TASTE TEST: Dog and Pickle, Lavister, impresses for lunch

To celebrate passing an exam, I thought I'd treat myself to lunch out, so I headed down to the revamped pub in Lavister to see what it was like. 

Formerly known as the Nags Head, the pub changed it's named and reopened in June last year having undergone a refurb inside. To celebrate the first anniversary of being open, the owners completed a revamp of the garden area too which has been done very well. 

It would have been nice to sit outside to enjoy my food, but the constant down pour in the middle of July put an end to that!

Dog and Pickle dining room (Image: NQ staff)

I arrived to a warm welcome from the two members of staff at the bar and was told to choose a seat and menus would be brought over. 

A drink was quickly ordered for me as I settled in, going for a lemonade over the more tempting selection of ales and lagers. 

It wasn't overly busy, with only one other table in the main dining room, but that is perhaps to be expected on a Thursday lunchtime. 

I then got into the hard task of deciding what I wanted. There were a host of starters that appealed to me including the salt and pepper ribs, Asian dumplings or apricot and sage scotch egg. 

Honey and Mustard Chipolatas (Image: NQ staff)

However, I decided to go with the honey mustard chipolatas (£5.95), which were lovely. The marinate that they came in was really nice without being overbearing. 

It wasn't a small portion, with eight chipolatas included, which is perhaps more than I expected. 

Onto the mains... 

There was a wide variety of options for main courses, with the pub classics fish and chips or ham, egg and chips. While the lamp rump and sirloin of beef looked very appealing. 

There were a host of salads and pizzas on offers, with the menu seemingly catering for all, but in the end I chose the steak burger (£16.95). 

Steak Burger (Image: NQ staff)

The burger was topped with maple bacon, which provided a welcomed sweet flavour. There was also onion, cheese and gherkins - a burger necessity!

The patty itself was nice and thick, cooked really well and was accompanied by fries and coleslaw, which were also lovely.

Burgers can sometimes be bland, but this was not the case, it was really flavoursome and thoroughly enjoyable. 

Three courses felt too much for lunch, but there were some appealing puddings on the menu including: Sticky toffee pudding; Raspberry and white chocolate creme brulee; Cheese board; Chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream. 

Overall, I was impressed. The service was good from the friendly staff on hand, and the food was equally as good and pretty good value for money with the total coming to £27.30, which is probably fair for two courses and drink. 

I would definitely head back.