It’s been a good while (i.e. too long!) since The Man Bird and I visited The Marquis Pub and Kitchen on Codnor Denby Lane, so it was lovely to be invited along to try their Sunday Roast. To the rear of the venue is a function room that was currently hosting a baby shower so, as you can imagine, the car park was absolutely ram-a-lamma-ding-donged! We did manage to grab a spot right near the road, though, and there is plenty of on-road parking up and down the lane.
Walking inside, we were greeted warmly at the bar and then taken over to our table; the centre one of a trio of circular booths along one wall. If you ever get the chance to sit at one of these, take the time to appreciate the up-cycled, glass-topped table that’s fashioned from a massive cable reel – it was pretty impressive, I must say. The Marquis Pub and Kitchen is an open-plan space, but there’s lots of ‘areas’ to dine in, and the squishy chairs in front of the log-burner are just begging to be relaxed in.
The banquettes and free-standing chairs were upholstered in the same, modern grey, patterned fabric, which was picked up by the dove-grey on the lower half of the walls. On the upper half of the walls were rustic wooden boards, some of which had an ‘M’ branded into them; very swish and on-brand. Looking around, there was plenty of exposed red brickwork to admire and lovely wooden flooring; a real community pub with contemporary twists.
There was a lively atmosphere, and plenty of folks were already tucking into a hearty lunch. At The Marquis, the pricing structure is dead simple: you can have an individual course as priced, have 2 courses for £20pp, or go all-out and indulge in a slap-up 3 course feast for £25pp. Kids have their own menu as well, in case they don’t fancy a roast dinner; those of you with ‘fur kids’ will be happy to hear that they’re also welcome at The Marquis, and can even have their own doggy dinner.
Unsurprisingly, His Nibs and I had decided early on that we were going to fully commit and have all three courses – appetite allowing, of course! For starter, I ordered the King Prawn Pil Pil with Garlic Bread (£6.95) and The Man had Beef and Chorizo Meatballs with Marinara Sauce and served with Ciabatta (£6.95). It wasn’t long before our initial course was winging its way to us, and we dug in with gusto.
Contained in a terracotta bowl, my King Prawns were bathed in Olive Oil, sliced Garlic and Red Chillies, with two large, sliced-on-the-angle Garlic Bread chunks. The prawns were tad crisp on the outside, but not enough to make them dry or missile-hard! I swiftly scoffed them, savouring their sweet flesh and then grabbed some bread to soak up all the piquant, spicy oil they had been cooked in. To the side of the platter was a beautiful salad of mixed leaves and halved Cherry Tomatoes, making this a nice, light-on-the-tum starter.
Tucking into some seriously tasty Meatballs, The Man was oohing and aahing with happiness, and justifiably so; each meatball was a good size and pleasingly dense in texture. You clearly got the Beef and Chorizo coming through on the palate, and that Marinara sauce was unctuous and rich enough to stand alongside the meat. As with my starter, the side salad on His Nibs’ plate was cool, crisp, and colourful. Putting his cutlery down (and having used the Ciabatta to mop up all the sauce), the Man said that he’d quite happily have this as a main course in future if it was on the menu.
Clearing away our starter cutlery and crockery, our lovely server asked if we wanted sauces with our roasts, returning with some chunky Horseradish and sunny-toned English Mustard, as well as fresh cutlery and napkins.
I had chosen Roast Derbyshire Beef (£16.49) and His Nibs opted to have Honey-and-Mustard Roast Gammon. All the mains come with Creamy Mash, Roasties, Stuffing Roulade, Honey Glazed Carrot and Parsnip, Seasonal Vegetables, Yorkshire Pudding, and Homemade Gravy. As is our usual habit, we also ordered a side of Cauliflower Cheese (£3.49). Chef is clearly a feeder; both plates were fully laden with all manner of items…with meat being front-and-centre! All three slices of served-pink Beef were excellent, melting in my mouth instantly and releasing their deep flavour over my tongue. Equally amazing were the thick, meaty slices of Gammon that The Man was tucking into; tender to the bite and beautifully moist, this was real quality stuff.
