Places To Eat In Canterbury: The George, Molash
As a family after a long day, we love a good country pub for supper. As we’ve moved around the coast a little from our old home while we’re in a familiar area close to some of our old favourites (we’ve had some wins and some losses with the move: thankfully we’re now closer to The Compasses Inn, but now The Duke William is a little far out, so one to visit if we’re in the area for something!) it is also the perfect opportunity while our kitchen is still a hole in the ground to get our and try somewhere new. Our most recent meal out? The George at Molash, just 20 minutes drive down a pretty much straight road from Canterbury city centre.
What the pub is lacking in atmosphere it makes up for in detail – a good gastropub has clearly been built on the framework of a battered old boozer! However, it is the food that counts: as much as possible is sourced locally (some of it from their own small holding), and a lot of the other vendors are listed on the dining room wall. We had an excellent English rose from Chapel Down with our meal, and staff were generous at re-filling our cucumber-infused water carafe. The bread served with butter and an oil/ vinegar dip was excellent.
The starters were lovely, and came in very generous portions – over all, I think they could have done with being a bit smaller if you get all three courses, but then again you’re not going to be unhappy about value for money! Daddy had the crayfish with Marie Rose sauce and salad, and neither of us had ever seen such a generous amount of crayfish in a restaurant before; people are usually so stingy! We did not get a look in on Mummy’s chilli garlic prawns, and I really enjoyed my perfectly cooked wood pigeon breast served with smoked bacon lardons and a lovely fresh pea and mint puree hidden under the meat. It is a simple combination I’d never had before, and I really enjoyed. Very typical simple British gastro pub food.
My Mum and I both had the fish. I’d not had a whole plaice in ages, and this was beautifully and simply cooked with a brown shrimp butter – a lovely addition. It was a huge piece though, so while I can attest that the chips at The George are lovely, I only really needed just veg. She had the salmon, again perfectly cooked, and served over green beans and crushed potatoes with a classic butter and herb sauce. Simple and comforting.
Daddy had a chicken breast stuffed with spicy sausage, served with a tomato cream sauce and with typical pub veggies, and crispy fluffy potato croquettes. Utterly retro and utterly fantastic. All in all the mains were things I don’t really get in pubs anymore because they have all become fine dining orientated. Classic, simple, and enjoyable at the end of a long week, or a long day at work. Cozy.
Desserts were more from the pub classics department. We were very impressed that when we ordered a glass of prosecco with our desserts we got a mini bottle each (which basically is two glasses), and that every ice cream accompanied dessert was served with Simply Ice Cream, which is always delicious. Mummy had the tiramisu with chocolate ice cream which she polished off, and I had the chocolate orange cheesecake with honeycomb ice cream which was lovely, but again came in much too big a slice. Daddy finished off the lemon posset with ginger biscuits pretty quickly, so I think he enjoyed that too!
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