Eat My Words: We review The Unicorns Head in Langar

My night out at The Unicorns Head in Langar will live long in my memory.

And it wasn’t because of the food or the service — although both were excellent — it was because of the company.

A few days before Christmas, I met two of my oldest friends for our annual festive get together — to exchange gifts and have a night of good food and good company. We always choose somewhere different and this place had been recommended to Emma. Having perused the menu online beforehand, I was excited. Everything sounded delicious.

The pub car park was full when I arrived and, as I’m always the first to arrive, I was sitting in the bar area of the dining side where a cosy log fire was roaring. I was delighted to find out from the attentive server that they had a non-alcoholic version of my favourite cider.

When my friends arrived, we enjoyed our drinks in the bar and had a little look at the menu before gradually making our way to the table. It was great that it was so relaxed — no-one was hurrying us along even though we could hear the dining room was busy.

We decided to forego some delicious sounding starters with desserts catching our eyes instead.

I opted for the baked salmon fillet with leek and parmesan polenta cake, tender stem broccoli and a bravas sauce, while Emma chose the game pie and Sam selected the roast turkey breast — it’s Christmas after all!

Time with good friends always seems to speed by so I couldn’t really say how long it took the food to arrive but it didn’t seem long.

It was presented beautifully and my food was delicious — the salmon was perfectly cooked, the sauce not too spicy and the leek and parmesan polenta cake was satisfyingly cheesy.

Sam’s pig in blanket looked the highlight of her plate — forget cocktail sausages, it was a proper banger — and they both said their food was delicious.

We ordered more drinks and placed a dessert order. I chose the chocolate delice which came with a brown sugar and malt cream and pecan nut praline. I didn’t really have any idea what a delice was but the waitress’ description of ‘a slab of chocolate’ sold it for me. Emma chose sticky toffee pudding while Sam stuck with her festive theme and selected Christmas pudding.

When our drinks arrived, it was at this point we had our only tiny problem of the evening. Emma and I had asked for lemonade and when it arrived, it tasted slightly odd. We mentioned it to a waitress who was only too happy to swap it for us.

A slab of chocolate was a good description of the dessert that quickly followed but the cream was the highlight of that dish for me — it was stunning and I will be adding malt powder to all cream from now on. Emma and Sam polished off their desserts too.

Desserts polished off, we brought our drinks back to the lovely bar area — only to find that the log fire had gone out. The sofa was still inviting though and it was here, we decided to exchange gifts. I had bought card games for my friends with something of a naughty theme and we decided to play.

It was at this point the evening really took a turn. The bar area was, thankfully, quiet but our raucous laughter soon filled the air and all the passing staff were quick to ask us ‘What are you playing?’ but not with a view to moving us on — seemingly because we were having so much fun they wanted to join in too! When it was time for us to leave — it was clear the staff wanted to go home — they took the time to chat to us about how we’d got to know each other, whether we’d been before and of course, what the name of our game was! Perhaps next time we go, the pub will have acquired a card set of their own. And in case, you’re wondering the game was called Don’t Be A Dik-Dik and challenges players to pair rudely named — but actual species — of animals (a dik-dik is a very cute antelope!)

The quality of the food and service was impeccable but if you want a night out to remember, you’ll need to borrow my wonderful friends.

Out of five:

Food: Absolutely delicious and a good choice too, I could have chosen several of the dishes *****

Drink: There was a good range of drinks behind the bar and the staff were happy to make suggestions. I was delighted to find a non-alcoholic version of my favourite cider brand as I was driving and it tasted the same as the alcoholic version *****

Decor: Lovely and clean with beautiful festive decorations ****

Staff: Attentive and friendly *****

Price: A little on the expensive side - the mains were just under £20 each and desserts were about £8 each - but it was good quality and I’ll certainly be back again ****

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