“Banging potatoes,” exclaimed my youngest, as he set upon the roast meal that had just been served to him from the sharing board at The Rising Sun in Lacock. And be was absolutely right – in fact, this had to be just about the best pub Sunday roast we had ever enjoyed!
The Rising Sun is perched up on Bowden Hill, which rises out of the historic village of Lacock towards Rowde and Devizes. It’s an old, stone-built, traditional country pub with a wonderful terrace that overlooks the countryside for miles around and makes a perfect setting for an alfresco lunch. With inside seating, dining domes and a marquee also available, there’s a plenty of options to suit a family out for lunch, and we were lucky enough to choose a spot that took in the view and allowed the rays of the late summer sun to make a lazy Sunday even more pleasurable.
We had eaten at The Rising Sun before and as with our previous visit, right from the start the service was excellent – friendly and professional, with owner Neil always on hand to make sure that everything is running smoothly.
While the menu changes every week, the quality of the food is always excellent, with the ingredients locally sourced and expertly prepared. For our visit, there was a choice of roasts between slow cooked sirloin of beef, slow roasted pork belly, roast chicken crown and stuffing, nut roast and vegetarian wellington, as well as beef burger or chickpea, beetroot and kate burger with all of the trimmings.
We went for two beef and one pork, while also making the most of takeaway roast option, with a chicken and pork ordered for our older children who had chosen to stay at home, make the most of a teenage Sunday lie-in and deal with college studies.
First though, we indulged ourselves with starters of two tiger prawn and smoked salmon roulades, with dill creme fraiche, pickled red onions, potato salad and rocket, and one coronation chicken crostini, cherry tomatoes and almonds. The roulades delivered a wonderfully fresh, delicate taste, making it an ideal starter, with the pickled onions a perfect accompaniment. The coronation chicken, meanwhile, was full of flavour, although the tomatoes proved a strange and unnecessary addition, albeit a very flavoursome one.
With only a short wait between the starters and mains – just about enough to enjoy the view and the happy sounds of small children making the most of the pub’s play area – and the main courses were delivered, along with drinks from the bar. The meat, potatoes and roasted veg was presented on a wooden sharing board, alongside the mixed vegetables and a jug of gravy. Straight away we could see that the beef was perfectly pink and the pork included crispy cracking that’s always a treat. As it turned out, the portions were just right, with three of those banging potatoes each and plenty of vegetables. Apparently, seconds are always available as part of the cost of the meal, just in case you are feeling particularly peckish.
The food was absolutely gorgeous – perfectly prepared, full of flavour and an absolute joy all around. The pork belly was slow roasted to perfection – moist and full of flavour with an amazing apple sauce too. What’s more, the vegetables were exactly as they should be and not overdone as is so often the case. In fact, it was impossible to find anything wrong.
Out of interest, the two takeaway meals were pretty good too – we heated up the meat and potatoes in the air frier, added a few fresh green and the result was happily and hastily consumed by two happy teens.
During our meal, out waitress came along a couple of times to check that everything was ok, returning with another jug of gravy to allow us to make the most of the Yorkshire puds.
We had played a game of guess the puddings on the way to the pub and in fact only got two right – the inevitable chocolate brownie and choice of ice creams. Alongside, we could also choose from banoffee cheesecake, tiramisu with coffee and cardamon ice cream, and balsamic roasted figs and autumn berry eton mess, crunchy meringue, strawberry and mint sundae.
While our youngest gladly went for the ice cream – honeycombe and white chocolate – we oldies chose the cheesecake and tiramisu. While the tiramisu was a little more solid that might be expected, this was the only slight criticism, with two extra forks eagerly appearing at the banoffee cheesecake in hope of a sneaky sample. Fair enough – it was delicious…
There’s a lot to like about The Rising Sun in Lacock – a traditional pub that goes out of its way to offer excellent services and very good food, with families welcome (there is also a children’s menu) and special events often laid on, including an upcoming pumpkin trail for families to enjoy. Add in that stunning view and it’s a real winner.