On Sunday, I was asked by The Oak Hotel in Hockley Heath, Birmingham to come and try out their brand new carvery as a guest blogger. A free meal consisting of delicious meats, veg, drinks AND pudding? How could I say no!? If you actually look on the main website, you will see there is a carousel of pictures of the brand new hotel bedrooms and dining areas. Well… I’m actually proud to say that I am now the official Oak Hotel photographer. It’s been an honour to be asked by management to take pictures for their website. This also means I get to give my readers a true insight of how fantastic the hotel really is.
On Sunday, I turned up at around 2pm in the afternoon with my boyfriend and his family, and the place was buzzing. As you know, I have recently stayed here as a guest on opening night, so I already know how decent the place is and what crowds the hotel attracts. It was a fairly sunny day, and a few people including us, all sat outside in the heat. Pimms and beers in hand, we sipped on our drinks before we dug into our meal. I’m not going to lie, the food itself is pretty extraordinary. The friendly chef allows you to choose from 3 different types of meat (Beef, Pork, Turkey) and the meal is paired with as many vegetables (peas, carrots, cauliflower cheese) and golden roast potatoes as you like. The roast is topped of with a crispy yorkshire pudding and everyone can help themselves to the most delicious, rich gravy and toppings of cranberry, apple and mustard!
As the hotel is still in its first stages, it means they are still trial and erroring the food, but I believe they do a fantastic job. The food is so succulent and the stuffing balls are even crammed with cranberries (oo-er!). If you haven’t been here yet for lunch, I suggest you make your way down and delve into the menu. They also do a reasonably priced set menu for meals in the week, but if you are thinking of going to try the new carvery, I’d suggest you just quickly phone and book a table as it is known to get rammed pretty quickly!I honestly couldn’t fault the food, but the one thing I have suggested to the cooks is that they makY the Yorkshire puddings just that tiny bit bigger! For pudding you can choose from a vast selection of sweet treats. They offer lemon meringue, granny’s sticky toffee pudding, chocolate gateau, and many more. I had the Apple crumble. It is made in the kitchen on the day and you can tell the ingredients have been freshly bought. The oven-baked apples were smothered with the sweetest crumble mixed and topped off with piping hot custard. What a treat! I was that excited to dig into the second part of the meal, that I completely forgot to take pictures! (Says a lot really…)
Overall, the food is of high standard and the staff are always there to help you if you need extra cutlery, drinks and sauces. I am proud to say I went home shortly after with a full stomach and a massive sleepy smile on my face. The Oak Hotel, I salute you! If you are thinking of staying for the night, click here for their main website. You won’t regret it!