The Cherry Tree - Dublin Road, Ratoath

If you read a lot of my reviews you will notice a regular thread lunching with my nana!! We usually stay local as I've school runs. On this occasion last week (day before my birthday , we decided to try somewhere new and I'd noticed signs outside the Cherrytree Forbes gastropub food, so off we went. Initial impression of the pub was that it was quite old fashioned, il be honest, I wasn't expecting the food to be overly wonderful! They do have a really great smoking/beer garden with plenty of covered seats. The burger menu offered loads of choice and the other dishes all sounded great, lots of options. Both my nan and I ordered from the specials menu with herself option for the pan fried hake with mash and veg and I chose the fish cakes with beetroot purée. Both dishes were absolutely delicious. My 2 fish cakes were fresh, perfectly cooked and flavoured. Not too much mash and lots of fresh salmon. The beetroot purée was delicious and the lemon mayonnaise went perfectly. There was a small portion of salad leaves on the side. My only complaint would be that id prefer a bit more salad when this is a main course, but that's just me! Nan's hake was also delicious, light and perfectly cooked. The accompanying champ mash rich and buttery and the side dish of vegetables really impressed me perfect roast carrot and parsnips and fresh brocolli. I also ordered a side of fries and they were very tasty too. Since it was my birthday, nan convinced me to he dessert (it didn't take much convincing to be honest!! the choices were limited which is a shame, I opted for brownie with chocolate sauce and nan the sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce. Hers was really really tasty. Lightly spiced and so fluffy, the sauce was delicious. Mine was disappointing to be honest, more like warm chocolate cake than a brownie. We finished with a coffee and a tea and it was one of the nicest coffees I've ever had in a pub/restaurant environment. Will definitely return to try more of the menu.

Let me start by saying if i could give less then 1 star i would... i ordered a bit of lunch from the new menu, best burger around ... my arse! I only wish i had of went with my gut and gone somewhere 'clean ' for food...