Saturday, August 08, 2009

Minster Tavern, 1 Minster Place, Ely CB7 4EL

The Minster Tavern is similar to a whetherspoons pub.  It is part of a chain called Town Pubs.   for information about the pub including menus visit http://www.greatvaluepubs.co.uk/theminstertavernely/
 
I visited this pub on Saturday evening and Sunday lunch time in Ely, primarily for food.  they had Spit fire on while I was there but that was the only real ale.  I would say that the food is of higher quality than whetherspoons and prices of food are in fact cheaper .  Most meals cost less than £5.
I think the spit fire was just over £2 a pint so it was a few pence dearer than whetherspoons.
 
On the Saturday night I had Steak on Moroccan flat bread.  I got about 5 ounces of reasonable quality rump steak cut into strips served with chips and salad garnish along with a bowl containing plenty of chilli sauce which was really quite hot.  also for £1.25 I got 3 corn on the cobs cooked in butter with Asian spices which I thought was good value for a side dish.  I really thought this was considerably better than most of the food I have had in whetherspoons pubs.
 
On Sunday we visited this same pub for a roast dinner.  I have to say this was more disappointing.  a roast dinner and a pint for £4.99 is excellent value but there were some problems with the food which could have been avoided.  The mash was cold.  the roast potatoes and parsnips were underdone.  I chose roast beef and this turned out to be slow roasted top side.  It was melt in the mouth tender and really nice.  On the Sunday I had Belgium Chocolate Waffles and Ice Cream.  they just met expectations though there was meant to be a chocolate sauce.  while this was there I do not think it was thick enough.  If you like chocolate as I do then the range of puddings at the Minster Tavern is great but every pudding is chocolate!
 
If the roast on Sunday had been well cooked I would have given the Minster 8 out of 10.  My only criticism would have been disappointing real ales.  I am concerned however about the unnecessarily poor quality of the roast on Sunday so regretfully I have to give this pub 6.5 out of ten.

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