3 Horseshoes, Madingley

Her and I eat out tonight and with it being a balmy evening, I select somewhere where we are able to eat al fresco, in this case at The 3 Horseshoes in the village of Madingley to the west of Cambridge. This pub is a picturesque thatch cottage with a large grassy garden, where we have dinner despite having a reservation in the conservatory restaurant. After perusing the menu I choose an appetiser starter of Portland Crab and she chooses Roast Quail.

Portland crab

Roast quail

The crab with brown shrimps and pickled vegetables is okay, but is a bit of a mess of flavours, not sure what the cubes of paste were either. The quail with foie gras is the better, meatier option. The mains are a step up as I have canon of Roast Lamb with Poached Chicken for my Good Lady.

Roast canon of lamb

Poached chicken

Before our mains come, our waiter eccentrically informs us that he'd given us a break between courses (Er... thanks?). A bit of a strange moment but we are happy when the food reaches our outside table. The lamb on a bed of tzatziki was good, however the kleftico was disappointingly watery and though overall I enjoyed the Greek flavour here it could have been executed better. Likewise the chicken with leaves, shoots, mushrooms and flowers was a good idea though again could have been executed better, which turns out to be a theme of the evening. Our favourite course of the evening was dessert as the twilight took over; I have Momufuku's Crack Pie and she has Lemon Curd.

Crack pie & sour cherry yoghurt

Lemon curd & raspberries

The pie is very good with the sour cherry yoghurt complimenting nicely the sweet, sticky, sugary pie. The lemon curd and raspberries '3 ways' also have certain complementary taste affinities too.
Overall, this is a beautiful venue for a spot of al fresco dining, but for the price (around £50 a head, including wine) the food needs to be executed a better, though there are some nice ideas here.