Back To The Village Inn, Marehay For Their Pizzas
Published On Tuesday 12 Sep 2023 by Sticky Beak
See Recent Dining Out Reviews | See All Recent Reviews
It’s that time of year again: Mummy Bird’s birthday – and like the late Queen, she doesn’t just have one day of celebrations…it’s usually about a week!! Having visited The Village Inn at Marehay a short while ago for Sunday Carvery and loving it, Mummy decided she’d like to return and sample Phil’s homemade Pizzas. It’s been a while since The Man and I have had one of these delights, but we remembered how yummy they were – especially the Pizza Garlic Bread with Caramelised Onion.
The Village Inn is the hub of its local community and regularly hosts the Rotary Club meetings, so we went in a bit earlier to avoid the rush, but we still weren’t the first ones in! We parked the jalopy up I the ample car park and walked over, getting a lovely warm greeting from the team behind the bar; drinks were ordered and put on our table tab, and we were shown to our window table.
Having toasted the birthday girl, we turned our attention to the double-sided menu, flipping it over to the Pizza side. Phil came over and wished Mummy “Happy Birthday”, which made her evening, and it’s this level of service and interest that sets The Village Inn apart from a lot of other venues. We ordered the Pizza Garlic Bread with Mozzarella and Caramelised Onion, saying it could come out whenever it was cooked, so we could nibble at it (£6.25, the regular pizza GB is £4.95) and the Spanish, Pear and Blue Cheese, and Hot and Spicy Pizzas for mains. The Pizzas range in price from £10.25 for a Ham and Mushroom one, to £12.95 for the Hot and Spicy type.
You can’t fail to see the wood-fired pizza oven as you walk in the door of The Village Inn, but you perhaps overlook the dough stretcher; when Phil started to put the dough through this contraption, we were mesmerised! Purists will no doubt be aghast at the use of machinery, but it makes sense really, as it means any of the team can make consistently good, thin bases (roughly 12”), and customers know they’re going to be good every time.
First to arrive at our table was, as predicted, the Garlic Pizza Bread with Mozzarella and Caramelised Onion and, oooooh, was it tasty! The crisp dough base was spread liberally with the Garlic Butter and then lots of creamy Mozzarella was added, and finally the sticky, rich Caramelised Onion concoction to top it all off. This little minx would suit me by itself, just with a side salad, for a lighter bite to be savoured in the beer garden with a cold beer, it is that delicious.
The Spanish pizza has Ham and Chorizo as its meaty element, complimented by rich tasting slices of Black Olive, intensely sweet Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Peppers, and lifted by peppery Rocket. The colours stimulated the eyes every bit as much as the flavours tickled the taste buds, and Mummy bird was absolutely determined that she was going to finish every last bit of it! It took her some time, but she blooming well did it.
I think I had the Goats Cheese Pizza (£11.75) last time – which I can highly recommend -, and this time I’d opted for the Pear and Blue Cheese variety, complete with tangy Balsamic glaze and Rocket. This beauty was just as scrummy and had plenty of sweet Pear pieces on, whose flavour tempered the robust Stilton very nicely so that both elements were balanced on my palate.
Fans of heat will really like His Nibs’ choice, the Hot and Spicy Pizza; this has Chicken Tikka pieces and Pepperoni slices on, and a secret weapon of Phil’s rather zingy, homemade Chilli Beef – if you want to go for a real bum-squeaker, ask for more chili flakes on! Plentiful amounts of Peppers and Onion complete this pizza’s repertoire, and very satisfying it was, too, according to The Man.
Whilst we were munching steadily through the hearty Pizzas, the team asked if we were happy with our meals – our huge smiles and Passata-stained mouths told them that were we! His Nibs and I decided to go all-in and have dessert: Treacle Sponge and Custard (£4.75) for Him, and Lemon Meringue Pie with Cream for me (£4.95); Mummy opted for another glass of Pinot for her sweet treat…well, it was her birthday (nearly) after all. We couldn’t let her drink alone though, could we, so we also had a second drink: a large (250ml) Pinot Grigio costs £5.25, a 175ml Sauvignon Blanc costs £3.85, and a pint of Birra Moretti will set you back £5.75 – very reasonable, I’m sure you’ll agree.
