03/01/2023

The Knot Inn, Rushton Spencer

The Knot Inn Rushton Spencer, close to the Staffordshire-Cheshire border, reopened under new owners just before Christmas. I paid my first visit on the New Year Bank Holiday and had a tasty, enjoyable lunch that represented great value for money for good quality cooking.

Read on to find out why, a few organisational teething problems aside, I recommend you give it try too.

The Knot Inn, a country pub and restaurant in Rushton Spencer (which, despite its Macclesfield postcode is in the Staffordshire Moorlands, not Cheshire) has changed hands, opened and closed a few times over the years. What with the pandemic, Britain’s struggling economy, and a cost-of-living crisis, it’s a story not unfamiliar to much of the hospitality industry. But in mid-December 2022 it was given a new lease of life by the team behind the highly regarded Heaton House Farm wedding venue.

DISCOVERING THE KNOT INN

I hadn’t been to The Knot Inn before and noticed it for the first time, closed, back in October. We’d been on a walk from nearby Rudyard Lake: there’s a lovely path from the northern end that takes you right by it. I thought it a real shame that this characterful-looking building had fallen out of use, especially at such a great location for passing walkers and cyclists as well as locals.

So, as you can imagine, I was incredibly pleased to hear it would be opening again. Our household had been through a rough few months with a seriously ill dog, then a nasty car crash. Together, they meant we had barely left the house for weeks. But on the New Year Bank Holiday Monday, all of us on the mend, partner ID and I were ready to go for a walk with the dog followed by our first meal out since Spice Merchant in October.

Turning up rather early for our 12.30pm booking, we were just about the first customers. Inside, The Knot Inn felt bright and spacious. There’s a restaurant area, plus bar and snug (the latter two are dog friendly) with an open fire and wood burning stove.

Besides the usual national and international drinks brands, I was pleased to see one of my favourite local breweries, the Wincle Beer Co, well represented with three beers on tap. I settled down with a pint of their Sir Philip premium bitter, ID with the seasonal Hanging Stone smoked porter (£4 each).

MENUS

Other than what we ate, I’m not going to go into great detail about what’s on the current menu. As I understand it, The Knot will be introducing new menus later this month. So, best to treat this review as a look at the quality of their offering rather than setting your heart on any particular dish.

Also, do bear in mind that the place had been open less than three weeks, with the new team presumably still settling in. Given that, I’d guess their offering may change or be extended over the coming weeks and months.

As it turned out, there was a mix-up with the menus on the day of my visit. As it was a Bank Holiday Monday, we queried whether the Sunday menu we’d been given was the correct one. They said it was, so that’s where we ordered our starters and mains from. Admittedly we were both a little disappointed as, if you didn’t want a roast dinner, the choice was more limited than on the menu we’d been expecting.

A while after ordering, a member of staff came over and said that they’d run out of ID’s choice of Steak and Stout Pie. So, he reluctantly ordered one of the Sunday roasts instead. A bit later they returned to say the normal, non-Sunday, menu was available after all. Cue ID selecting his THIRD main course and me switching from a roast to something I really fancied.

Happily, our choices for starters appeared on both menus. Phew!

STARTERS

As well as smaller nibbles (£3.75 – £6) and dishes to share (£14 – £35), there was a choice of five starters (£6.50 – £8.50). Two of them were vegan or vegan adaptable. I went for the hearty-sounding Corned Beef Fritters (£7.50) and wasn’t disappointed.

They came in the form of two generously sized hunks of crispy batter, topped with fresh pea shoots. Alongside was a dinky saucepan of homemade piccalilli. Cutting into the fritters, I found rich, soft corned beef studded with pieces of onion. They were simply but perfectly seasoned.

I loved the piccalilli. With a good mix of tender vegetables that still had some bite, it had a warmly spicy, mustardy, acidic heat. A perfect contrast to the pleasantly fatty meat and batter.

More rich flavour featured in ID’s starter of Chicken Liver Parfait (£7.50).

Snaffling some to try, I thought the parfait (a particularly smooth paté) was delicious. The combination of chicken livers and, presumably, lots of butter gave a subtle flavour with a creamy, luxurious mouthfeel.

There were triangles of toasted, enriched brioche bread to spread it on plus even more butter. A fig and honey chutney and a sprinkle of duck fat granola (think savoury breakfast cereal, but in a good way) together brought balancing sweetness and crunch.

MAINS

As well as the standard menu with dishes like burger, steak, trout, and mushroom linguine, you could still order a Sunday roast. There was a choice of beef, turkey, slow roasted pork shoulder, or nut roast. All at £14.95, they came with the usual roasties and other trimmings. There were also add-ons (£1.50 – £4.50) like cauliflower cheese and maple glazed pigs in blankets.

