THE car park was full, the road outside was full, the conservatory was full, the bar was full, the garden was full, and the air was full of pulsating beats from old school vinyl records being played in a tent, which also looked pretty packed.
The Fox and Hounds beside the River Tees at Neasham only reopened four months ago having been closed for five.
Indeed, the ghost of its previous incarnation still haunts the internet: Google first of all took me to foxandhoundsneashampub, which is the closed pub’s site with a defunct telephone number.
Thefoxandhoundsneasham is the reopened Fox & Hounds, but, judging by how many people were there last Saturday night, not many are confused.
Indeed, as we were seated by the tail end of the queue of people waiting to get served at the bar, the fullness filled me with dread: how would the kitchen be able to cope?
It was for that reason that I decided to forego starters, even though there were some attractive offerings: from mussels, terrine, kebabs and sizzling prawns right up to a Parmo Platter which consisted of three mini parmos for £8.95.
We went straight to menus where the menu was, as you might expect, full: six vegetarian plates, seven fish dishes, eight on the grill and 15 a la carte – plenty of choice, with prices starting at £13.50.
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It was pub fare but there was a flourish – an Irish Curry (£14.50) featuring chicken breast, curry sauce and J&B whisky is not a dish regularly encountered.
The top of the menu said that “all dishes come with a choice of chunky chips, frizzy salad, seasonal vegetables or skinny fries”. Although two of our dishes were described as having mash and the third as having nachos, the waitress offered us each a choice of which type of extra chips we wanted.
The atmosphere in the pub was really jolly, people having a good time. Only an old curmudgeon like me would note how the syncopation from the interior sound system was competing with the meaty bass pumping outside – The Communards missed colliding with themselves by only a few minutes.
None of the other diners – the restaurant was also pretty full – seemed worried by the length of time food took: our mains arrived at least 48 minutes after we had ordered.
And they just kept on arriving: grandma had the Fox Pie (£15.95) with puff pastry topping and mashed potatoes, plus a basket of chunky chips, and while there were green vegetables and carrots on her plate, the waitress returned with a side pot of seasonal vegetables for her.
Genevieve, my daughter, had chosen the Vegetable Enchiladas (£13.95), which was a massive wrap, with nachos and cheese on the side plus a basket of chunky chips.
I got off lightly, only getting a pot of seasonal vegetables to go with my slow roasted belly of pork (£14.95).
But we enjoyed our food.
Grandma thought the braised beef pie to be very good in a nice sauce so she didn’t need the jug of extra gravy. Or the extra vegetables. Or the extra chips.
The enchilada was stuffed with kidney beans and courgettes, topped with a cheese and tomatoey sauce, accompanied by coleslaw and a nice salsa with a burst of heat in it. There was more than enough there for Genevieve without her touching her pot of cheese-covered nachos. Or her extra chips.
Which left me with a lot of eating of other people’s food to do.
The crackling on my belly pork was soft rather than crispy, which was just as well given the state of my teeth, but the meat was nicely cooked in an uncontroversial onion gravy that was a little gloopy. With black pudding in the mash and a poached egg hidden under the gravy, there was a lot going on, but it needed some of the seasonal vegetables – although I couldn’t manage many chips.
Ours wasn’t the only table to be overwhelmed by the amount of food that was served.
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But we still had room for dessert.
There were eight to choose from – STP, cheesecake, crumble – for £6.95 each.
They took 17 minutes to arrive and were accompanied by apologies for the delay from the waitress who, with her colleagues, worked tirelessly and well in and out of the busy rooms. They never forgot about us, no matter where they were flying.
Genevieve opted for the crème brulee which came with cookie dough ice cream, a couple of blackberries and two large shortbread biscuits. It had a properly crispy brulee top and she enjoyed it, although she had to give one biscuit to grandma to take home.
I loved my Foxy Fondant. It was deliciously melty: a gooey mess of hot chocolate sauce mixing with chocolate fondant plus light sponge and dribbling ice cream. I was really suspicious about the prospect of “Oreo dust” on my plate, but it worked really well, adding a little crunch to the goo.
Our bill came to £73: two courses for three with soft drinks.
It is not fine dining, but that is a fair price for good pub fare. The wait was too long to be comfortable, but it seems almost churlish to mention it in the context of a re-opened village pub that is using its glorious riverside garden to attract customers.
And with the mash, the nachos and all the extra chunky chips, we were well stuffed. It could be said that we were as full as the car park, the road outside, the conservatory...
The Fox & Hounds,
24 Teesway, Neasham, Darlington DL2 1QP
Web: thefoxandhoundsneasham.co.uk
Phone: 01325-790172
Surroundings: 7
Service: 6
Food quality: 7
Value for money: 7
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