There can’t be many worse locations for a pub than the Dog in a Doublet. Situated halfway between Thorney and Whittlesey in the middle of the wide, flat fens and by the side of the sluice gate on the River Nene, which bears the same name as the pub, you need a car to get there and for a good part of the winter the fens and road have been flooded after the wettest year in a century.
We used to cycle out to the Dog in a Doublet when the children were smaller. It’s a 20-minute ride and there used to be a play area so you could sit out on a warm summer evening. Also, I used go there at lunch sometimes when I worked at Fengate in Peterborough and one year, we had our Sharman & Co editorial awards in the function room downstairs. Jilly Cooper, who was a chum of Patrick Sharman, presented the awards that year.
Our last visit was some five years or more ago when we stopped off for lunch on the way back from Whittlesey. We only wanted a light lunch so we ordered soup and we got a bowl of instant soup from a packet! The place closed soon afterwards and I thought that would be that, it’s hard enough to make a pub pay its way even in a town or village, so what chance this place miles from anywhere (especially if it serves Knorr instant as its soup of the day).
I had heard that it had opened again from Steve, the landlord of the Rose & Crown, who was enjoying a moment of schadenfreude when the Dog was virtually cut off by the floods this winter, but I hadn’t thought of going there.
So on Thursday, we shunned the Rose & Crown for our occasional meal out and went to the Dog in a D instead. The reason was that I’d got this eating out promo card from the social club at work. It’s called Tastecard and it gives you discounts at a wide number of restaurants all over the country
When I searched for participating restaurants near Thorney, the Dog in a Doublet came up with a 50% off deal and I said we should go. The place hasn’t changed that much since we used to go. The play area is now a petting zoo, but there’s a still a one-in-three drop from the North Bank down to the car park. There were not many people in there, so no worries about getting a table. Things didn’t get off to a great start. I wanted a bottle of beer because I was driving, but the choice was pretty poor and the landlady/owner said she knew nothing about beer - blunt, but honest. We went for house red instead and I’ve had better (much better) house wine. This was quite rough and had a very slight secondary fermentation. It was much better second swig when my palate had adjusted and the slight fizz had dissipated. The menu looked pretty good and they’d made a real effort to source local supplies and to make things a little different. We started with black pudding with apple and fine crispy bacon bits. It was good and nicely displayed, although they served everything on black plates which spoiled some of the effects of the display. The black pudding disappeared into the plate (as you can imagine) and black made the food look less appetising.
For main course, I had breast of chicken (Norfolk) stuffed with Somerset brie and wrapped in bacon. It was very good. Margaret had home-made burger and French fries. The fries were served in a paper cone (McDonald’s style) and I guess the market is comfortable with that. Margaret thought the bun far too big, but if you go out for a meal in the Fens and you can still move afterwards, people feel they’ve not had value for money.
We were getting into a similar frame of mind because we went on to order a third course (well, it was half-price). i had sticky toffee pudding and Margaret had a cheese board. The cheese was served on a nice slate and included some Cropwell Bishop Stilton and some Cheddar. Margaret couldn’t manage it all and so it was added to the doggie bag she was constructing from napkins.
The place had filled up quite a lot. The new owners are very good at marketing. They have a heads or tails night on Wednesdays where if you win the toss you get your food free (statistically the same as the 50% offer I had) and Thursday night was buy-one-get-one-free pizza night. It was attracting a lot of business and the pizzas did look very good.
The owner said she and her husband had considered buying the Rose and Crown but had been concerned it wouldn’t be a quick sale. They’d have done a good job in Thorney. They are friendly, offer good food and have some smart marketing.
They have a couple of dogs - a Staffie and a scruffy little terrier - which have the run of the pub and their own chair. The owner said dogs were welcome and on Sundays, dogs get a free Yorkshire pudding with gravy.
We’ll definitely go again - just wish the place was within easy walking distance.
Update: We did go back to the Dog in a Doublet on Sunday, 19 Jan, for Sunday lunch. Well, I say Sunday lunch, we booked in for 4.30pm so we were at the end of the lunchtime rush.
The place has been decorated since we were there last time and it looks much better; slowly it's being turned around.
Sunday lunch was from the carvery and there is an element of self-service, which appeals to those who like large helpings and are hard-faced enough to pile their plate extra high. I don't count myself in that group, but I know plenty of them.
Margaret had the 'regular' plate, which means she can get three types of meat; I went for the 'small' plate which meant I got one meat (and a smaller plate, so if anyone thought it was piled a little high, that was the reason).
Margaret had lamb, beef and pork (the beef was a little chewy), but everything was eaten. I had pork, which was first class. Because were were at the end of the session, some of the veg was a little old and had been standing there for some time. That benefited the roast potatoes, which I like crispy, but not the broccoli. Yorkshire puddings were a bit of an embarrassment - almost too large for the plate.
We started with a nibble of sausage rolls, had three large glasses of wine and a diet coke (I was driving) and I had lemon tart to finish. It was just over £20 a head.
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