Ye Three Fyshes, Bedford

A traditional and attractive stone built inn on the main road through the village, this now has most of the floor space given over to the restaurant, but nonetheless maintains a separate bar area and there were several locals in enjoying a pint on a recent Thursday evening visit. The bar area is an attractive room with a predominantly black tiled floor, although there are a few old flagstones around the bar. It’s got a low ceiling with a couple of thick black beams and various paraphernalia on the walls relating to the cooper’s trade. It’s not especially big, and there were only about half a dozen tables to sit at. To the right was a massive old stone fire-place with a wood burning stove and piles of logs ready for the winter. A small, semi-circular extension at the back had plenty of glazing and offered a good outlook to the pleasant looking garden. The restaurant area was off to the left and looked to be pleasant enough, with another small fireplace. The menu was firmly in the “gastro-pub” genre with most of the mains being somewhere around the £10 - £15 mark, and offered a selection of unusual dishes. Certainly no curry or pie of the day to be seen here. There was however a separate bar menu, although many of these looked to be more of the snack variety than full blown meals. Unfortunately, despite high expectations, my Chilli, Crab & Basil Linguine was somewhat disappointing. There was little discernible flavour from any of the three ingredients and it was sat in a pool of liquid, so essentially was just soggy pasta. That said, I don’t think it was a bad dish, just not quite what I had in mind. It wouldn’t put me off returning and trying something else, and in contrast a desert of Banoffee Pie with Honeycomb Ice Cream was absolutely delicious, undoubtedly one of the best puddings I’ve had for a while, although it was getting a little sweet by the end. And that’s not something I say very often! Beers on tap were Oldershaw’s Newton’s Drop and Heavenly Blond, their own 1487 and Greene King IPA. The solitary cider was Stowford Press which makes a pleasant change from the ubiquitous Strongbow around these parts. Overall, despite a slight hiccup with my food, I really liked this pub. It’s an attractive old building, retains a dedicated drinking area, has an unusual choice of beers and a pleasant and friendly barmaid.

Official site of Ye Three Fyshes, contains menu and wine list - www.yethreefyshes.co.uk

Ye Three Fyshes page at the Charnwood Pub Co site - www.charnwoodpubco.co.uk

Official site of Ye Three Fyshes, contains menu and wine list - www.yethreefyshes.co.uk

Ye Three Fyshes page at the Charnwood Pub Co site - www.charnwoodpubco.co.uk