I sat down to write this food review a year after the start of the first coronavirus lockdown.
There are dark clouds outside my living room window, but it’s brightening up out there. Though there’s speculation about another wave coming, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
This may be my last at-home food review - if restrictions lift as per the roadmap to recovery, I could be eating outside by the time my next review is due. (Let’s hope there aren’t too many April showers.)
One Ipswich pub which is gearing up for reopening, with its beer garden and outdoor pods, is the Greyhound.
In the meantime, the pub is offering a heat and eat at home service, which came to our rescue last Friday night.
Despite a year of online food shopping deliveries, we’d forgotten to book the delivery slot for Friday. And we’d finally come to the bottom of the giant 5kg bag of pasta my husband Phil bought when it was the only size available after people began panic buying pasta and toilet rolls this time last year.
Lucky then that the Greyhound are doing deliveries of their heat and eat meals on Friday and Saturday nights. (You can also collect.)
It was very simple to order. Last Thursday, we picked what we wanted from the picture of their blackboard menu on their Instagram page, gave them a call and paid with card over the phone.
Two bags of meals arrived on Friday at 1pm, with clear, detailed instructions on how to prepare everything that evening.
First to tackle was the pie kit – Phil was going to share this with our daughter Jessica. The steak pie went in the oven, then we could relax for a while before the mashed potato, mushy peas and gravy needed to be prepared (potato in the microwave, peas and gravy in pans on the hob.)
My Caribbean jackfruit curry with rice and peas was next. The rice and peas went in the microwave after the mashed potato, to allow those to cool down a bit for Jessica. And the jackfruit curry was warmed in a pan on the hob.
After everything was served up, we popped the toffee apple crumble into the oven ready for Phil and Jessica to share later on.
I’ve never had a Caribbean curry before – I know, where have I been? But I haven’t come across a vegetarian version on a restaurant menu before.
The large chunks of jackfruit were tender and came apart easily when I cut them up and ate them with the fiery sauce and fluffy rice and peas (black eyed beans.) It was easy to see why jackfruit is often used in alternatives to pulled pork, with the strands of fruit resembling cooked meat.
The flavoursome Caribbean curry sauce, with red and green peppers, and just the right amount of chilli, was not overpowering, with the heat building gently with each mouthful. It can be difficult to get rice right but this was light and fluffy.
Meanwhile Phil and Jessica were enjoying the steak pie (although Jessica was very much looking forward to the apple crumble.)
Phil said the shortcrust pastry was the ideal thickness, and there was a good balance between pastry and filling.
The beef was tender and the gravy rich and full of flavour. The microwaved mashed potato was a bit bland but nice with the addition of the gravy and mushy peas.
It was soon time to prepare the dessert – the custard was warmed in a pan (you could also microwave it). And we heated my chocolate and pear frangipane tart in the microwave.
Dessert is usually the highlight of the meal for me, and the Greyhound’s puddings did not disappoint.
My tart was made up of crisp, thick pastry, rich chocolate frangipane and sweet soft pear – delicious.
I had a spoonful of the toffee apple crumble and custard just to try it, and it was wonderful, sweet with a hint of cinnamon and creamy custard.
We hope to be able to visit the Greyhound this summer and try out some more of their tasty sounding menu. Hopefully by then, they will be the ones washing up all the pans!
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