For more information and updates see, for now, the Abbey Stores blog and watch this space for an announcement regarding a website for Coombe Bissett Stores.

So, as of the 11 December 2007 we now have The Hidden Brewery in charge, with a range of 6 of their real ales. Chatting to the manager last night he told us to expect refurbishment works in the New Year (I hope the gents receive some attention) and the restaurant to re-open upstairs in March.

Beer availability should also increase, with two extra pumps being installed for micro-brewery guest ales. It was also pleasing to see taps for Palm and Grolch Wheat Beer, although there were also taps for Carling and Guinness. Luckily for all of us there is no provision of keg bitter – a customer last night who asked for John Smith’s Smooth was politely told to either buy proper beer or drink something else. After a taster of Quest he bought a pint of that.

Salisbury is crying out for a pub that is not owned by Enterprise Inns, and therefore not subject to their restrictive pricing and buying policies. We are obviously lucky to have free houses like Deacons, The Village and The Rai D’or, but for us Market Square types the free house pub choices are pretty thin on the ground.

I look forward to becoming a regular in the Chough and supporting this ambitious brewery turn this pub so full of potential into a great boozer.

Link to Googlemaps for location.

A quick update after a year has passed: The Chough is going well and many refurbishments have taken place. Generally a range of 6-8 real ales are available – all from the Hidden Brewery but it would be nice to see some guest beers instead of just the Hidden range.

The kitchen is producing excellent meals – so good that I held my staff Christmas dinner at the Chough and had a great time. The 3 course Sunday lunch is simply the best I have found in Salisbury and even better it comes in under £10.

Niggardly points that I think need attention include: there is no quieter, warmer dining area for people who just wish to eat with a degree or privacy, and on occasions the ambitious beer range effects the quality – I would trim the number of ales back to give a better turnover to the remainder.

The pub itself is low ceilinged and fairly small inside, with a busy standing bar area facing the entrance and chairs and tables laid out for dining. For me the nicest area was outside where one can either enjoy the large garden or cosy up in the covered and heated area, where smoking is permitted. There is a hatchway into the bar for service, although a trip to the loo means walking all the way to the front of the pub and in to the main entrance.

Last night was the Fifth annual V&A fireworks evening, with mulled wine, mulled Blavk Rat cider and a BBQ. The bar was also open, with a choice of 3 real ales (possibly 4). The only other cider available was Stowford Press which was slightly disappointing – it would have been nice to see at least onereal cider to choose from.

I tried a pint of Slater’s Supreme from Staffordshire – this was quite a pale browish ale, very bright ad in excellent condition. Very moreish and a good strength at 4.7%. I also ordered a pint of Paulaner – hoping it would be the cloudy wheat beer and a little disappointed that is was in fact the clear Pilsner. Still, a nice pint and in a stunning tall glass.

The star attraction was the mulled Black Rat. A hefty pan sitting on a burner with floating chunks of apple, the concoction itself was pretty good but much improved with a dose of dark rum from an illicit hip flask.

At around 9pm the 50 or so strong crowd of customers led out into the cold to watch the fireworks – we walked through the village to the underpass (I had no idea Netherhampton boasted anything as grand as an underpass) and into a neighbouring field where for a good 10 minutes or so fireworks erupted from up on the hillside. It was a good display, with donations to the Lion’s Club optional, only slightly marred with the tractor’s headlights illuminating the firing party, but also glaring the watching drinkers.

The procession back to the pub reminded me of Wassailing in Herefordshire, but without the comforting light from flaming torches. After being whipped in the face by an errant bramble I will remember a flashlight next year.

The BBQ was simply a burger or two sausages in a bun, with onions if required. Either was £3.00 which was reasonable, the mulled cider was also £3.00 for about half a pint which was OK, given the free fireworks. A round of four pints, including my Paulaner, came to £11.70, again OK.

Transport to and from, for the five of us, was by taxi from Value Cars initially with a fiendly and helpful driver, who explained that it was quite a quiet night so getting a taxi back would not be a problem. Unfortunately the night was so quiet the driver went home, leaving us slightly stranded until City Cabs Ltd sent no less than the boss himself to collect us. The fare each way for 5 people worked out at no more than £6.00 per head, including a tip.

All in all it was a really good night out to a nice pub with free entertainment. Well done the V&A and I look forward to next year.

For the more adventurous out there, or those with more time and less darkness, the V&A is a good bike ride from Salisbury centre along the path known as Broken Bridges. This route is hopefully going to be upgraded – read more at the Connect2/Sustrans website.

The EU believe that the duty exemption is an unfair subsidy for producers in this country and want to revoke it.

If this happens then the current and future range of ciders and perries from the likes of Cider by Rosie will either not be financially viable to sell at current prices or will become a large-scale commercial product which sometimes is just not the same.

If you would like to show your support for the smaller producers, and fight the loss of the 7000 litre limit, please sign the petition here.

If you would like to learn more about the UK craft cider and perry scene, please have a look at the UK Cider website. You could also join the email list for up to date news and discussion.

Abbey Stores are once again organising the beer, cider and wine tent and if you find your way to their homepage there is a free beer offer that you can take advantage of.

For more information about the Market Square event, and confirmed stall holders, please visit this page.

