Wetherspoons (Dorchester)

Wetherspoon's pubs are famous for many things; cheap bear; a tendancy for drunk old men to frequent them on a Saturday afternoon; and an right wing owner with the finest mullet this side of the 1980s. So it was, with a little trepidation, and a considerable hunger, that I decided to not go for the chicken roast, or the beef and burger this past Sunday, but instead chose to sample the Beef and Abbott Ale pie of the Royal Oak in Dorchester. I assure you, it was all in the name of continuing this, my semi-regular over analysis of the great pies of the UK and not just a way to fight off the cider induced hangover from the night before, (which was still nagging away at me like an over-exuberant mother.)

First impressions can often be some what deceiving, and so like meeting a new girlfriend only to find out she is actually a man, the pie arrived on my table with quite the fanfare (not to mention a little pot of extra gravy). But as the old adage goes, size is not everything, and in the case of a good pie, never has that phrase been more apt. With more pastrie than a pastie shop bin, I set about finding one of the pieces of 'locally sourced British Beef' that the menu had promised with zeal. However it was quite the search before I found anything even slightly resembling some meat! All of a sudden the extra pot of gravy did not look like a nice little extra, rather a taunting reminder of how little filling their actually was among my pastrie (I knew I should have gone for the roast!).

Fortunately there was a good supply of oven chips that seemed to have at least seen something resembling a fryer (rather than coming straight out of the microwave) as well as a mountain of carrott sticks to help fill out the plate. However, what on earth made them feel like polluting my plate with a big pile of stinking cabbage I don't know?! OK, so it's good British fair and is healthy, with plenty of iron, but that doesn't mean I need it cluttering up my plate and contaminating my pie!

In conclusion, although not the best of pies I have had in recent memory, it certainly helped to combat the thick head and tent-induced fatugue that was wracking my body at the time. And on a day where we visited both the Cerne Giant and Corfe Castle, this was far from the biggest disappointment of the weekend.