Review: The Crossing, Exeter Arms and Silk Mill all hit the spot

By GFC member Steve Hayward

A group of four of us visited the Crossing Ale House & Kitchen in Burton on Trent last night. We had been to both of the other pubs in the group – The Exeter Arms and the Silk Mill Ale & Cider House (both in Derby) – and rated them highly. Being a Derby lad I remember these pubs from when they were not the sort of places you wanted to visit. The transformation has been complete. The shtick of these venues is old fashioned pubs with real ales and ciders combined with menus with a twist on traditional, local recipes using locally sourced products.

The Crossing was our final odyssey of the trilogy and was not a disappointment. We booked for 6.30 and on arrival there was some friendly, intelligent banter with the staff that made us feel comfortable straight away. The choice of drinks is huge – real ales, guest ales, wines, cocktails and a good range of non-alcoholic drinks for the driver.

The menu is an eclectic mix of throwback favourites from the not-so-recent past (70s & 80s), to the chef’s take on traditional, old fashioned recipes, and on to evocative seaside favourites embracing childhood holiday memories.

The Crossing is bang on current foodie trends. Real ales – tick. Ciders – tick. ‘Olde Worlde’ charm – tick. Friendly, knowledgeable staff – tick. Locally sourced food – tick. Imaginative and inventive dishes – tick. Good, healthy portions – tick.

Well worth a visit to any of the three venues.