The Bank House, Hixon
One of the great things about village life is the pubs. There should always be a proper pub in every village. A pub that serves real ale and home cooked food. Hixon is a lucky village indeed, with not one but two excellent pubs each within 200 meters of the other. My parents actually live in this holiday resort of a village and make most of the two superb options. Tuesday night this week was my sisters 25th birthday, a birthday shared with folk legend Robert Allen Zimmerman, (Bob Dylan to those of you under 30) and Queen Victoria. With a table booked for 7pm we popped in to the Green Man for a few early doors drinks and later, shuffling down the road to The Bank House for a bite to eat.
The Bank House is a pub with a history that tells the story of the English country pub, originally a farm, dating back over 400 years. Before the advent of pub ’bars’ or counters, beer was served in people’s front rooms, brought up from the cellar. The Bank House in this tradition established itself as the village pub and later in the 1800’s adopting the ‘bar’ style of pub we recognise today became a full time pub, selling on the rest of the farm to pursue this worthy cause. Happily the pub is now managed by local brewery Joules and serves some fine real ale as is their heritage.
History lesson over. Let’s get down to business. The food. The Bank House offers an ‘Early Bird’ menu 6 – 7.30pm each week night evening. This menu of favourites including fish and chips, faggots, bangers and mash, scampi and gammon steak offers two meals for just £10. Excellent value for certain since this is all home cooked and served with choices of mash, chips or jackets, salad or vegetables. There is an al carte menu which includes daily specials with prices starting from £6.95, again, hardly breaking the bank for quality and value.
As a group, after some discussion and erm-ing and ahh-ing, three order fish and chips and one scampi. The fish is of the heroic proportion, coated in a beery, light, crispy batter served with chunky chips and mushy peas, all of which are homemade and pack a punch of flavour and are truly filling. The scampi is crisp and fishy contrasting nicely with the homemade tartar sauce, served with chunky chips and garden peas.
I get the impression that the chef takes his food seriously since everything that arrives is piping hot, cooked perfectly and is supremely appetising. The food at The Bank House is really good, home cooked food, always consistent, and served with a smile. The Chef takes a real pride in the food he prepares and this translates to happy diners returning again and again. Book your table now.
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