Secret Diner Review: Old White Hart, Lyddington
Published on July 27, 2014
By James Tipping
On a glorious summer evening the opportunity arose to go out for dinner without the children, so we decided to give The Old White Hart at Lyddington a visit as it’s a great place for al fresco eating.
We arrived fairly early but it was already busy and there was a sense that we may be too late for a table, inside or out… luckily the staff soon found us one and although it was inside there was gentle a breeze wafting through so it proved ideal.
The menu and specials board sounded great and after some deliberation we chose to start with tian of crab with smoked salmon and homemade bread, and a ham hock terrine with homemade piccalilli. Both were well presented and tasted equally good, the tian beautifully delicate and sweet, but maybe a touch more piccalilli would have been good with the terrine.
To follow I went for a fairly unadventurous sirloin steak and homemade chips, which despite being a fairly large cut was cooked exactly as ordered and nicely pink throughout. My other half had plaice with fennel, which looked and smelled great.
After that feast we decided there was room left for dessert so we ordered strawberries in a brandy snap case with strawberry panna cotta, strawberry sauce and a small strawberry donut, and one date pudding with liquorice ice cream and butterscotch sauce. The strawberry dessert looked and tasted fantastic, although after three courses the donut almost proved a step too far. And special mention in dispatches for the butterscotch sauce!
On a lovely Rutland evening in a very busy pub the staff couldn’t have been more friendly and accommodating, and we will certainly go back soon, next time perhaps with the children.
