The Lyttelton Arm, Hagley- 22/06/2013

Well, what a weekend. My best friends birthdays are the 21st & 22nd June. So after an amazing night on the Friday, the Saturday-my friend Sam wanted drinks at hers and then dinner at The Lyttelton Arms, somewhere I hadn't been before which was good as I always love trying new places! The car park was SO full, always a good sign! Inside, was exactly the same too-busy, full of drinkers and the restaurant had such a good atmosphere! Our table wasn't booked till 9 so we had a drink first as our table wasn't quite ready as Sam's parents had booked us our own private room!

It got to 9pm and our table was ready, the private room was massive! Really nicely decorated, all red and black and very intimate-perfect for a 21st meal! 

The menu had so much choice! So many yummy choices, it was hard to decide! For starter, me, Jayne & our friend Andy decided to share a sharing platter:

STICKY PLATTER:
Sticky pork ribs with watermelon, sesame seeds, chicken wings, lamb koftas, flatbread, tzatziki & gypsy salad £15.95 

                            sa

As you can see, it was a very big starter! Definitely enough for 3 people to share! The ribs were probably one of the best things on the platter-they were very sweet and sticky and they were falling off the bone-just as ribs should be! I wasn't overly keen on the watermelon with the ribs though as I don't like fruit with savoury food, but luckily it didn't have too much watermelon which was good. The chicken wings were also very good, they had a lovely honey taste which made them sticky, juicy and so tasty. The lamb koftas were also incredibly tasty, they weren't too spicy as koftas sometimes can be which was good, as I hate spicy food! The flatbread was a nice touch with the platter and a bit different to other platters which are usually served with bread or ciabatta but the flatbread made the starter a bit lighter and less heavy. The gypsy salad-wow! I've always wanted to try gypsy salad and I certainly wasn't disappointed, it tasted so fresh and was very refreshing with the stickiness and sweetness of the other elements of the dish. 

For my main course, which took me ages. to decide! But as soon as I saw, Belly Pork on the menu it was decided!

PORK BELLY
Braised in marmalade & Szechuan pepper served with pomme purée & cooking liquor, green beans
& roasted pine nuts £13.95

Again, a very reasonably sized portion, especially for £13.95! The taste was equally as good as it looks too! The pork was cooked perfectly, very tender and juicy! Just as it should be, as I'm a belly pork expert now haha! The sauce it came in was very tasty too! Unusual one to go with pork belly but it was the perfect mix of sweet and spicy, my only criticism is that there wasn't enough sauce! The pomme puree was so good, creamy and buttery as it should be and went very well with the rest of the dish, the green beans complimented the dish very well too! The best part was the crackling bits that were on the dish, so yummy!! Over all, this was such a good dish and it was pretty much perfect. 9/10-would've been 10/10 if I had more sauce, but a very good dish over all and I would definitely have it again!

This was a very good meal and I love trying new places and I would 100% go back here again! Not too expensive for very good food, service and plenty of choice!