Elk's Head, Whitfield

Jun 26 2005 By Eddy Eats

IT never ceases to surprise me how few boozers there are with names that whet the appetite, given how partial the vast majority of us are to a bit of pub grub now and then.

Admittedly there are a couple of Pheasant Inns and over in Cumbria a Trout Hotel and a Drunken Duck, as well as the odd Black Bull, Grey Bull, Stag Inn and so on.

But I can’t recall coming across anything to compare with a pub I once chanced upon down south, though, called the Haunch of Venison, in Wiltshire, if memory serves me well. Now there’s a name to bring the Eatsmobile screeching to a halt and get Mrs Eats and I piling out — within seconds of the handbrake going on — and heading off eagerly in search of menus.

The nearest thing I’ve come across in these parts of late is the Elk's Head at Whitfield in Northumberland, and even that’s not a particularly appetising name, fond as I am of a bit of game now and again.

Unsurprisingly Elk's Head doesn’t feature on the menu at the pub and nor does venison of any description judging by our visit there the other Sunday. Dishes that do make an appearance include gammon steak and a couple of roasts, ham or topside of beef.

Roast ham is a bit of a favourite of Mrs Eats and I and, seeing as surprisingly few pubs do it, except cold and in sandwiches, that’s what we both plumped for. It was priced at £6.95 and came on a large white plate with an abundance of gravy and a Yorkshire pudding, both OK, and two of what sometimes pass for roast potatoes nowadays but bear little comparison to the real thing.

The ham itself was very palatable indeed. There were a good few large slices of it, cut quite thick, if not thick enough for yours truly’s liking, and it was nice and tender and well-flavoured. Veg — in the form of carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and new potatoes, all well up to scratch — came on a separate, crescent-shaped plate.

For afters I went for sticky toffee pudding with cream, priced at £3.25. Very pleasant it was too, nice and moist and fruity, though the large flat plate it came on made it a bit tricky to get to grips with the cream, it being spread out thinly over a large area.

She who Must Be Fed, on the other hand, took me aback somewhat by acting completely out of character and opting for a chocolate-coated ice-cream dish with caramel in the middle, also priced at £3.25. She seemed happy enough with her choice but I couldn’t help but feel I’d got the better bargain.

Mrs Eats and I were also happy with our drinks, a pint of Marston’s Pedigree and a glass of dry white wine, both of which went down a treat.

To get to the Elk’s Head go west along the A69 Newcastle-Carlisle road, turn left down the A686, heading for Alston, just before you get to Haydon Bridge. About six miles along that road is the hamlet of Whitfield, with the Elk’s Head on the left.