For this month’s communal munch, a few members of the Exposed team swapped the city’s urban confines for the lush surroundings of the Peaks. Our destination was the Ladybower Inn, overlooking its namesake reservoir and promising a pub lunch to remember. Taken over last year by restaurateur Tom Lawson – former co-owner of Rafters and the culinary brains behind The Psalter – we needed little persuading to head for the hills and give it a whirl.
It is something of a cliché, but it never gets old how quickly Sheffield turns from city to countryside. One moment we’re driving past the modern trappings of Ecclesall Road – all micropubs and vape shops and bar-hopping students – the next, it’s undulating hills interspersed with dense woodland and tiny human-formed dots ascending ancient crags in the distance.
It takes just 20 minutes to reach the Ladybower Inn, perched on a corner of the famous reservoir, with a stunning view of Bamford Edge to ogle from the tables out front. The stone frontage, hanging baskets and timber-framed windows give it the reassuring look of an old-school country inn, with recently refurbished rooms in the old coach house on display to the left.
Inside, dog walkers and ramblers rub shoulders with city folk like us, betraying our identities by immediately scanning for the Wi-Fi password. The traditional feel continues as you’d expect inside: cosy surroundings, low-hanging beams and wooden chairs. The sort of place you’d put your house on getting a good, hearty feed.
The menu is fairly compact, which is no bad thing, covering pub favourites such as steak and ale pie and beer-battered haddock alongside a few less expected temptations. Teriyaki wings and homemade crumpets with beer and cheddar rarebit caught our attention, so we ordered both to share before the mains.
The wings were spot on, liberally coated in a sweet, sticky glaze. The crumpets, meanwhile, were a carby, cheesy belly-tickler – a very agreeable warm-up for the main events.
For the mains, we’d managed to assemble something of a holy trinity of British pub grub. My Cumberland sausage ring arrived nicely browned and generously herbed, sitting on the creamiest, butteriest mash I’ve encountered in some time. Rich onion gravy pooled around it, with the customary helping of fresh greens adding a bit of nutritional respectability to proceedings.
Across the table, the steak and ale pie prompted similarly appreciative noises about the velvety mash, though the pie itself deserved top billing. A golden pastry case with a good bit of crumble gave way to tender beef in a rich, savoury filling. Add braised red cabbage and a jug of gravy for pouring at your own discretion, and you’ve got a pub pie doing everything it should. The obligatory bottle of Hendo’s was within reach, naturally.
Completing the trio was the Batemans beer-battered haddock, later pronounced by its recipient to be the best pub fish and chips he could recall. High praise indeed, but warranted by light, crisp batter encasing fish that fell away in big, delicate flakes, with hand-cut chips, mushy peas and homemade tartare sauce providing exactly the supporting cast you’d hope for. The chef – another former Rafters head – told me they’d recently changed fish supplier to ensure everything arrived as fresh as possible. On this evidence, I’d say the switch has certainly paid off.
One of our number had tapped out by this point, but we, the remaining two, agreed that you haven’t done the full countryside pub meal experience without sampling the sticky toffee pudding. We quickly felt justified by the result: soft, yielding sponge with just enough firmness to hold its own in a generous pool of toffee sauce, alongside vanilla ice cream and a cinnamon crumb bringing crunch and spice. I’ve never regretted ordering sticky toffee pudding, and that streak remains happily intact.
The verdict? We’re blessed in this neck of the woods with so many country pubs serving great traditional food, but the Ladybower Inn has definitely earned its place in that conversation. With less than a year under new management and a team who know their stuff, it already offers plenty of reasons to make the short trip out – and we’d expect it to get even better as they further settle in.
So, next time you’re heading into the Peaks, pop in for a bite. Just take a healthy appetite – and don’t let anyone talk you out of dessert. @the_ladybowerinn
