East & West Midlands

Waggon and Horses

Halam, Nottinghamshire

"Keeping things simple" is a motto that is serving Daniel Thwaites' tenant and head chef Roy Wood in good stead at the Waggon and Horses at Halam. Roy has worked in foreign kitchens, but doesn't believe in making things unnecessarily complex.

He explains: "I learnt a lot about cooking in Greece as I watched cooks take the simplest ingredients such as fish, lime and fennel and produce a delicious meal every time.

"That's a philosophy I like to follow. I don't want to scare customers away by having something on the specials board that they can't even understand or pronounce."

Simple doesn't mean plain

The simple approach though doesn't stop Roy coming up with some highly original specialities. The local partridge and rabbit terrine at £6 is a popular starter, while the grilled sea bass or baked cod fillet feature regularly on the main menu at £13.

The menu changes seasonally, backed up by a range of ever-changing specials.

Local produce features heavily. Fresh bread comes from a bakery just down the road, fruit and vegetables are sourced from a farm in the next village, meat is supplied from neighbouring Derbyshire and the fish arrives from Grimsby.

Not overdoing it

Roy adds his own touch by steaming raw or partly-cooked vegetables and serving them in a special wicker basket-type container.

"We buy fresh and cook simply. You can lose the essence of the flavour of the food by using too many ingredients," he says.

Smoking and listings

Roy says going totally non-smoking 18 months ago has had a positive effect on business.

The pub is now listed in a host of prestigious guide books and its food has also received rave reviews in local newspapers.

Roy comments: "We don't advertise much and the first time I knew that we had journalists eating here was when I read what they said about us in the paper."