Freemasons at Wiswell

For a quite a while we have been promising ourselves a visit to the Freemasons@Wiswell, especially after we had attended the chef demonstration at Clitheroe Food Festival by Steven Smith. I booked our table a few weeks ago for my birthday lunch, the inn itself is cosily situated in a little nook off the main village green. Parking, I think could be an issue as this is a Lancashire hill village, so leave plenty of time to park but there is plenty of on road parking in the village. The inn's decor is rustic country pub style, warm and inviting, I especially liked the glass cloth style napkins and tartan curtains. We were warmly welcomed and seated at our table by the fireplace, Despite it only being just after 12 noon the pub was busy, we were brought menu's and our drinks order taken. The inn is well staffed and we were looked after well, all staff had a smile and were knowledgeable about the food and drink on offer.

The menu's changes frequently to reflect the seasons and the best local produce.  As this was our first visit and the fact that I like to try a seasonal menu we chose from the excellent value "seasonal menu", the a la carte also looked very tempting.

Various local beers were on offer including one from 3B's from Blackburn and also a local cider, after selecting our choice of the home-baked bread our starters arrived. I have opted for the Chicken and sweetcorn veloute, which was served in a china tea cup, this was a delicious well flavoured soup topped with a thick creamy swirl, crispy chicken skin crumbs and chives. Hubby ordered the the Pughs Piglet, a terrine of "porkyness" including being studded with black pudding, the terrine was garnished with apples and blackberries. If hubby could have licked the plate he would have. 

On to the mains, we had been recommended to order some of the wicked chunky chips cooked in duck fat, as neither of our mains came with potatoes, these were presented in a cute frying basket. Hubby's main was Hake with butter sauce, mushy peas and tartare sauce, this was pronouced "amazing"and quickly demolished, I did get to sample it however and it was beautifully balanced. My main was the Tandoori roast pork belly, pork nuggets and scratchings, pumpkin, apple and cumin. Yummy !


On to the desserts, spiced plum souffle with a hot plum sauce for Mr B, Lemon Tart for me served with a salted walnut crumble, poached blueberries, clove ice cream. The clove ice cream was awesome, I am sure without a delicate touch this so easily could become medicinal, but this was perfectly balanced and absolutely delicious when eaten with the plum souffle.


This was our first visit but I am sure it won't be our last.