HAVING lived in St Albans for never mind how many years, I'm ashamed to say I had never visited The Plough at Sleapshyde before.

Shame on me. Because, when I did go while judging St Albans District Council's Village Pub competition, I was agreeably pleased.

The Plough was not the winner, but it was a bit of a find on the food front, and myself and guest not only chatted to a real chef, Carl, who was enthusiastic about his cooking, but got quite excited about the menu chalked up on the board.

There were all sorts of imaginative home-made main dishes and desserts to choose from including home-made Thai curry and, unusually, saddle of lamb but we plumped for steak pie and cod in freshly-made real ale batter.

The former had melting shortcrust pastry (made by Carl) top and bottom, with a meat-packed savoury filling, accompanied by beautifully cooked fresh vegetables, while the latter was a magnificent huge cod fillet in a crisp, light batter.

It's a pretty pub with an outside terrace, and inside has beams and a huge open fire with brass canopy. Children are welcome and there's a children's menu. The Plough is an activities pub football, darts, dominoes, crib, quiz nights, and often has themed events.

Bar staff were friendly and chatty, and at least two of them said "good night" to us as we left.

The only disappointment was the beer.

They had a good choice of three cask ales but the night we were there the one we tried was not in good condition.

July 11, 2002 17:30