The medieval town of St Albans grew up around the Benedictine abbey established at the site of the beheading of Saint Alban in AD 324. Unfortunately the town is little blessed with parking so what first attracted us to this picturesque public house was not its gently aged timber framing, the willow tree gracefully billowing in the gardens or even its close proximity to the river but in fact the space left in the car park.
The ploughman's lunch formed part of an extensive and well thought out menu of bread and cheese based offerings that included sandwiches to suit every taste and every purse. The ploughman's was avaiable with cheddar, stilton, turkey or ham. We felt enboldened enough to choose the robust blue cheese.
What first struck us about this lunch was the perfect bread-to-butter ratio. The foliage was light but extremely varied. Pickles well represented with both dainty onions and a substantial gherkin. A gesture of potato salad provided useful ballast. Pickle was shop-brought but thoughtfully presented.
A small but well-kept selection of real ales was available as accopaniment, though we were obviously obligied to shandify our choice. The meal was completed by some cheerful banter from the chef.
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