Ok, so this bit is just for fun. I eat a lot of sports teas after rugby games in the Winter and whilst watching The Boy play cricket in the summer. So here goes, I thought I may as well start a review page of the teas I’ve eaten, highlighting good effort for cakes at cricket teas, and positive warm-your-bones food for rugger dinners.
Sunday 18 January – Lichfield RFC
I’m back on the healthy eating wagon for a bit at least, so I took some nibbles from other people’s plates but didn’t partake in this tea. I’m sure food eaten in anger tastes worse too, so perhaps this is a skewed review. Anyway – on offer was chicken pie, which looked quite nice, with chips which looked a bit sorry for themself. The veggie option was goats cheese tart which I did taste and which had the texture of curdled egg. Not nice. On the plus side, there was pudding and the deep fill apple pie looked fab (lots of mmmm sounds from those eating it) – no custard tho, which was a shame. I reckon this tea was on a par with Shelford, although the pudding does add a half point.
Overall mark: 6.5/10
Sunday 23 November – Shelford RFC
Would you believe the pitch we were playing on still had ice on it when we started? I swear Cambridge has the coldest mud known to man. With half the showers only pumping out cold water a swift wash was only for the brave; the rest of us queued up to try and thaw out. With a cold, muddy game behind us I was glad to see stew on the menu here, although there was no bar open which loses them points automatically. I picked up the veggie stew by mistake but in hindsight was glad – the chicken offering looked distinctly watery and there was a lot of chicken skin being fished out by the girls. The word ‘gruel’ came to mind. My veggie one though was packed with beans and mushrooms and didn’t taste too bad at all – the big hunks of bread on the side were a good touch too. All in all, not the worst, but no-where near the best.
Overall mark: 6/10
Sunday 9 November – LEC Stonegate RFC
As Mare says in her blog, Stoneygate exists in a parallel world where the sun don’t shine, the birds don’t sing and there’s no good showers. Seriously, I’ve never had a good shower there (either freezing cold, or like yesterday bloody boiling). BUT the food is always excellent. Yesterday was no exception – we had fluffy, buttery real mashed potato with nice sausages and onion gravy. Bangers and mash after a cold, windy game was just the ticket and I was starvin marvin so I went back for seconds. There was no hot pudding though – it looked like the usual tea lady wasn’t around, but all the same a top effort.
Overall mark: 8/10
Sunday 26 October – Lakenham Hewitt RFC
With a clubhouse that doubles as an old-people’s day care centre during the week, the chairs were incredibly comfy at Lakenham Hewitt (they were the ones that you can lean your head to the side on and have a snooze). The food was uninspired, but filling – we ate Jacket Potatoes with beans, cheese and coleslaw. I have to mark LH down for having a vegetarian meal as I like a meaty chilli on my potato, but the coleslaw was a good touch. Overall, not bad – portion was a bit on the meagre side but it filled a hole (I did have to eat a choccy bar on the way home then some toast when I got in though).
Overall mark: 5/10
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