Carnivores' Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary

One week ago today, I was boasting on these pages that we had found an ideal venue to which we could invite some of our friends to join us for lunch to celebrate our reaching our fiftieth wedding anniversary.

I even called the Blipfoto entry "Practice makes Perfect", because we were (on 30 March) getting into practice for eating and drinking.

We had chosen The Anchor, a pub in town, near the Oxford Canal, and even booked a table for about 8 people. Imagine our consternation and sadness when The Anchor telephoned us during this week to say that they were closing down with immediate effect (operation not financially viable...) and that they would be unable to honour our reservation. We had to find an alternative place to entertain our guests, already now invited.

We lit on The Fishes, a pub in the village of North Hinksey, a few miles to the west of Oxford, and reasonably easily accessible.

Their menu can be downloaded from a link on the web page or from here. What particularly caught or eye was the char-grilled

28 Day Dry-aged Côte de Boeuf, Fat Chips, Grill Garnish Salad,
Hollandaise & Green Peppercorn Sauce on a Board to Share £48.00

with the beef from specialist Beef Butcher Aubrey's. Of course, we succumbed to the temptation, and invited our guests to The Fishes. In the end, we shared two platters like the one in the photograph between four people, and at the end there was beef left over to take home in a doggy-bag (actually a doggy-box provided by the pub). When making our reservation, the pub even let us choose the table at which we would sit, which we thought was a very good sign.

We knew we were on to a good thing as our group assembled in the car park, and smelled the most appetizing aroma of chargilling beef.

The food all turned out to be memorably good. Amongst what we ate, in addition to the beef, were

Fish Boards (two)
Severn & Wye Smoked Trout, Marinated Anchovies, Mussel & Leek Crumble, Kedgeree Arancini, Curried Mayonnaise, Cucumber Sticks & Toasted Pitta

Cornish Squid & Ibérico Chorizo Salad,
Croutons & Pine Nuts, Sherry Vinegar Dressing

White Onion Gratin, Poached Free-range Egg & Parmesan Crumb

Wood Pigeon Kiev, Bacon & Pomegranate Salad,
Aspall's Balsamic Vinaigrette

Seared Calves Liver, Mash Potato, Braised Cos, Peas, Pancetta, & Crispy Shallots

Free-range Cotswold White Chicken Breast,
Potato Rösti, Wilted Spinach & Morel Cream

and

a very splendid dessert

Cinnamon parfait

Brilliant!



The car-park photographs provide an opportunity to introduce our little company. From the left on the second of these pictures we have

our old friends Jacqueline and Ken
our daughter Carol
Brenda
Pat (known to you, perhaps, as Bundle)
Carlos

We ended up having a truly excellent celebration of our Wedding Anniversary, shared with excellent friends and family (our son was excused, since he is in California). We are amazed to have shared 50 years of marriage, and amazed still to be alive and able to mark that part of our lives...

I hope that you will like this more extended photographic record of our outing to The Fishes. The panels to the right of each photograph are intended to give you an idea of what is going on.