ATHERSTONE – A SLIGHT RETURN. (iii) HAUTE CUISINE

September 2025. Atherstone.

One thing about Old Mudgie, he’ll make sure there’s a lunch stop on your pub crawl.

What he couldn’t have foreseen was that the White Horse, under new management and with an ambitious lunch menu, would be quite so overstretched.

We turned up at 13:40, my fish and chips 50 minutes later.

In fairness, very tasty and a bargain at £8, and again with decent Bass (NBSS 3+).

Our next pub was less frenetic,

the Old Swan looking the part but quiet apart from Bob, waiting for friends.

Mrs RM slipped away now, leaving me to do justice to the two smarter pubs in the market square.

The Market Tavern Tap looked gorgeous with cosy seating and fires,

the Angel had the pie menu  and “The Year Of The Cat”,

but Old Mudgie and I were the only two brave enough for the Wheatsheaf.

Your best bet for Hi-Vis and a UB40 soundtrack (NOT Red Red Wine).

The Greene King Seasonal was OK, the Wheatsheaf friendly, and I’m glad I’ve got the full set of Atherstone cask outlets ticked.

Whether I’ll complete the set of Chinese takeaways is another matter.

Lovely to see the return of the giant pancake roll, the Draught Bass of Chinese takeaways, on the Meal for One menu.

Thanks to Jon, Peter, Paul and Mrs RM for their company.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

13 thoughts on “ATHERSTONE – A SLIGHT RETURN. (iii) HAUTE CUISINE”

  1. To be charitable, I might say the White Horse was suffering from teething troubles given that the current licensees had only recently taken over. Quite a neat combination of sports bar at the front and spacious dining pub at the rear. But the slow service and my “good in parts” meal were not impressive.

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    1. Yes, I was impressed by the new segregation into “sports bar at the front and spacious dining pub at the rear” when I ate there in March, a MUCH quicker and I think better meal with my Bass then.

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  3. “One thing about Old Mudgie, he’ll make sure there’s a lunch stop on your pub crawl.”

    Forethought. Good man, that.

    “What he couldn’t have foreseen was that the White Horse, under new management and with an ambitious lunch menu, would be quite so overstretched.”

    Forethought does not include foresight. 😉

    “We turned up at 13:40, my fish and chips 50 minutes later.”

    Blimey. For that length of time, I hope the fish were freshly caught from the canal!

    “the Old Swan looking the part but quiet apart from Bob, waiting for friends.”

    Bob’s ‘friends’ could use an apostrophe at the end.
    (note: this does not count towards your spell checking limit)

    “Mrs RM slipped away now, leaving me to do justice to the two smarter pubs in the market square.”

    Well, that was the deal, if I recall.

    “the Angel had the pie menu and “The Year Of The Cat”,”

    But even they can’t spell bap correctly.

    “but Old Mudgie and I were the only two brave enough for the Wheatsheaf.”

    I’ve lost count on the number of pints so far.

    “Whether I’ll complete the set of Chinese takeaways is another matter.”

    One ticking hobby at a time!

    Cheers

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      1. “One thing about Old Mudgie, he’ll make sure there’s a lunch stop on your pub crawl”. Glad to see Mudgie is keeping up standards, by ensuring there’s a proper lunch stop!

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