To help warm those stressed-out shoppers, Abbey Stores will be selling mulled wine this Thursday (21st December 2006), outside the chocolate shop on the High Street. Knowing them, it will be good wine with just the right amount of spice, and will require much restraint to limit yourself to just one glass… (and end up like Old Saint Nick, below)

3 Fish Row
Mon – Sat 8.30am – 6pm
Sun – 10am – 4pm

A very recent addition to Salisbury is Bird and Carter Delicatessen, housed in a fine timber-frame building on Fish Row, next to Pritchetts the butchers. It is independently run by Joff Bird and Annie Carter. They offer fine chacuterie (cooked and cured meats, English and continental), cheeses, pastries, hand-made cakes, savouries such as olives, pickles, sauces and chutneys, tinned fish (including the sublime Cornish pilchards from Newlyn, Penzance), coffee and all manner of dry deli items, interesting soft drinks, and filled baguettes (beautifully, and more importantly ecologically, wrapped in a peace of food grade wax paper which is biodegradable). They also provide a small catering service.

I like the feel of this deli. Bird and Carter obviously take pride in their food and pride in how they sell it. They are friendly and knowledgeable and obviously care about their shop. It’s pristine, well-lit and well-laid out without being pretentious. I’m looking forward to being introduced to more gastronomic delights and I’m really pleased to see a fresh deli in Salisbury city centre.

69 Brown Street, Salisbury, SP1 2AS.
For reservations: 01722 327137

Freehouse, with ancient origins (apparently 1292), the Rai d’Or – literally, Beam of Gold is a pub of good character and also lovingly known as Salisbury’s best ‘Thai pub’. It used to be the city’s medieval brothel whose madam, later founded Trinity Hospital next door for retired prostitutes in 1370. More recent infamy, some would say, was the pub’s period as a rough biker’s pub, then known as The Star.
There are generally only one or two real ales on tap, usually from the Downton Brewery or Stonehenge Ales who brew Great Bustard, the profits of which go towards the efforts to re-introduce the bird to Salisbury Plain. There is also sometimes Butt’s Brewery (West Berks) beers who brew organic ales. They also serve Moles Brewery’s(Melksham, Wilts) Black Rat clear and sparkly edition of their legendary cider. All the beer is beautifully kept and there is a good wine list too. This is definitely the ’snug’ of Salisbury pubs, coming into its own during chilly autumn and winter nights next to the cosy fires and served by the very warm and friendly bar staff.

Of course, there’s the food. Excellently cooked Thai food, with much of it made from locally sourced ingredients such as that from Futurefarms co-op in Martin, Hampshire. There is a good variety on the menu and all dishes can be made vegetarian and to your palette’s chilli tolerance on request. Follow it up with home made puds such as Wiltshire Apple Cake, made locally. They do get busy with eaters so if you just want to sup a pint and it’s a Thursday to Saturday night, don’t go too late if you want to sit down. The main dining area of the pub is non-smoking.
We like the Rai d’Or. It’s the pub that one January night persuaded us to move to Salisbury.

Harnham Road, Salisbury, SP2 8JG

I mentioned East Harnham Deli a few posts back on our walk to Odstock. Here’s a little more about it. Neatly perched just beyond Harnham bridge, it retains its original name on the shop hoarding, ‘A. Hand and Sons’. Outside are blackboards advertising the delicious wares of the deli from sweets and cakes (the best lemon drizzle cake we’ve tasted, they use real lemons and lots of them!) to homemade tarts and pasties. It sells a good selection of ‘dry’ deli foods made by decent companies including pasta, rice, cereals, tinned soup and more.

The real draw of the deli is however its fresh produce, much of it homemade which caters evenly for meat eaters and vegetarians. How wonderful to be able to buy excellent quality chorizo and marinated olives at the same time? Also available are stunning cheeses, fresh locally grown vegetables and fresh bread – the cashew nut bread is particularly good. The cold drinks available are also worthy of mention. They stock almost the whole range of Fentimans botanically brewed drinks including ginger beer, real lemonade and our favourite, danelion and burdock. This place is obviously run by people who love their food and drink and want to run a proper deli – it would be good to find out more about who they are! The fact it is open on Sundays also tells you something of their desire to not just run a shop but provide a service to the community and to visitors passing through.

East Harnham Deli have been nominated for the UKTV Local Food Hero 2006 awards. We wish them the best.

Last Saturday afternoon, after a hard day’s wandering, we finally managed to go into Polly Tearooms rather than walk past wistfully. I ordered a traditional cream tea, consisting of a pot of tea (enough for at least two cups), a sizeable fruit scone (choice of fruit or plain), strawberry jam (choice of strawberry, raspberry, apricot) and clotted cream (or whipped if preferred but why would you?), while my partner-in-tea went for a cream slice (slice is far too diminuative for what it was). As you enter, you can’t stop coveting the array of beautiful cakes and confectionery to choose from: gateaux, meringues, eclairs like you’ve never seen such things. Which one? Which one shall I have?? The tea, although tea-bag was of a high quality and you can buy boxes of it that have smiling ‘Beef-Eaters’ on them (just so there is no doubt about the Englishness of the tea) from the shop. There is also a chocolate factory on the first floor and you can buy the chocolate in the shop among other things like teapots, jams and freshly ground coffee. You can also enjoy Polly’s as a restaurant for light meals but we haven’t done this yet.

A bit of cursory history. The Tearooms have only belonged to Polly since December 2003. Before that it was Snell’s Tea Rooms until it was bought by Sir Brian Mussell. Polly’s older sister, also Polly, is a tea room in Marlborough.

Taking tea at Polly’s is what I can happily describe as pleasant and satisfying. Exchanging slurps of tea with bites of cream and jam has a certain zen to it which I don’t think is equalled by anything other than having a beer after a frustrating day’s work. You feel you are able to sigh in comfort and reflect upon the world with ease. Aaaahhh.