Tong village sits on the outskirts of Bradford and is probably best
known for its large garden centre. The Greyhound pub is in the middle of the
village and sits in a lovely setting in front of Tong Cricket Club.
The pub itself has grown over the years and has a large extension to
cope with the number of diners who come for its pub grub.
We were out for a Sunday lunch with family and were all ordering from
the lunch menu that could do me two courses for £12.95. Unfortunately I’ve only
ever got enough room to eat one.
Being a good Yorkshire pub I had expected to be surprised by the amount
of food on the plate but when it arrived I was underwhelmed. During the week
they have a choice between ‘The Whale’ at £11.95 or ‘The Tiddler’ at £8.50 and
I think I know which one this was. It was a surprisingly small piece of fish or
it may have been two even smaller pieces stuck together. It just didn’t taste
of much at all and certainly didn’t have that distinctive fresh fish taste. The
batter was OK if a little too greasy.
The chips had clear evidence of skin on and although they were well
cooked they also were a little on the oily side.
In contrast to the fish the mushy peas portion was enormous and had a
really good classic mushy pea flavour and texture, but for me, there were
simply too many on the plate when considered in the context of the size of the
fish.
The tartare came in a little pot and looked and tasted as if it had
been decanted from a catering pack with a dull, formulaic, mass produced taste.
No lemon – and the vinegar, as is becoming more and more the case these
days, came in a dispenser which needed more concentration and dexterity than
should be necessary to add a dash of acetic acid to some fish and chips.
The meal was washed down with a pint of Leeds Best which was just OK.
For me it felt like the food was being dished up without too much
thought and care for the ingredients and that the quicker we could be fed and
watered the faster the table would become available. But maybe the staff were
just being as efficient as they could be.
I did pass my thoughts on to the management who were genuinely apologetic
about the experience and were good enough to provide a token for another meal.
They admitted that they struggled at Sunday lunchtimes, due to the pub’s
popularity, to provide the ‘home-cooked’ food that they have a reputation for.
So maybe I’ll have to try another time – and try and combine it with a Tong
Cricket Club home match.
