The Pack Horse Review

It'd been nearly a year since my last visit to The Pack Horse in the lovely Peak District village of Hayfield. Since then, a Michelin Guide listing has followed (as I predicted) and the general praise from the food press and general punters has continued to flow in plentiful abundance. Having recently re-opened after a bit of an internal rejig and refurbishment, I was very much looking forward to trying the food again as I rocked up for lunch on a mild October Thursday with my wife and two young children.

There's some parking on site, but as we were planning a walk afterwards, we parked at the large pay and display Sett Valley Trail car park, which is only a short distance away. We were warmly welcomed on arrival and shown to our table in the dining room area next to the newly opened kitchen. It's still a very nice space, and the internal changes have only added to that in my view. The restaurant was far from packed, but there were quite a few tables in which was good to see for a Thursday lunch.

On offer at lunch is a three course menu and a shorter bar menu; unlike our previous visit there's no children's menu anymore which is unfortunate, as that's always appreciated when visiting with young children. What surprised me most though was there was no option to do anything at all for the kids; we were just told to order from the bar menu.

I've been fortunate to visit quite a lot of very good restaurants with the kids and even if there's no children's menu, there's always been a not-on-the-menu option or two, or half portions, or the offer to mix and match elements from other dishes, but none of that was offered here which was a real shame. Just to say, I've been to many restaurants that effectively don't allow young children to visit, and that's no problem at all, but if a restaurant does let them through the door, my feeling is it's only right to do a little something to cater for them.

Alas, such is life and we ploughed on optimistically regardless. Drinks wise, there's a comprehensive drinks list with a good number of options and wines by the glass, but the drinks we ordered (Hendrick's plus still apple juice for the kids) were mysteriously not available. I've a lot of sympathy for restaurants in the current climate, but I'm pretty sure there's not currently a national shortage of Hendrick's gin, so something doesn't seem quite right there.

Lunch began with a little amuse bouche cauliflower cheese tart and slice of focaccia bread with butter; the bread in particular was very nice. I must say, they did also serve both to both the kids (despite them not ordering from the main menu) which is always an appreciated touch. Lunch proper began for me with a (single) charcoal roasted scallop, served with a parsley and lemon crumb, wild mushrooms and a scallop roe sauce. I wasn't blown away in all honesty; the scallop cooking was fine and the flavours were pleasant but as scallop dishes go, it was a tad underwhelming.

My wife was more impressed with her starter of chalk stream trout, whilst for the kids, my daughter tried the whole sea bream from the bar menu whilst my young son was happy with just a side of chips; there was no issue delivering the kids meals with our starters. My son described the chips as "the best chips ever" whilst my daughter did enjoy the fish, albeit it was of course more than she could eat.

For mains, my wife and I both opted for the venison wellington; I'd had that last time but just couldn't resist trying again. Unlike my previous visit, this is now only available for two people ordering at the same time (and at a very hefty supplement), but the dish itself was absolutely delicious, even better than last time. The venison cooking was perfect and the accompanying chestnut puree was a delight; it was a top class main course by any standard.

Of course, there was no chance of us leaving without dessert. Having had the salted caramel tart last time, I felt obliged to try something else and went for the dark chocolate mousse served with stout cake and milk ice cream. This was a tasty dessert but to be honest, I wish I'd stuck with the tart. My wife had more joy with an impressive pear and apple pavlova which was well constructed and suitably delicious.

My daughter wanted to have a dessert from the main menu but this was flat out refused by our waitress as our daughter had not ordered from the main menu, but the bar menu. I found this really strange to be honest and probably the first time ever I've experienced a restaurant not wanting to sell an extra adult dessert. At the start of the meal, our waiter pushed us towards ordering from the bar menu for the kids, if I'd been told at that point that meant we couldn't then order a dessert from the main menu later on, our daughter could have picked a course from the main menu instead. All round, it made for a pretty frustrating experience that I'd not been expecting, and I just can't see the logic behind it at all.

They were at least able to provide some ice cream for the kids as a bar menu dessert which our young son in particular polished off with glee. The bill was accompanied by some pleasant little chocolate and sea buckthorn petit fours, and again they did serve these to all four of us.

And so, our unexpectedly eventful lunch came to an end. Overall, we did enjoy our visit here; the cooking was of a high standard having improved again since my last visit, and the service continues to improve on each visit too. But at £63 for my three courses (by the time all the supplements were included), it didn't feel like a great value meal versus what I was served, even in these post-COVID times.

The Pack Horse is undoubtedly a very good restaurant which I'm sure will continue to go from strength to strength, but with all the frustrations over ordering for the children which were so unexpected and unnecessary, I won't be bringing the kids back anytime soon. It's a real shame to have to say that about a pub restaurant (and I think the first time I've ever written that for a pub), but hopefully I can make it back for an adult only visit in the not too distant future.