Perfect pub grub in town

Some places have such a good reputation that you continually hear people talking about them.
The Wig and Pen in St Giles Street, Northampton NNL-150515-155346001The Wig and Pen in St Giles Street, Northampton NNL-150515-155346001
The Wig and Pen in St Giles Street, Northampton NNL-150515-155346001

The Wig & Pen in St Giles Street is one of those places.

Word of mouth is a wonderful thing when that’s all it takes to get someone through the front door.

I kept hearing good things about The Wig & Pen with people saying how good the food was and thought it was time to test it out.

I’d been for a drink with the girls night after work and saw some of the food on offer and it did look superb.

So one sunny Wednesday night after work we ditched the car for the night and treated ourselves to a night in town.

We arrived at The Wig & Pen, in one of favourite streets in town, at about 6.30pm and it was already filling up.

With the sun shining and longing for summer, it was tempting to sit outside in the beautiful little courtyard garden but it was a little bit on the chilly side so we stayed in the warm.

The Wig & Pen is a real traditional old English pub with decor to match.

It’s not trendy and it’s not trying to be something it’s not. It’s just a really good pub.

A pint of beer and a glass of wine were ordered from the friendly bar staff while we surveyed the menu.

Although there are some sharing platters on the menu, there’s no starters so we went straight in for mains.

Being a typical man, my husband was instantly attracted to the steak night menu which is a Wednesday special from 6-9pm.

During that time you can order two steaks and a bottle of wine for £30.

I wouldn’t normally go for steak but it seemed like a good deal.

My husband chose the 10oz rib-eye steak and I went for the 12oz gammon both served with chunky chips and a side salad as part of the deal.

The only downside was that because we’d gone for a rib-eye there was a £5 supplement and a further £1.95 for bearnaise sauce so it was slightly more than the £30 deal but still great value nonetheless for the portion size and quality of the food.

The rib-eye was well worth the extra money apparently and cooked to perfection.

The gammon was huge with two runny eggs on top.

They were both really nicely presented on a board with the chips and salad in pots on the side.

The chips were perfectly cooked too - crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

There was a lot of food but it had been a long day at work at just about all got eaten.

The waiting staff were extremely helpful and came back to our table to check everything was OK and we had what we needed.

We had ordered a nicely chilled bottle of sauvignon which they gave us in an ice bucket.

Chilled wine and lovely food. What more could we want?

Aside from the steak night menu the standard menu featured pub classics including fish and chips (£12.95), homemade pie (£11.95), sausage and mash (£11.95) and a handmade burger (£10.95).

With just a little bit of room left we ordered the cheese board to share (£6).

It was huge with chunky bits of fig and raisin bread, tomatoes, apple, cucumber, cheddar, a mini camembert and white stilton and apricots.

Again the quality and quantity was fantastic value and was a lovely end to our meal at The Wig & Pen.

Other traditional puddings including treacle sponge (£4.95), chocolate sponge pudding (£4.95) and an ice cream selection (£4.50).

We were very impressed with the food, service and value. They’ve got it just right and will definitely be going back when it’s warmer to enjoy the garden.

So next time someone asks if we’ve tried the food at the Wig then we can definitely say yes!