We both loved the Bacon-wrapped Stuffing Roulade; presentationally, this was a little bit different and, flavour-wise, was hitting like a champ! The Honey-zhuzhed Carrot and Parsnip halves were nicely softened to provide a nice hint of caramelisation, and the Broccoli and Cabbage were both cooked to retain a hint of bite. Spot on, Chef. You can’t beat a proper, home-done Yorkie and this delight was perfect; you could tell that the oil had been smoking-hot when the batter mix had been poured in – puffed up and airy, this was a bloomin’ fab effort and the real McCoy. If we had a criticism, it would be that the Roasties were a little bit too tough on their outers to easily cut through: we could’ve done with a steak knife to do the job. Saying that, the effort to pierce their outer was well worth it; we were rewarded with fluffy, nutty-tasting inners that were like oven-done baked spuds. Regaining some ‘spud cred’, though, was the herbed, skilfully seasoned, glass-smooth Mash; this was a total treat to savour.
Taking the crown for the Roast Dinner was the Cauliflower Cheese. No exaggeration, some pricier, high-end establishments could learn a trick or two from the Marquis’ Chef about how to do this accompaniment! The Cauliflower florets were all of an even size so that they cooked uniformly to retain a nice firmness when bitten into; and the Cheese sauce? Well, this was utterly magnificent; silky in the mouth, rich tasting and with a baked-golden crust that transformed into strings when dug into with the serving spoon. The best bit was that it tasted as good as it looked, no hood-winkery here, thank you very much!
As our server took away our cleared plates and cutlery, she asked if we were in the market for dessert; we most definitely were, but would appreciate a little hiatus of 10 minutes or so. Having that little breather made all the difference to our enjoyment of Chocolate Nemesis (£6.95, for me) and Rolo Sticky Toffee Pudding (also £6.95, for His Maj).
Described as a ’rich, moist Chocolate Torte’, the Chocolate Nemesis was exactly that! The pleasure centre in my brain lit up like a pro-played pinball machine as the impossibly high Cocoa content hit my palate; this was what it feels like when you die and go to foodie heaven. Rich, gooey fudginess roiled over my tongue like the goddess it was, enveloping my senses completely. To say I’m not a chocoholic, this delight could convert me to that club in an instant: take my money and give me the badge, card and t-shirt – I’ll carry any fan banner you want!! Dark Chocolate and Orange is a classic pairing, and here the citrus came in a couple of guises: as teeny-tiny pieces within the silky Chantilly Cream (no artificial flavouring here) and gently sticky, chewy rounds of Candied Orange. Total genius from Chef and his kitchen team.
Usually, Sticky Toffee Puddings are served warm, but at The Marquis Pub and Kitchen on Codnor Denby Lane it is served at room temperature. Once he’d got over the instant surprise of this, The Man said that, actually, it was really rather nice and seemed to intensify the Toffee flavour in the mouth. Satisfyingly dense in texture, the pudding was packed with rich, silky Toffee notes that were also present in the liquid Rolo sauce that had been liberally swirled over it and around the bowl. Showing our age, His Nibs shared his last (it was the only one, but it still counts, right?) Rolo with me; this was easy to do as the sweet had been halved and made into a ‘butterfly’ on the top of the dessert.
Sitting back, we were feeling rather chuffed with ourselves that we’d managed all 3 courses; not an easy task when faced with such a huge volume of scrummy food! The Marquis team had been incredible throughout; ensuring glasses stayed filled, that we were enjoying our food (though I think they could tell by the looks on our faces) and generally being lovely. Hot Wings very happily given to this fab venue, we will be back to try your other dishes – maybe even the Steak Night?
To book a table call 01773 462424 or visit their Facebook Page “Marquis Pub and Kitchen” and pop them a message. The Marquis Pub and Kitchen is open Mon-Thurs 3pm-10pm, Fri-Sun Noon-10pm.
