The Pump House

Thursday 28th January 2010

This is a Crackerjack review of Pump House. Do you agree? Rate and review this venue.

Food and drink: 8 / 10.
Service: 8 / 10.
Atmosphere: 8 / 10.
Value for money: 8 / 10.

Restaurateurs and chefs have had to adapt quite a bit during the recession.
Many restaurants have introduced affordable set menus to get bums on seats, others have thrown in free bottles of wine or dangled other carrots in order to get more people through the door.

And then there are those chefs who have had to bite their lips, swallow their pride and change the way they run their business as a matter of survival.

Before the recession, I dare say Toby Gritten would have rather eaten his own feet than serve sandwiches at his smart dining pub The Pump House.

But when you are running your first business just as the credit crunch sets in, it really is a case of adapt and change in order to weather the storm, and that’s exactly what he has done.

His bar menu now offers sandwiches, a ploughman’s, fish and chips and cheese on toast (OK, it’s described as Butcombe bitter and mature Cheddar rarebit with red onion jam) and, heaven’s above, chips – hand-cut Maris Pipers, of course.
And this change of tack seems to be working for The Pump House seems busier than ever, both in the bar and the restaurant, where it’s pretty much business as usual with its top-end fine dining.

On the first dry and sunny Sunday of the year, this large, airy waterfront pub was doing a brisk trade. At one point, they were turning away people who hadn’t booked for lunch, which is a good way to start the year.

There were couples sipping coffees on the sofas, kids and their parents on the benches outside and large families in new Christmas jumpers gathering for lunch in the bar.

It all made for a very convivial Sunday lunchtime, I thought, as I supped my pint of Bath Ales Gem and flicked through my pile of newspapers before deciding what to eat.

The Sunday lunch menu is intelligently written and appeals to traditionalists as much as foodies.

At the main course, there’s pork and beef, fish, duck and a vegetarian option, with the crowd-pleasers such as sticky toffee pudding, crème brulee and chocolate fondant with rum and raisin pudding at dessert.

But it’s the starters that are more aimed at the adventurous foodies – terrine of jellied ham hock with sultana purée, rye and raisin toast; seared Bath chap with poached free-range egg and ‘Somerset apple textures’; seared scallops with Barrow Gurney black pudding and bashed peas.

Gritten used to work at Bell’s Diner and The Albion – two of Bristol’s best restaurants – so it comes as no surprise to see such serious cooking in a pub setting.

At £18.50 for three courses or £15.50 for two courses, it’s pricier than your average two-meals-for-the-price-of-one carvery, but what you are paying for here is the very best local ingredients being cooked by skilled chefs. It’s a big difference.

I started with the roast breast of Wincanton pigeon, which was rare to the point of still flapping. It had a deep, gamey flavour and the sort of muscular texture that English wood pigeons offer over their young French squab cousins.
The pigeon was resting on slices of pan-fried Jerusalem artichoke and surrounded by colourful cubes of soused beetroot and blobs of rowan jelly ‘made with berries foraged by the chef at Long Ashton golf course’, according to the waitress. A finer example of local, seasonal cooking would be hard 
to find.

I followed with the overnight roast, dry-aged rib of Hereford, Limousin cross beef – a couple of paperback-thick slices of beef that had been cooked slowly for several hours. The pink meat had enormous flavour and was accompanied by two perfect goose fat roast potatoes (crisp on the outside and fluffy within), a crisp-edged and light Yorkshire pudding and a rich gravy with a nostril-tingling horseradish sauce.

The vegetables were exemplary – beetroot, red cabbage, buttered curly kale, thyme-flecked carrots and cauliflower cheese all retaining crunch and bite rather than being limp and flavourless.

A slice of red wine-poached fig and frangipane tart boasting excellent and very short pastry, served with vanilla-speckled crème fraiche, brought things to a satisfying, stomach-patting conclusion.

Toby Gritten took over The Pump House at a difficult time but his hard work and willingness to listen to what the customers want is starting to pay off.

Rather than being simply a destination fine dining venue for foodies to worship, it has gradually morphed into a broader culinary church that appeals to everybody, whether they want coffee and a sandwich or something more substantial.

The result is a more rounded business on all levels and one that should be around for a long time.

Mark Taylor

Wheelchair access: Yes (and WC)
Prices: (Sunday lunch) Three courses for £18.50; two courses for £15.50. Dinner (Tues-Sat) is £23.50 for three courses and £19.50 for two courses

This is a Crackerjack review of Pump House. Do you agree? Rate and review this venue.