Thai curry in an English pub

One of the things that I like about going for walks in England is that they inevitably end up at a pub. I remember many years ago going for a long walk on the fells in the lake district, and when we came down exhausted and rather damp there was a wonderful old pub waiting to greet us with a wood fire burning and a restoring glass of sherry.  Well the pubs have changed and really are more about the food now than the communal living room as they were in the past.  But they are still dotted conveniently around the landscape in most parts of the country, much like Starbucks here, and make a convenient stopping off point half way or at the end of your walk.

On my last full day in England we went for a walk through the countryside around where Jacky lives in Chipperfield.  It was one of the brighter warmer days of the week and we took full advantage of the break in the rain to get some exercise.  Howard led us through the right of way alongside some fields and through the woods.  These are legally protected ancient rights of way, that crisscross the countryside all over England and allow you to go for a walk anywhere regardless of privately owned property.

I said brighter I didn't say sunny

It was a beautiful walk through the gently rolling hills on the edge of the chilterns, along farmers fields and through a wooded area which was in the process of being replanted, as well as along some country lanes. There is nothing quite like an English hedgerow which are full of wild flowers and make beautiful border to the narrow lanes.

We were heading for The Green Dragon Flaunden where Howard assured me they served very good Thai food.  We arrived at what looked like a very traditional 17th  century English Pub and headed through to the gardens outside and claimed a table.  The menu had mostly Thai food with a couple of traditional English pub dishes, but obviously the speciality was Thai and so that was what we ordered.

The food came and it was delicious, Howard ordered a red curry with prawns, chicken and beef and it was as good as any Thai food I have had, spicy but not over the top.

I ordered the green curry and it was equally good, fragrant and full of flavour, I also ordered the mixed protein, being unable to make a choice. If I was to go again I would probably choose just prawns as they were large plump and fresh tasting. Each of the curries came with white rice and were about 7 pounds, and we all thought a very good value.

Jacky ordered another curry with out coconut milk but all prawns, which was also very good but hers was a little spicier. It was a very pleasant lunch sitting outside in the gardens enjoying a glass of good English cider and some unexpectedly good Thai food.

Replenished by our lunch we started on the half hour walk back and came across this sign in the village.

I am not sure what the story behind this is, but I loved it, and think cats should be given more consideration everywhere.  Sadly I did not have my camera with me on this walk so Jacky took the pictures with her IPhone, I think they came out remarkably well, thank you Jacky for being my blog photographer.