Desserts at The Village Inn are just as ample as the savoury offerings; I was presented with a huge slab of Lemon Meringue, and The Mans’ dish was just about over-flowing! Our choices couldn’t have been more different; where mine was light and zesty, The Man’s was deep, rich and comforting. Both of them were wonderful in terms of flavour, though, and we both put our spoons down with smiles on our faces.
Mummy Bird had already been made to feel like a VIP when her pizza had come with a candle in its centre, but she was proper made up when Phil said he’d covered her Pizza and glass of Pinot as a birthday treat! Thank you, Phil, this was a wonderful surprise, and very much appreciated.
The Village Inn at Marehay also does a collection service if you want to have your pizza in the comfort of your own home, and a couple of family’s were taking advantage of this, much to the delight of their children. Children are welcome inside this venue, but dogs aren’t, although there were a couple sitting outside in the beer garden with their owners and Phil took out some fresh water for them.
Hot Wings happily given again for the Pizza offering here; given how enthused Mummy was, I doubt it’ll be so long until our next visit! To book a table, ring 01773 743970 or visit the www.villageinnmarehay.co.uk
The Village Inn is closed Monday and Tuesday, opens 5pm-11pm Wednesday-Saturday, and from Noon-11pm on Sunday.
| A Return Visit To Dodgins Yard In North Shields Located on the Fish Quay at North Shields is a place called Dodgins Yard. We've visited here before as a Flock whilst on holiday, and really liked its laid-back vibe. As soon as The Man Read The Article | |
| A Sunday Roast at Santo's Higham Farm Hotel, Higham Mummy Bird has had a proper rough trot of things lately and we've not managed to get out as much as usual, so it was lovely to recently pop to Santo's in Higham for a spot of Read The Article | |
| Dinner At Sol Y Sombra Tapas Bar, Broughty Ferry, Dundee The Man Bird and I were slowly making our way southwards, his day job tasks in Scotland done. Our final night saw us land in Dundee well, Broughty Ferry, to be exact, and we Read The Article | |
| Out For Dinner At Tom Yum Thai Restaurant in Belper Tucked away in Strutts' North Mill in Belper is a rather lovely Thai restaurant called Tom Yum Thai Kitchen. It has a cave-like feel to it, almost like a secret hideaway, thanks to the just Read The Article | |
| Dinner At The Seaview Restaurant At The Bandstand Hotel, Nairn Scotland The halfway point of our foray into Scotland for The Man Birds day job saw us pitch up in Nairn, just outside Inverness. It had been a beautiful, if long, journey Read The Article | |
| Dinner With Friends At Monkey and I Thai Restaurant, Boston One, well two, things you can be sure of when His Nibs and I visit Bestie Bird and The Bolton Wanderer, is that there is going to be plenty of food and drink involved! Read The Article | |
| Out For Dinner At The Bull Shed at Handley Farm Near Belper Its been a while since The Man and I went out with Fledge and The Beau, and its also been a (long) while since we last visited The Bull Shed at Handley Farm; proverbially Read The Article | |
| Dinner At The Recently Opened Turkish Chef Restaurant and Wine Bar, Heanor I'm a firm believer in manifesting. The previous week I'd suggested to The Man that we eat out when he was out of the office, but he'd pooh-pooh'd Read The Article | |
| Dinner At Dante's Italian Restaurant In Colinton, Edinburgh No-one can accuse The Man Bird of letting the grass grow under his feet when it comes to his day job (getting him to vacuum round is a different matter!); from Kendal, it was onwards Read The Article | |
| Dinner At Pedro's Casa In Kendal, Cumbria Yet again, His Nibs and I were on the road; and once more, we were combining his day job with our favourite past-time: dining out. Our first stop was to Kendal in the Lake District, where we were Read The Article | |