My wife and I do not know Dorset that well and in June spontaneously took our tent down to West Bay. We loved the coast there and found the sandstone landscape around Bridport very interesting. This weekend we returned to do walking on the Dorset Coast Path and decided to book into a little inn in Powerstock. Powerstock is a tiny village northeast of Bridport and reached only by single track lanes with very few passing places.
We stayed in the Three Horseshoes Inn (the building with the white gable and car park in the photo) and tried out their restaurant one evening. The bar was very smoky so I was pleased that the restaurant was quiet and smoke free. It could seat about 20 people, the table settings were good though I did not feel that the wooden panelling did the room any favours. Service was informal and very friendly - how often do you get offered beer samplers when not sure what to order?
I chose a main course of roast partridge, mashed potatoes with horseradish and braised red cabbage. The partridge was excellent and very nicely complemented by the red cabbage. I always think red cabbage goes so well with game dishes. I had never had horseradish in mash before but it was subtle and complemented the rest of the course. I enjoyed the local real ales (Palmers?).
On reading the menu I had noticed the filet steak "with a warm salad of bacon, shallots, new potatoes...". I was not interested in this dish as most of the times I have tried hot food (especially with sauces) on salads I have ended up with some warm food and soggy, flacid salad leaves. OK, at home we have often done a salmon steak on a mixed salad or even pork medallions but not with a sauce. I also imagined the salad consisting of cold or lukewarm boiled new potatoes which is fine for summer but not November.
My wife ordered the steak with warm salad and it was great! The steak was very well prepared but the salad was delicious. The new potatoes were diced and fried and they were nicely complemented by shallots, green beans and bacon bits. The salad was mainly rocket which of course did not suffer from the Madeira sauce temperature.
Now I think we will try a "warm salad" based on rocket leaves at home...
I definitely would eat there again - maincourse plus drinks was about £25/head.
BTW, the Three Horseshoes accomodation was in my view about average for the price range. The breakfast included a delicious, very coarse home-made marmalade, good strong coffee and nice wholemeal bread. We tried the cooked breakfast and that was the only disappointment of the stay. It tasted as if it was fried in old oil from the deep fat fryer, the streaky bacon was also thick, very fatty and too lightly cooked for my taste.
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