Rather frustratingly, as no one had told us about it before we’d ordered, we overheard staff telling other tables that there was also a lamb rump special, not shown on any menu.

OUR CHOICES

However, having eaten a fair bit of meat over Christmas, I was in the mood for fish and chips anyway.

Wincle Ale Battered Haddock can be had as a small (£12.95) or large (£15.50) portion and gluten free if necessary. Rather uncharacteristically, I went for small. When it arrived though, the dish was certainly huge in the appetizing stakes.

The haddock was good and fresh with a nicely thin, crispy batter. I wondered if the pile of perfect chips it perched on had been fried in dripping as they had that characteristic, deep flavour that I love.

Accompaniments were great too. Mushy peas, chunky tartar sauce, and a wedge of charred lemon. So good, I’m sure I would have happily polished off the large portion after all.

ID had the Free Range Pork Chop (£16) and I don’t blame him. If I’d been in a meaty mood, that’s the dish I’d have gone for. On paper, it sounded great. But it looked even better: The Knot Inn certainly knows how to present a restaurant-style dish, not just pub classics.

Unfortunately, there was a bit of a wait before ID could properly tuck in. He’d been given a standard knife when the thick, meaty chop with crunchy skin really needed a steak knife. So, eventually admitting defeat, he had to wait while one was fetched.

But the dish itself was flawless. The chop was cooked perfectly. Well done, but tender and juicy. Thought and skill had gone into the accompaniments too. A generous portion of creamed potatoes, charred hispi cabbage, tangy Bramley apple puree, and little nuggets of ‘scratching dust’. Anointing it all was an intensely savoury Café de Paris butter sauce.

DESSERTS

Having enjoyed very much what I’d eaten, I did want to see if the desserts (all £6.75 or ice cream £3.75/£5) were just as good.

But time was ticking by. From arrival, it had taken around 45 minutes for our starters to appear. However, as we’d arrived early for our booking anyway, I can’t really complain about that. But our mains had been another 35 minutes. Now, I’m not someone who thinks proper cooking can come speeding out of a kitchen. But could I face another wait? Finally, the foodie in me won and we decided to go for it anyway.

Unfortunately, there was another wait which felt unreasonably long. After chasing, the desserts arrived a full two hours after we’d first sat down, but no one had thought to bring any cutlery. Yet another wait. As before though, what we ate really couldn’t be faulted.

My Spiced Apple & Blackberry Crumble was lovely. After too many dryish pub crumbles, I was glad to see this one full of moist fruit, flavoured with plenty of the advertised spice.

Complementing the pleasantly tart, soft fruit was a crumble topping that had just the right amount of sweetness. I like my crumbles to be chunky and this one fitted the bill with bits of oaty granola enhancing the texture as well as flavour. Add to that a rich, clotted cream vanilla ice-cream slowly melting on top and it was a knockout pud.

ID loved his Rich Decadent Chocolate Delice. Like my crumble, it came as a generous portion and looked really attractive too.

The smooth, intensely chocolatey delice sat on a dark chocolate soil and there was a scoop of good quality chocolate ice-cream. Cutting through all that was a heap of lightly tart cherry compote.

THE KNOT INN: RECOMMENDED

Given the quality of the food we ate, I was surprised to see that (minus drinks) our bill was just £57.45. In these inflationary times, with costs rising for independent businesses as well as households, I think that under £30 per head at this standard is exceptionally good value. Neither ID nor I could fault a thing foodwise.

But I can’t ignore the organisational issues that dogged an otherwise enjoyable meal. Even right at the end, there was another problem as our bill was wrong. No starters were on it, but that lamb rump we hadn’t even known about was. Drinks were not entirely correct. No full record of what we had being found, we ended up having to tell them what we’d eaten and drank.

By the time that was all sorted, it was nearly two and a half hours since we’d arrived for lunch. Normally generous tippers, I’m sorry to say this was possibly the only time we didn’t leave anything extra. At the time, dealing with a fed-up, bored dog, I just wanted to get out. But I do feel a little Scrooge-like now.

LOOKING FORWARD

After all, it’s still very early days for The Knot Inn. Opened just before Christmas, I guess they haven’t done much of what you’d call a normal service. And there’s no denying that they have a fantastically talented team in the kitchen. The new owners, running other successful operations, presumably have a wealth of hospitality experience too. So, if I had to bet on it, I’d say they will be able to iron out the service issues we had by getting some improved working systems in place.

Because of just how good the food was, and very reasonably priced too, I’ll certainly be happy to go back and, hopefully, make up for that withheld tip!

And I’m happy to recommend The Knot Inn to you too, whether you fancy pub classics perfectly done or more restaurant style dining.