The Man Bird and I are at Centerparcs at Sherwood Forest by ourselves (lots of hanky-panky planned!) and decided to go and have a wander off park, into neighbouring Sherwood Pines for some scran. Clearly His Nibs had forgotten the trek it is (to him, anyway!), until we got about halfway down the first path...then the moaning began in earnest –think a five year-old in a car asking “are we nearly there yet” ?
After an hour or so’s walking we arrived at the entrance to ‘Go Ape’ and knew that the Pines Café was only a minute further on. There is still a one-way system in operation at the toilets and within the café, but you don’t have to wear a face covering or anything if you don’t want to. The inside of the venue is spotlessly clean and we sat down at one of the tables, made a mental note of its number, decided what we wanted to eat, and then The Man Bird went to the counter to order.
We had a glass of Orange Juice each, then I had a pot of Tea for one whilst His Nibs had a black coffee; he had the Rangers Breakfast (£8.25) with extra Sautéed Potato and I opted for the Healthy Breakfast (£6.95). Our food was cooked fresh-to-order, so it arrived piping hot and we tucked straight in, helping ourselves to sauces from a selection in the wooden cutlery and condiment box that our lovely server had brought over earlier.
I gained a whole, grilled Field Mushroom from The Man’s plate, so I played nicely and gave him some of my ‘fart-pellets’ aka Baked Beans. We had both opted for wholemeal bread to go with our brekkies, and it was lovely, springy stuff that had a super nutty, malty flavour to it. Both our eggs were excellent in taste, the yolks beautifully sunny and rich; my dish saw them softly poached, His Nibs’ were fried, but weren’t at all greasy in the mouth.
The Rangers Breakfast has all the perennial faves of a Traditional English fry-up in there: Bacon, Sausage, Hash Brown, and Tomato, as well as the aforementioned items, and each element was delicious. His Nibs said the Bacon was good quality stuff and had a deep, meaty taste to it, rather than being that insipid, water-injected cheap imposter. You certainly get a good plateful, that’s for sure – perhaps as well we’d walked the 3 miles to the café to work up an appetite!
My Healthy Breakfast was no less satisfying, the plate bulging with the amount of food on it. I particularly liked the mound of wilted Spinach; it was still nicely firm in the mouth with lots of flavour to enjoy. The halved Tomatoes had been grilled to colour their tops and warm them, and as I popped a piece into my mouth, I got a hit of the fruit/vegetables sweetness, intensified by the grilling process.
Perhaps our favourite item was the sautéed potato; this wasn’t what we’d anticipated in the slightest – but I always say that assumption is the mother of all... We were expecting the usual small cubes of ‘tater, but what we got were marvellous thick slices of oven-baked baked spuds. This meant that the centres were beautifully soft and comforting, with a sweet, earthy taste to them and the skin was lightly crisped on the outside: utterly moreish.
The café may be basic in its decor and feel, but the staff and food are anything but; it’s easy to see why folks make it a regular pit-stop – there were several regulars there, who the staff knew by name, enjoying a light bite before carrying on with their cycling adventure. If we’re back in the area, we’ll definitely be returning – Hot Wings happily awarded here, to the Sherwood Pines Cafe and its team.
