantastic flavour and was brilliantly moist. The Fish Cake however, was rather rubbery and the Prawn Toast was extremely greasy (even for prawn toast). The four dipping sauces accompanying the starter were nice, but getting them onto the end of your Tung Tong or Spring Roll proved technically tricky as the dishes they were served in were too shallow.  What a tease!?

The Green Curry we shared as part of our main course was again, fairly standard. Six King Prawns ‘swimming’ about in a fragrant, sweet, coconut milk, served with large chunks of Aubergine and Bamboo Shoots. Balanced, but dare I say a little bland for a curry? I dare! The Laab Gai (minced Chicken Salad) delivered more flavour and managed to capture the hot, sweet and sour element Thai cuisine is famous for, far more successfully than the curry. The lime and mint gave the dish a lovely freshness and the chilli provided a much needed spice to the meal. However, the two large salad leaves the dressed mince was sitting on, were a little limp and droopy.  Not quite what you might expect from a restaurant that ‘always strive to source our food locally, enabling us to retain fresh and vivid ingredients’.

 

The salad was not very substantial either. I would definitely have left hungry if that was the only main course ordered and at £12.00 I am not sure it represented good value for money. The same could be said for all the courses, but I think at Five Thai you are paying for the ambience and not just the meal. So I guess if this is important to you and you are willing to pay a higher premium for that type of dining experience, then the prices seem much more reasonable.

 

 

So overall, Five Thai is a memorable place to eat, providing good service and serving average food. Personally, I would prefer memorable food, with good service, served at an average restaurant. As a result the next time I have some Thai food urges I won’t be walking into town to Five Thai but jumping into my car and driving up the A6 to Thai Legend, Quorn.

 

Restaurant                  4/5

Food                             3.5/5
Service                         4/5
Value for money        3.5/5

 Total                            15/20