He commented on the fact that much of the produce for the menu is locally grown and sourced:

“The platters were attractively presented and the individual items were without exception excellent. The beef and the venison for the main course came from the Home Farm and were universally applauded, both very tender and very tasty.  The sea trout was equally good, a thick fillet fresh fromPoolethat morning, liberally encrusted with herbs and perfectly cooked.

The home-made desserts were first class, particularly the excellent home- churned ice cream. The generous selection of fine West Country cheeses was very well received. The service throughout was informal but efficient and the atmosphere was very friendly and welcoming. This is the third visit of the Wessex Branch and we will be sure to return. This Commendation is made with grateful thanks”.

The committee members then sat down to enjoy another exquisite lunch in The Stables Restaurant, a converted part of the original buildings, full of charm and character. Barbara can be contacted on 01258 830225.

Our Christmas menu full of Dorset produce is now available and will be on our website in the next couple of days.

Vegetable Garden

In the vegetable garden our Jerusalem artichokes have taken a real battering from the winds and rain over the last few days. Our leeks are being eaten by leek moth and the whole crop has been lost. Our tomatoes have failed to rippen so we think we will be making green tomato chutney.

Helen’s vegetable garden

Helen has had a successful 1st year with her vegetable patch in our field producing some excellent vegetables.

Helen with her thriving veg garden

  Great Dorset Steam Fair

 We were pleased to receive a comment on our blog from a visitor to the steam fair. The customer had heard our advert on Steam Fair FM, it is sometimes difficult to know where to advertise so it is good to get feedback.

The Sheep

Mavis and Phils sheep have been grazing the field for the summer .

The sheep under the walnut trees

Seb and Brian with the prize cabbage

Brian is delighted with his latest produce a huge cabbage.

The Happy Couple

Mel and Steve

Beautiful floral arrangements as table centres

The wedding cake

The stunning sugar paste flowers on the wedding cake were made by the bride Mel. The flowers looked very realistic I thought they were real when I first saw them.

Three tier tower of homemade petit fours to finish the meal

(available 12^th, 13^th & 14^th February 2011)

 STARTERS

 SEAFOOD SELECTION  £8.95/£10.95 to share

 Wonton Tiger Prawn with a Lime & chilli dip

 Oyster au Naturel

 Home-Cured Gravadlax with citrus crème fraîche

MEAT FEAST  £8.95/£10.95 to share

 Chicken Liver & Fois Gras Pate on toasted brioche 

 Smoked Duck Breast & Beetroot

Venison & Wild Boar Scotch Egg plum chutney

VEGETARIAN DELIGHTS  £7.95/£8.95 to share

 Mixed Mezze

 MAIN COURSE

FREE RANGE CHICKEN KIEV  £14.95

Stuffed with a garlic herb butter, wrapped in Parma ham & coated in panko breadcrumbs, with crushed new potatoes 

 BREAST OF PHEASANT  £14.95

 Stuffed with leeks & thyme and served with a Madeira Sauce

 SEAFOOD MEDLEY  £16.95

Sea bass, Salmon, Scallops & a Tiger prawn in a white wine velouté on a bed of black linguine with vine cherry tomatoes & green beans

 RACK OF LAMB  £17.25

Served with a mushroom & spinach gratin, boulangère potatoes & a redcurrant jus

 8oz RIB-EYE STEAK  £17.95

On a Dorset down mushroom with roasted vine cherry tomatoes, onion rings, hand-cut chips & a peppercorn sauce

 HOMEMADE RAVIOLI TRIO (V)  £12.95

Sweet potato, butternut squash & wood mushroom filled ravioli in a roasted garlic sauce with crusty bread & a side salad

Mike & Janet

Windy, Ivana, Kevin & Kirsty

Mike, Kate and friends

We are thrilled to be awarded a Silver Award in the Dining Pub Category from the Taste of the West 2010. Whilst I was disappointed to be down graded from a Gold award, I do take comfort that no Gold Award was issued for our category in Dorset.

We continue to stay local; the majority of our vegetables come from our own garden (update to follow!) We make as much as is possible on the premises, from bread to soup and even ice cream. Our suppliers continue to be local… maybe we are too Dorset based? We await the judge’s comments!

To celebrate our success in the awards we will be running a special menu on the weekend of 19^th – 21^st November highlighting Dorset’s Fabulous seasonal produce. We will be posting a menu soon!

Halloween

Halloween fell at the end of half term and this year we decided to celebrate in style! The children arrived in amazing fancy dress and were rewarded with homemade toffee apples and chocolate coated apples, as well as sweeties and other treats. Kerry, Peter, Mark and Hugh from our front of house team entered into the spirit and worked in fancy dress. The magician wowed everybody as he worked the tables. Our thanks go to him, and everybody who made the effort to turn the day into such fun.

Garden Update

I have to say that I’m very proud of our vegetable garden this year, and with Brian’s hard work we have had a fairly constant supply of vegetables fresh to our kitchen and your plate! Currently we are harvesting, Butternut, Squash, Leeks, Parsnips, Turnips, Sprouts, Curly Kale, Savoy Cabbage, Celeriac and Winter Cabbage. The chefs are featuring all of this produce on our menus.

Game Season

The game season is now fully underway and the kitchen team are busy plucking! Partridge is featuring on our menu currently and Pheasant will follow.

Farming News

The maize has now been harvested for winter cattle feed and we have finished sowing for next years crops. We are still waiting for a clear T.B. test.

Taddlestones Ash Tree 

Sadly we have had to fell the big Ash Tree in the garden of our self catering holiday cottage – Taddlestones. It was getting very dangerous as it was loosing branches. Our tree surgeon has told me that it was hollow in the middle and would have become more and more dangerous as time went on. It has featured in many a wedding photograph and was a big feature of the garden.  We will of course be replacing it with another tree. For more details and how to book Taddlestones, please call us on 01258 830225 or email info@thelangtonarms.co.uk

Christmas Menu

Requests for our Christmas menu have been flooding in and our diary is beginning to fill up, so please do book quickly to avoid disappointment.

We are open as usual for lunch and dinner on New Years Eve.