Sunday Lunch and Wednesday Pie Night at The Three Horseshoes, Clay Cross
Published On Sunday 9 Mar 2025 by Sticky Beak
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Feeling rather thankful that we’d survived storm Eowyn, His Nibs called Mummy Bird to see if she fancied going out for Sunday Lunch that weekend. What a daft question; of course, she was more than up for it! It’s been far too long (embarrassingly so, actually) since we were last at The Three Horseshoes in Clay Cross, though memory told me that the food was superb.
As usual, we parked in the car park opposite The ‘Shoes and wandered over. Even though we’d booked a table for 2.30pm, the place was still heaving – always nice to see folks supporting a local business. One of the team greeted us warmly and showed us over to our table, and then Craig came over to say hello; in all the time we’ve known Mr Murtaugh, he’s never changed and still keeps himself firmly on ‘the shop floor’ with his team.
Having got us sorted with a large glass of Pinot Grigio (£7) for Mummy, a cheeky [large] NZ Sauv Blanc (£8) for me, and a pint of Moretti (£4.90) for The Man, we were left to have a gleg at the menu. As well as the usual specials, Chef had got Beef Short-Rib on, too, for £17.95, which came with all the regular Sunday roast trimmings. Mummy and His Nibs opted to have this tasty-sounding morsel, whilst I plumped for the Mixed Meat Roast (£15.95). The Sunday Roast also comes in small- and standard- portion sizes too, priced at £12.95 and £13.95 respectively; these two options offer just a single choice of meat: Topside of Beef, Pork or Turkey.
I saw one of the team taking some vegetables over to another table and smiled in happiness at the sight of the Leeks in Ham and Cheese Sauce – I’d forgotten about these, and was perked up by seeing them. It wasn’t long at all before our server was placing down the plates before us, ably assisted by her colleague who’d got the bowls of veggies in his hands. After passing me a pot of Horseradish from the nearby ‘sauce station’, we were bid to enjoy and left to tuck in.
The Short-Rib was ridiculously tender, falling away from the bone with the lightest touch of the knife, and the flavour was incredible! His Nibs passed me a forkful to try and, by golly, it certainly was delicious. More of the unctuous gravy [complete with onion and meat shreds] was in a separate pot on the plate; not for long though, as Mummy Bird larruped hers all over her plate! As she said “when something’s that good, you don’t want to leave a drop behind”.
Mind you, my own roast wasn’t at all shabby; I was really impressed by just how soft and moist the Pork and Turkey breast both were. It’s easy to over-cook these delicate meats and dry them out, but Chef had done an absolutely cracking job and my palate was most appreciative of his efforts. Equally fab was the Beef Topside and its richer, deeper, red meat flavour.
Hiding under our respective choices of meats was a large mound of glass-smooth Mash that had been nicely seasoned; its cousin, the Roast Potato, had no chance of hiding anywhere – talk about huge. Honestly, the roasties were so sizeable that, if you put the two halves together, many places would serve them up as a jacket spud…I kid you not!! Underneath their golden, lightly crisp exterior were beautifully fluffy, floury middles that had a superb nuttiness of their own – delish. Chef at the Three Horseshoes doesn’t do anything small, it would seem; I don’t think I’ve ever clapped eyes on such a large Sage and Onion Stuffing ball!
We’d got more than enough of the Peas, Cabbage and Carrots to all have decent portions: firsts and seconds, at that. The veggies had a nice crunch left to them that we all commented on; there’s nothing worse than seeing over-cooked, shrivelled up Peas and moving mushy veg around your mouth. If I had one criticism, it would be that there weren’t enough Leeks in the Ham and Cheese Sauce; not that this dish wasn’t wonderful (it was), but I wanted more of the Leeks’ oniony note on my palate. The Yorkshire Puds are homemade and had a lovely flavour to them, as did the meat-juice gravy that came with my Sunday lunch.
Our server had been round to check that we were enjoying our meal, and Craig came to check as well, and both were jolly happy to see a trio of clean plates as evidence of our satisfaction. Much as we wanted to, none of us had got room for a pudding; however, we have booked in for Wednesday’s Pie Night, so we’ve all said that we’re definitely having a sweet treat then!
So, Pie Night; every Wednesday 5-8.30pm. Priced at £10.95, each pie comes with your choice of Mashed Potato or Chips, Peas (Garden or Mushy) or Mixed Vegetables. The Man Bird was straight on the Corned Beef and Potato Pie, as soon as he spotted it; personally, I can’t stand Corned Beef (I call it s**t in a tin!!) but His Maj loves the stuff. To go with his pie, The Man had Chips and Garden Peas, Mummy Bird had Chips and Mushies with her Steak and Stilton Pie, and I had Chips and Mixed Veg with my Steak and Kidney morsel.
Now, we knew Chef was a feeder from our experience on Sunday, but, bloody hell, even we gulped at the sheer size of the portions!! They’re proper pies too, with pastry bottoms and tops, not just a pastry lid like you get at some places. The pastry itself was lovely and rich, its fat content giving a silky feel in the mouth as it melted on our tongues. Where the sides and top met, the pastry was especially plentiful, so I let mine soak in the extra gravy that I’d put on my plate, and when I came to eat it, it was nicely softened and had absorbed the meaty taste of the gravy. Now, before you all think “I bet it’s all pastry and no filling”, let me just say that you’d be wrong! There was more than enough filling in each of our three pies, and the meat was beautifully tender. I like a bit of offal every so often, and the Kidney in my choice was tender and deep in flavour – yummy!
We’d thought that the Roasties on Sunday had been large enough, but the Chips on pie night are large enough to have their own postcodes, too! The chunky spuds were the perfect partner to the plentiful pies and were cooked to golden perfection without any greasiness left; all you got was the gently nutty, floury potato taste. The Peas were in their own separate little pot, so Mummy set-to dunking her chips in the tasty Mushy Peas…and I had to do the same with one of my chips – purely for research purposes, you understand?! My vegetables were all cooked perfectly to retain a bit of crunch and all their inherent flavour, and I was the only one to completely clear her plate. What can I say, I’m a greedy bogger. Clearly the ‘Shoes team are well accustomed to folks saying they can’t manage pud; our lovely lady just chuckled as we all said that we were stuffed! Looks like we’ll have to visit Clay Cross again if we want to sample the puds at The Three Horseshoes; it’s a hard life really, ain’t it?!
We didn’t get pudding, as the portions for the Pies are even more generous than the Sunday Roasts!!!
Hot Wings very happily given to Craig and his brilliant Clay Cross team at The Three Horseshoes. I would heartily recommend that you book ahead and reserve a table; whilst we were chomping away on Sunday, several folks had to be turned away as there were no free tables available – even late in the afternoon/tea-time. On Pie Night, it was pretty much the same story, although there were a couple of tables left early evening. To book, give the team a buzz on 01246 861789 or visit the website www.threehorseshoescx.com and hit the ‘book now’ button. Food is served seven days a week: Mon-Sat 10am-2.30pm and 5-8.30pm, and Sunday Noon-5pm.
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