This charming Norfolk pub offers classic dishes reinterpreted in unusual forms. Amanda Afiya reports
Nestled in the heart of the quaint village of Ringstead, a few minutes' drive from the North Norfolk coast, the Gin Trap Inn radiates character and charm and hints at its centuries-old reputation for serving farmers, traders, fishermen and smugglers since 1668.
Today, the destination fine-dining pub/restaurant, with 16 bedrooms, can add discerning foodies to that list of patrons, now that the property, with its labyrinth of rooms, is in the hands of entrepreneur David Lamyman and chef-patron Gareth Rayner.
A bar menu is available throughout the Gin Trap's sizeable bar areas, offering friendly and accessible bistro-style dishes, such as Norfolk chicken, smoked ham and leek pie (£16), moules marinière, garlic and rosemary focaccia (£16) and hash brown and crispy duck leg, pineapple pickle and fried egg (£12). But Rayner's culinary wizardry comes to the fore in the two dining rooms – the 26-cover Conservatory and the 25-cover Portrait Room.
His hash brown and crispy duck leg is a creation that he's particularly proud of, and one that was devised as a "classic Gin Trap dish" – delicious and texturally strong and something that would complement the pub's vast array of drinks including its own gin. "It comprises a deep-fried hash brown, served with a crispy duck leg, cured in salt and sugar blended with lots of fresh herbs and aromats, confited and deep-fried, and plated alongside a pineapple pickle, pickled shallots, and fried egg," Rayner explains.
Another starter on the à la carte menu, Cromer crab, pickled turnip, brown crab emulsion, parsley, miso butter and sourdough crumpet (£12), centres around the pub's stunning local larder. "We take our crabs and mix the white and brown meat together with a brown crab emulsion, lettuce and chives to create a crab salad," says Rayner. " This is garnished with pickled turnip and diced turnip, cooked in a miso butter, and the dish is finished with more brown crab emulsion, a parsley emulsion, fresh dill, chive, nasturtium and borage." It's served with a mini sourdough crumpet, oozing with brown crab and miso butter.
With a passion for classic flavour combinations, Rayner likes to deliver a menu that is creative and interesting, but always flavour-based. "We like to make our own interpretation of classic flavours, and we like to serve ingredients in an unusual way, such as in our parsnip ice-cream and parsnip purée, which accompany our chocolate fondant dessert."
Norfolk, of course, is known for its magnificent produce, which Rayner, who heads a brigade of seven, uses to great effect throughout the menu. "We have a very close relationship with Brancaster Seafoods, which supplies quality, freshly caught seafood from its day boat in Great Yarmouth," he adds. "Game and meat come from shoots in and around Ringstead and from leading British butcher Aubrey Allen."
Desserts, overseen by Rayner, who is a skilled pastry chef, include a baked Michel Cluizel chocolate fondant, parsnip, chocolate sorbet, toffee and chocolate aero (£11). The fondant is made using a 63% chocolate and garnished with three textures of parsnip – an ice-cream, purée and crisps – and finished with a toffee purée, honeycomb, chocolate sorbet, and a parsnip and chocolate crumble.
Lamyman, who hails from a Lincolnshire farming family, realised when he was growing up that he was more suited to hospitality than agriculture and went on to spend 25 years in Australia running a range of sites before returning to the UK in 2016. He has been director of the Gin Trap, which is open from Wednesdays to Sundays, for almost five years.
"I missed British pubs and yearned to create an amazing fine-dining pub with rooms," he says. "I have a wonderful team of like-minded individuals who are determined to make the Gin Trap one of the best-known pubs in the country, and we'll do that by welcoming each and every guest like an old friend and sending them away with a warm excitement to return."
From the menu
Tim Loose's steamed mussels, sea herbs, heritage potatoes, pickled kohlrabi, mussel sauce £12
Mushroom tart, preserved garlic capers, aerated hollandaise, black garlic, cep powder £12
Halibut, borlotti beans, smoked butter, Jerusalem artichoke, lemon peel purée £27
Free-range pork, loin and belly, celeriac, grilled cabbage, pig cheek, smoked sausage and charcuterie sauce £25
Highland red deer saddle, venison sausage, beetroot, Fruit Pig black pudding, brassica £30
Mouneyrac pear mille-feuille, vanilla cream, gingerbread ice-cream £10
Baked Michel Cluizel chocolate fondant, parsnip, chocolate sorbet, toffee, chocolate aero £11
High Street, Ringstead, Norfolk PE36 5JU
