Taunton Deane
Master Thatcher

Master Thatcher

Lisiuex Way, Taunton Deane, United Kingdom

Kebab • Pizza • Steak • Asiatic


"This pub is local to me. I hadn 't been there, due to Covid closure for a couple of years. . I went for a Sunday lunch to see how it is these days. I also went with a view to inviting my family, of all ages in the near future. The staff are friendly and helpful. It is a clean and healthy environment. The pub/ restaurant appears to be struggling a bit with the return of regular customers. I was first to eat my lunch. The best time for freshly cooked food. The lunch was not ready at the advertised time. Not a problem as I would prefer a meal properly cooked, than rushed. There is a barrier so that customers cannot breathe over the food. This is good for health and hygiene. I want to rave about my meal, but I can 't. It could be unfair of me as for years I was a qualified experienced chef. These are helpful hints, and unasked for advice to up the game for reviews. Give the chefs more time to cook the carvery together.,perhaps arrive to cook 1 hour earlier ? I can only comment on the pork, as this is what I had. Start with rubbing salt all over the crackling skin. Score it in lines in advance for easy carving. Start on a high oven temperature to seal in the juices. After approximately half to three quarters of an hour turn down the heat. It will depend on how many joints are being cooked in the same oven. Do not baste the crackling till it has started to 'bubble '. The pork was hard (could not cut it, or the crackling To avoid this slow down the cooking process. Lowertemperature andlonger in the oven. Timeforthe joint to 'rest ' You should still see clear juices. . This is why I say come in 1 hour earlier and start the meat first. On carving the knife should be able to glide through the meat. (Not a fight between carver and joint! Cauliflower/ brocolli cheese. The sauce had not been cooked through before being added to the vegetables. I could taste the flour from the roux. I was taught to cook out the flour at each stage before adding the milk. The cheese used lacked flavour. All these things are simple mistakes than can easily be adjusted. Why are the parsnips burnt? Cut the oven temperature. Burnt parsnips are not flavouful, just burnt. The stuffing was undercooked too. Compliments for the heated up frozen veg, There is more I could say, but I thank you for a generally good plate of food, and fairly priced. Saved me from cooking and washing up!I wish you well and hope that offence won 't be caused (as I would like to show my face in your pub again!!"

Hideout

Hideout

Castle Green, Taunton Deane, United Kingdom

Sushi • Steak • British • European


"Feel so gutted as this place is usually such a great place to have drinks. Just do not recommend the food. Went here with my partner on a Saturday night. The place was lively as expected so when we got to the bar we asked for our table reservation. We went and sat down. We had to order at the bar which was absolutely fine, think lots of places do that now. When we ordered we were told the cocktail I had asked for was out of stock, not a problem so I chose a different one, then we ordered the steak and bbq chicken but was told the steak was not on the till, luckily i believe it was the chef that served us so they managed to put everything through and we took our seats while grabbing our drinks too. We didn’t have to wait long for the food and as it was Saturday it would have been understandable if we did. What really bothered us however is the state the food arrived to us at and the service following. The bbq chicken looked fine, it was abit cold which was a shame but we aren’t ones to complain so my partner just carried on and ate it. It was only later he discovered the middle of the chicken breast was undercooked and bright pink. I wish I had taken a photo but he refused to touch it then after he’d noticed. The steak I had ordered was asked for ‘medium’ but it was well done, dry, stone cold and chopped up. The only reason I can imagine it had arrived pre cut was the lack of cutlery we were given. When given the food we were told ‘I’ll just get some cutlery, do you want any sauces’ in which we asked for salt and pepper and tomato sauce. We sat for 5 minutes waiting on this while our food got colder and colder only later to see the our server walking around outside assuming on a break. My partner got up to ask again for cutlery in which we were told the kitchen were ‘making some up now’. Another 10 minutes go on and nothing. We were so hungry by this point I had pretty much eaten my meal with my hands. My partner went up to the bar a third time to ask for cutlery as he didn’t want to get bbq sauce all over him in which the poor bartender had to grab some quickly. We didn’t bother with sauces in the end and after the pink chicken my partner just wanted to leave. We both did. During all of this aswell we were seeing other customers being served fries and snacks WITH cutlery and sauces. It was so disappointing as we had reserved this table for an occasion and were really let down. I understand Saturdays are busy but with that level of service on meals I would just stick to serving drinks and snacks. Don’t bother offering a food menu. To top it off my partner ended up getting food poisoning and spending the next day in bed with a sick bucket. Never had such a bad experience."

Duende

Duende

4 High Street, TA4 2JX, Taunton Deane, United Kingdom

Wine • Meat • Coffee • British


"Little Wiveliscombe has a real gem in Duende, but it's well worth the drive wherever you live. We received a warm welcome to this quirkily decorated and moodily lit restaurant, where the ambience is friendly and relaxed. We chose the five course tasting menu and...enjoyed every dish so much that we really couldn't choose a favourite. We started with tasty goats curd with beetroot. The second course provided the best piece of mackerel I have ever eaten. A main of sliced sirloin steak on a bed of the creamiest of creamed potatoes. The rhubarb accompanying a creamy panna cotta was cooked to perfection (and thank you, chef, for the instructions A piece of soft Bath cheese was drizzled with the most delicious honey (I meant to ask for the supplier, but forgot) and sprinkled with crumbs with a subtle hint of fennel. Each course was a confection of layers of flavour and texture. We chose a nice bottle of Tempranillo to accompany, which at was good value by restaurant standards. It was a lovely evening in all regards and we will be returning soon. It's worth saying that having read some previous reviews which mentioned small portions, I wondered if I should eat a large lunch. In fact, my day was so busy that I'd hardly eaten at all. I still left Duende feeling fully sated, and didn't even eat breakfast the next day. And I would consider myself to be a fairly greedy person. I think some people confuse quality and quantity. To my mind, quality is the more important factor, but Duende certainly left this greedy girl very happy in both respects."