Out For Dinner At The White Hart in Duffield
Published On Sunday 27 Oct 2024 by Sticky Beak
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How on earth has another year passed??! Seriously, I have no idea where the months have gone; but His Nibs and I have made it through another year together, which is always something worth celebrating.
Monday is a quiet day in the F&B industry, and it’s many venues’ day off after a busy weekend. Near us, several of our ‘go to’ restaurants were enjoying their time off, so we ventured further afield to Duffield and The White Hart. The White Hart is somewhere we’ve been before, albeit a long while ago, and we enjoyed the food there so we ventured back.
The one important thing to remember when you park in their carpark is to input your vehicle registration number in the pad at the bar; if you don’t, you’ll get a fine! Having done that, we said that we’d got a table booked and one of the team took us through to the dining area.
Over the years, we’ve had some really fab servers but, I have to say, none so funny as Maciej; this guy manages to be super-polite and professional, whilst making you giggle. And he doesn’t even realise he’s doing it – just a natural talent! As I say, though, very professional; in a jig he’d got our drinks order sorted (medium glass of Sauv for me, £8.25, a pint of Neck Oil for The Man, £6.20) and offered us water for the table without us needing to ask.
To start, I went for the Salt and Pepper Squid with Roasted Garlic Aioli, and Lemon (£8.25) and The Man chose the Arancini with Peas, Chipotle Mayo, and Vegetarian Parmesan (£7.25). Our main course choices were Melanzane Pizza (£10.75) and a side order of Caesar Salad (£3.75) - I have to have salad with Pizza for some reason?! -and the Double Smash Burger (£14.50).
We didn’t have long to wait until Maciej was placing our starters in front of us, and they both looked beautiful, visually. His Nibs’ trio of Arancini balls were lightly golden on their crisped outers and ribbons of steam arose when he cut into them. The comforting rice contained sweet-tasting peas and had been zhuzhed with the distinct note of Parmesan to make a gorgeously flavoursome starter.
I had been tempted by the Heritage Tomato and Burrata salad to start with, but had eschewed it as I was having Tomato and Fior di Latte on my Pizza, and felt it was too ‘samey’. What is it they say; go with your gut? Should’ve listened. Not that there was anything inherently wrong with my Squid, it was just that the ratio of Batter:Seafood was completely wrong. The batter itself was delightfully bubbly and crisp and not at all greasy, but the Squid inside was a bit on the skimpy side and got totally overwhelmed: both in terms of taste and texture. Oh well, you can’t win them all, I suppose; and, as I said, there was nothing ‘wrong’ with it per se.
Maciej had checked on our progress (as he was with all the tables) and came to clear our empty plates away in a timely manner. Whilst we waited for our mains, I took in our surroundings a bit more, admiring the many nods to the name of the venue: the eye-catching painting of a group of Stags and the Deer-head sculpture mounted on the wall were the most memorable. Creating a calming, but welcoming ambience, the colour scheme was fairly neutral and the lighting subtle; splashes of colour came via the numerous scatter cushions that adorned the banquettes – I purposed one as a back-rest, and very comfy it was.
When it arrived, my Pizza was certainly a good size and the air bubbles in the dough had charred at the crusts’ edge, making a superb contrast to the toppings. As well as the marvellously sweet San Marzano Tomatoes and the ridiculously creamy Fior di Latte, there were squishy pieces of Aubergine, wilted, grassy-tasting Spinach and rich, fragrant Black Olives for my palate to enjoy. As if that wasn’t enough scrumminess, and it definitely was, there was also spicy Harissa and cooling Mint Yoghurt drizzled over it all. This treasure more than made up for my underwhelming starter.
In the meantime, His Nibs had been busying himself with the mighty beast that was his Double Smash Burger! This huge morsel was jam-packed with flavour and texture; if you like a burger, this will be right up your street. Dense and satisfyingly rich in taste, the patty was accompanied by crunchy Iceberg, crisp Gherkin- and juicy, sweet Tomato- slices, double American-style Cheese and a really addictive Baconnaise – talk about a flavour sensation! The fries that came with the burger were served in a separate metal pot and were nice and crisp. If you want to go all-in, you can add Smoked Streaky Bacon for £2 extra, or Blue Cheese for £2 more…or totally pig-out and add both!
The lovely Maciej had checked back on us a couple of times, both to see that we were happy with our food and to see if we needed any more drinks. When he cleared away the plates, he asked if we wanted dessert and, although we couldn’t manage one each, we said that we would share the Chocolate Brownie Sundae (£7.25). As a little surprise for our anniversary, Maciej brought out a triangle of Chocolate Brownie for us to have with our Sundae – how sweet is that?
The Brownie was amazingly gooey and rich and cocoa-laden, and the pieces of it were mingled amongst the scoops of Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Creams, the swirls of thick, whipped Cream and the rivers of dark Chocolate sauce. This sweet treat is a chocoholics dream, it really is! Utterly delicious is all I can say about it, really.
We were bidden good night on our way out and I can honestly say that Maciej made our night, bless him. Other than the hiccup with my choice of starter, the whole meal had been great; we’d definitely go back to The White Hart at Duffield, so Hot Wings given.
To book a table head to www.whitehartduffield.co.uk and hit the ‘reservations’ tab to get the ResDiary up. You can also ring 01332 841141. The White Hart is open 7-days-a-week: Mon-Sat Noon-11pm, Sunday Noon-10pm.
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