A lunchtime mooch!

As both Sophie and Mike were at work today, Keith and I decided to go for a lunchtime mooch to a couple of pubs.

We dropped Mike off and drove to The Fox and Hounds in Kingsthorpe. The last time we were here we weren't that impressed, but the pub has been modernised and freshened up (although I could still detect an odour of stale urine) and shortly after we arrived a group of ramblers came in, which livened up the atmosphere a bit.

Keith had one pint and we moved onto The Queen Adelaide in Kingsthorpe village. I delivered wine here in the summer and it's supposed to be very good for real ales, but the pint of Adnams Broadside that Keith ordered wasn't as good as his previous one in The Fox and Hounds. We sat at a tall table by the window and chatted but it didn't feel that friendly and I doubt whether we'll ever venture back.

Our next choice was The Griffin at Pitsford and I understand this has changed hands recently as the last time we went it appeared to be on its last legs and they weren't doing any food. I now get regular updates from them on Facebook and we were impressed with the beer and the chattiness of the man behind the bar. There was a smell of disinfectant when we came in but I think I prefer that to the whiff of pee!

Our last stop was our regular, The Royal Oak, and we chatted to several locals including Keith's drinking mate, Dave. Keith popped behind the bar and reserved a table for tonight as a treat - I can't remember the last time we ate here, it must be a few years ago!

Back home we relaxed before going to get Mike from work. We dropped him off at home and then went to fetch Sophie and as she wasn't quite ready, we went in and chatted to Maureen and Polly. Sophie wasn't that happy about going out, which was disappointing. However, she had over an hour to get ready and at 8pm we were all sitting around a table by the fire and perusing the menu. Keith went for his favourite, fish and chips, I had scampi and both Soph and Mike chose beefburgers. The food was lovely and very tasty but we didn't have room for dessert (and we had a trifle at home anyway). With drinks the bill came to a reasonable £80 and after paying we headed home to don our pyjamas and relax in front of the television!