Review: The Dog & Gun, Skelton

The Dog & Gun is a pub with a Michelin star, hiding in a quiet north-east corner of Cumbria a long way from the Wainwright fells. The star is an interesting award, because there’s nothing stuffy or gussied-up about the pub or its food, and no matter what they say on their website I’ve always found there’s a minimum level of fuss needed to score a Michelin star.

So, the Dog & Gun is a cosy and unfussy pub in a quiet village. It’s a £65 menu for three courses, with three options each course. There is a fine bread board to start, with a springy foccacia and a soft brioche covered in onion seed. A dollop of tangy Romesco sauce goes down beautifully with the bread.

My starter is ox cheek bhuna, and it was indeed two plump chunks of ox cheek in a rich tomatoey bhuna gravy. The puffed rice was just a sprinkle on top. The cheek fell apart into silken strands and the bhuna sauce was singing with earthy spices. Single-minded but very good. Maureen’s crab cake had loads of flavour from generous amounts of brown meat, a beautiful crisp coating and a very delicious curried mayo with an unashamedly full flavour.

For main I went with Dexter beef. This was a rare piece of sirloin in thin slices, served with a truffle and egg yolk ravioli. This was a new one on me, and a beautiful piece of vivid yellow pasta filled with a truffle-flavoured potato(?) filling and a whole egg yolk, still oozingly liquid. This was a splendid thing. The peppercorn sauce with the beef had some powerful peppercorns lurking in it which I rather liked to cut the richness. Maureen’s crusted halibut was probably cooked just a bit long, though by no means dry. It sat by a lake of really splendid vermouth cream sauce, so it was handy that it came with a side of crispy triple-cooked chips to dip in it! The crust on the fish was good, the braised leeks had a wonderfully strong allium flavour.

My apricot souffle hit the spot as a light finish, full of burnt sugar flavours and with an excellent Amaretto ice cream to melt into the middle of it. Maureen’s chocolate millefeuille was absolute heaven. Nutty brown pastry is the perfect foil for a rich chocolate mousse, definitely the kind of chocolate dessert I can get behind.

The menu is £65 before drinks and I guess it’s probably about right for the quality, although at the top end of what I’d pay for pub dining. We enjoyed a couple of good glasses of white and red. I like the Dog & Gun and would return but it hasn’t quite knocked my socks off.