A village pub should be many things, all of which should embed it in the local community. Social hub, place of refuge, venue for community groups, destination for visitors, provider of employment and (most pertinently here) somewhere to eat and drink. The Tiger Inn Coneythorpe has had a turbulent few years – an extended closure and two fires to deal with – but has recently been taken over by the management of Goldsborough Hall who’ve reopened it with the intention of returning it to former glories at the centre of Coneythorpe’s community.
I’d not visited this pub before and hadn’t quite prepared myself for how picturesque its setting would be. Aided by the sunny day on which we visited casted an attractive light over things. The pub overlooks an attractive village green on which there’re a few tables that would make a lovely place to sit with a pint in the sun, and for good measure there’s a distinctive old water pump subtly emblazoned with the name of the village. An interesting addition sat outside in the form of an A-board featuring Jeremy Clarkson promoting his beer, something that one presumes would go down well in a rural community.
Once inside the atmosphere is calm and low key with plenty of space for diners in the open layout and an inviting bar. We were quickly furnished with menus along with colouring implements to keep Little Fork distracted. The menu is a well rounded selection of pub classics with little to intimidate and plenty of comforting dishes to choose from. Chicken liver pate and prawn cocktail got the nod for starters to be followed by minute steak and a rather intriguing sounding seafood pancake, which I gather is something of a signature at The Tiger Inn Coneythorpe. The well-appointed children’s menu yielded a hot dog in due course which went down well while we set about starters. A classic prawn cocktail can be a light and refreshing preamble to a main course with a fresh crunch of lettuce underpinning sweet prawn and Marie-Rose; this was a well put together execution that served its purpose well. Chicken liver pate needs something to bring out the best qualities of the dish and the bitter rocket with red onion chutney did the job in this instance, another satisfying classic.
The minute steak I ordered represented something of a risk – I’m generally nervous of ordering steaks in non-specialist establishments – but this was covered with tempting bar-marks from the griddle and a gently melting pool of herb butter. Crunchy fries and a mound of bitter rocket dressed with balsamic accented the dish nicely. The seafood pancake that had intrigued me was also served with fries as well as a mixed leaf salad. The pancake itself was hidden under melted cheese and a white wine sauce, playing home to a generous mix of sea food with haddock and prawns. I enjoyed this rather unique assembly of ingredients that felt more indulgent than many seafood dishes I’ve been served over the years. We finished off with a sticky toffee pudding that carried on the theme of nicely put together, comforting classics.
I didn’t visit The Tiger Inn Coneythorpe in its previous guise, but as it stands it’s clearly a real asset to the village, well configured to serve a variety of uses. It’s superbly positioned to sit at the heart of the community as well as bringing people from the surrounding area in to show off this picturesque little village.
