Dinner At The Joiners Arms In Quarndon
Published On Wednesday 9 Mar 2022 by Sticky Beak
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Our recent visit to the newly expanded Hunloke Arms in Wingerworth got The Man Bird and I reminiscing about the other fab venues within the ‘Chilled Pubs’ group and so we plotted our next visit: the Joiners Arms at Quarndon. This venue has also had a bit of a zhuzh-up and now features the same striking Cherry Blossom tree in its Workshop restaurant which gives it the same glam factor as the twinkling light-strewn Garden Room.
There’s plenty of onsite parking so we found a spot to pull into easily enough and made our way inside. We’d arrived a bit early and our table wasn’t quite ready so the friendly chap sorted us out with a seat in the bar area and gave us a couple of menus to look at in the meantime; no fuss, no hassle, just calm efficiency. It wasn’t long before one of the hosts was escorting us to our table: the one that was smack under the impressive blossoms!
Our server for the evening was a super-friendly young lady by the name of Lily and she soon got us sorted out with some drinks and was bringing over some water and glasses for us before we even had to ask – now that’s what I call service!
It didn’t take us long to decide what we were having to eat: the Big Chilli Chicken Yakatori stick with Greek Salad and Cajun Spiced Sweet Potato Wedges as the sides (£18) for me and the Trio of Mini Burgers (£14.50) with upgrade to posh chips (an extra £1) for The Man Bird. Lily took our order and read it back to us to ensure that it was correct, and very skilfully took the opportunity to up-sell the sides and upgrades to the fries. We may have been quick to decide on our food choices but the kitchen, unfortunately, wasn’t quite so speedy – it was 7.25pm when our mains arrived (our table was booked for 6.45pm and Lily hadn’t been slow in taking our order, so no blame being laid at her doorstep). I appreciate that if you want food cooked fresh-to-order that there is a wait, but I did feel that it was a tad excessive on this occasion; thankfully, the food was delicious and plentiful when it arrived.
The Greek Salad was crisp, cool and fresh, chockfull of scrumminess such as peppery Rocket, crunchy fine Green Beans, intensely sweet Sunblushed Tomatoes, crumbled salty Feta cheese and tangy Balsamic. I liked the fact that the salad bowl was placed in the direct path of the skewer when I unhitched it, releasing the chunks of moist Chicken breast, charred Red Onion and Red Peppers into it; it minimised any mess and the juices could coat the salad, adding even more flavour onto my palate. The Cajun Sweet Potato wedges were mahooooosive! I love how Sweet Potato goes comfortingly soft when cooked and its natural sweet flavour seemed to make the spicy Cajun notes pop even more brightly in the mouth. You certainly get your money’s worth with this dish; my keen appetite was nicely satisfied.
His Nibs hadn’t quite known what burger to choose which is why he selected the Trio of Mini Burgers: it really does give you the best of all worlds! The mini Pit Burger (Beef) was topped with juicy Pulled Pork, melted smoked Cheddar, crispy Bacon and fried Onions and a Gherkin (which I got – yum!!) and the flavours all married well together on the palate. There’s something really satisfying about a good burger and judging by the grin on The Man’s chops, this was a bobby dazzler. In contrast to the deep beef burger was the lighter, creamier Chicken morsel, but don’t go thinking that this was all sweetness and light; oh no, the ample kick from the Cajun spices saw that the taste buds were kept occupied! The silky soft strands of Pulled Pork were bulging out of the bun that housed them and instantly seduced the tongue as their juices swept over it – this was the one that had His Nibs licking his fingers as the liquid dripped down them! For an added pop of colour, the Pulled Pork burger was topped with the richly coloured Coleslaw that also came in a separate pot so that you could add more of it of you wished to.
The Posh Chips were marvellously crisp on the outside with pillow soft inners that every chip lover yearns for. Teeny tiny bits of grated Parmesan clung to each chips’ surface, imparting that distinctive twang on the tongue, and earthy, indulgent Truffle oil added a beautiful richness that rounded things off nicely on the palate.
We’d (i.e. Greedy Guts, aka His Nibs!) also ordered some of the Beer Battered Onion Rings and they were impressive in their size, being nice and thick and coated in a fabulously crunchy, crisp batter. We didn’t manage to finish them all given the rest of the morsels we’d been tucking into, but it wasn’t because they weren’t super-scrummy – more due the fact that someone had eyes bigger than his belly!
You can’t come to one of the Chilled Pubs’ venues and not have their made-fresh-every-day Gelato; you just can’t! Our greed really does know no bounds but, blissfully, our common sense kicked in and we shared a Choccy Woccy Hoo Haar (£8.50) between us for dessert. The Belgian Chocolate Gelato was other-worldly in terms of rich flavour and indulgence, but factor in Hot Fudge sauce, Chocolate Brownie chunks, Fudge pieces, Chocolate sticks and shavings, whipped Cream and a freshly baked sweet Waffle and you have yourselves a proper show-stopper of a sweet treat. The table fell silent as we gave this minx our full attention, smacking our lips at every mouthful and grinning like village idiots at each other as chocolate spread over our faces!
Lily had been an absolute superstar, checking back frequently at each course and making sure we had enough to drink. The whole team worked tirelessly to keep tables cleaned so that diners weren’t kept waiting longer than necessary for their table and it was thanks to their efforts that we had a great evening at the Joiners Arms. Given that the rest of our food had been timely in arriving, I can only assume there was a glitch in the kitchen when our mains we being prepared which, let’s face it, could happen to any venue, so in light of that being the only mishap I’m still happy to award Hot Wings to this Quarndon venue.
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