The Olde Bull, Barton Mills.

The Olde Bull Inn, in Barton Mills, just off the A11, is a cosy little renovated coaching inn, dating back around 500 years. In 2014 the Pub-Restaurant was named the ‘Funkiest B&B in the whole of Great Britain’ at the AA awards ceremony and boasts its 2014 award of 5 gold stars by an AA inspector for their ‘High quality food standards’. The Inn has available two sides in which diners can sit- either in the ‘pub’ side, or the restaurant (however things such as the curry and the sausage and mash can only be eaten in the pub).

I visited the pub side of the restaurant on the 15-8-15, and i was thoroughly disappointed. The pub was quiet, with only a handful of people in, the decor was cosy, minimal, and easy on the eye, if a little dark. There was a choice to sit in either booths which could seat up to 4 people, or around a table, with a bar stretched across the back wall.

I proceeded to order my burger (steak burger, Barbers mature cheddar & back bacon, lettuce, gherkins, tomato, mayo, brioche bun, double cooked chips £15.50) and a cosmopolitan up at the bar. When my drink arrived i was not greeted or really even acknowledged, there was just a short “Cosmopolitan?” and then woosh, she was gone. That was the first disappointment, the second came when i tried it. Whilst sitting at my table i had watched the young girls behind the bar huddle around my drinks glass and the spirits all looking a little perplexed. When my drink arrived it was extremely anemic looking, with almost a tinge of an orange shade (goodness knows what went in it). And in all honesty it just tasted like straight vodka. The usual cosmo recipe consists of 2 measures vodka, 1 cointreau and 1 cranberry juice and 0.5 lime juice, to give a light pink shade and a balanced mix of berry and citrus flavours. But there was no balance, just the overpowering taste of pure alcohol.

Moving on to my burger; when it came it looked delicious in terms of layout. Presented on a piece of black slate with the chips in a small metal bucket and the burger sat beside. Their presentation was one thing i could not fault with this meal. However, unfortunately presentation does not satisfy my taste buds. The brioche bun was dry and lacked texture. The burger just looked like a small ball of meat inside a huge bun, when i tried to cut mine in half to make it easy to eat, i was left with hardly any in each side; due to the burger being small albeit high, the outside was burnt and the inside left dry (not to be confused with that lovely smokey BBQ flavour, this was how you’d imagine that burnt on meat that dropped on the tray on to the bottom of the oven and has been cooking away down there every time you turn on the oven, kind of flavour.) So now that i was about ready to start complaining about my too strong cosmo and dried up burger, there was no one to be found! And when i did try to get someone’s attention the young lady just looked at me and kept walking! Not once was i asked how my meal was, nor if everything was to my liking – i would have understood if it was busy, but like i said, there was a handful of people, and customer service should be tip top of everyone’s list.

When my plate was cleared and i was finally (!!) asked how my meal was i complained to the ever so polite girl and without dropping her ‘i don’t really care how your food was smile’ she said “oh” and walked off. There was no apology, no “I’ll see what i can do for you”, absolutely nothing. So with that i upped, paid and left, leaving still relatively hungry and utterly despondent.

Id give the Olde bull 2 stars, so much for high quality food standards.

Burgers. How did they originate?

Burgers are one of the most popular meals in the world. They can be found anywhere from hole-in-the-wall drive throughs, to michelin star restaurants. Its probably no surprise to find that McDonalds sells on average 75 burgers per minute.

It is widely believed that Burgers originated from Hamburg, Germany, and although the inspiration for this was true, the notion to have the patty between slices of bread came much later on. In 19th century Germany, beef was minced and combined with salt, pepper, garlic and onions to create a Hamburg Steak. These early burgers were considered gourmet and were also quite expensive due to the expensive meat.

When German immigrants arrived in New York and Chicago many opened restaurants, with menus often including the Hamburg steak, and often with it being the most expensive dish on the menu. During the industrial revolution, many workers were sold these from carts, and saw opportunity when it was found that they were very difficult to eat whilst standing. So one creative chap sandwiched it between two slices of bread and voila- the burger was born.

Over the years, although they are loved worldwide, burgers have become typically Americanized. However in countries such as India, where Beef is not part of a typical Hindu diet, Aloo Tikki is popular (a potato patty). Burgers are becoming so popular that scientists have been challenged to start growing burger meat in petri dishes to keep up with the enormous demand worldwide. This is certainly a far cry from the Hamburg steaks of yore.