Review

The ultimate way of making sure your food is freshly cooked is of course to cook it yourself, and we all love chucking food on the barbecue. If only it were possible to sit indoors at the pub, and get your own personal barbecue and food brought to you... Due to health and safety rules it isn't going to happen, but there's an ingenious alternative at the Geldart on Ainsworth Street - a hot brick!

Yes, the highlight of the Geldart menu is meat plus a brick hot enough to cook it on. It's the brainchild of

Yes, the highlight of the Geldart menu is meat plus a brick hot enough to cook it on

Elvis the landlord, who spent much of his life in Australia and was determined not to let the British climate ruin his favourite (and healthy - no oil!) cooking style. The Southern Hemisphere influence is clear in the meat selection too, and you'll often see ostrich or kangaroo on the menu. Vegetarians are also catered for, with cheese and vegetable skewers available.

The Geldart's recent refurbishment is one of the best considered we've seen, and is based around a traditional 'bar and lounge' arrangement. The bar is a generous size, yet with a somewhat dark and cosy atmosphere that will appeal to those who want to spend an evening drinking and chatting at the tables or the bar. And there's plenty of drinking to be done, with three regular beers and three guest beers - we tried one of each (Cumberland from Jennings and Golden Pippin from Copper Dragon) and found them both to be in good condition.

The dining area is also spacious and unfussy, with lots of natural wood surfaces and plants dotted around. The candlelit tables seat four or can be moved together for larger groups, or there is a settee for those who like a little extra comfort. It's a very pleasant, light, area and on the Wednesday night when we visited there were enough customers to generate an atmosphere, but plenty of space for everyone. (It seats 40 with ease). There's also an enclosed garden seating 20.

Service was friendly and efficient. We nibbled through starters of tomato and basil bruschetta, and herb infused olive oil and balsamic vinegar with warm ciabatta bread, and we were just about ready for the next course when our hot bricks duly arrived. We'd opted for the chicken strips with chilli and lime dressing, and received 4 skewers each. Cooking them on the brick was a tasty and fun experience (provided you are careful not to touch the brick itself). The plentiful supply of oven roasted vegetables formed an excellent accompaniment, along with some nicely crunchy hand cut chips. For dessert, the 'specials of the day' board was showing chocolate pancakes which was much too tempting to resist, and deservedly so!

Elvis spent over 4 years as chef at the highly rated Kingston Arms, so it's no surprise that we enjoyed the food and can recommend paying a visit to the Geldart. It's worth asking about special events - there are monthly hog roasts and music nights, and every full moon a group of 'drinkers with a running problem' uses the pub as a base. For an excellent selection of pubs with good food, the back streets between Mill Road and Newmarket Road are definitely the place to go!