Category: Reviews and Awards

Winner of the 2005 Caterer & Hotelkeeper Award

July 3, 2020July 18, 2020

A glitzy ceremony held at The Grosvenor House Hotel, London was attended by 890 luminaries from the hospitality industry on Tuesday evening 5^th July, where The Three Fishes at Mitton was awarded the prestigious award by the Caterer & Hotelkeeper of “Pub & Bar Operator of the Year 2005”

The Catey winners represent the best of the best of all hospitality in the UK, by recognizing professionals dedicated to raising and maintaining standards consistently who will give the industry as a whole, a benchmark against which they can assess their own achievements. These awards are nominated by peers and customers and are recognized as one of the highest accolades to receive in the catering and hospitality industry.

Craig Bancroft and Nigel Haworth of Northcote Manor are delighted to receive this award “We are thrilled to have won a Catey for the new pub venture at The Three Fishes, this award is voted by our peers and customers, who endorse our belief and the real need for honest British food and hospitality, with informal relaxed dining, championing regional produce, is a winner and a food delivery we should all enjoy in all regions throughout the UK .”

“We are extremely proud of our teams throughout the Northcote group of companies, but particular praise goes to Andy Morris, General Manager, David Edward, Head Chef and the team at the Three Fishes for their hard work and dedication to deliver the ethos which we have developed to such a success, and lets face it – we’ve not even reached our first birthday yet, it’s a great achievement for the staff!”

The Three Fishes opened its doors in September 2004, this is the first venture into the pub market for Ribble Valley Inns, Bancroft and Haworth are looking to develop this concept in other regions of the North West. The building built over 400 years ago has always been an Inn and has been carefully restored with a 21^st century feel, embracing the values of a traditional English Pub ~ Real Beer! Real Food! Real People!

…

Dining Pub of the Year Award

June 20, 2020July 18, 2020

“Contemporary and stylish pub, tremendous attention to detail, excellent regional food given a modern touch and interesting drinks.”
Fiona Stapley, Editor of The Good Food Guide

The team at the The Three Fishes is delighted to have won such a hotly contested accolade. Thank you to all our loyal customers who have reported such positive feedback to the Good Pub Guide, without this support we would not have achieved this award!
…

The Metro Magazine – Manchester

May 1, 2020July 18, 2020

Regional, local, seasonal: chef Nigel Haworth and the team at Northcote Manor know the qualities it values in the produce it uses, and proudly list its Lancashire suppliers on the restaurant’s website. Its new pub venture adheres to the same principles. The walls of the Three Fishes are hung with Food Heroes-style photographs of the producer who supply cheese, game, vegetables and bacon, and a map on the menu shows whereabouts in the North-West they’re are located.

The manor has a Michelin star and a helipad, and through Lancastrian dishes are a speciality, they’re done smartly and priced accordingly – you might get Goosnargh corn-fed duck with spicy white cabbage, parsley and garden cress purée and red beet juices for £23.50. The Three Fishes (near Whalley, between Blackburn and Clitheroe) is a different proposition. It’s supposed to be a pub where drinkers are just as welcome as diners. There’s a family-friendly policy and no smoking throughout, and thought it’s smart and clean with stone floors, exposed brickwork, an open fire and the odd richly swagged curtain. It’s somehow lacks the comfort of a real pub. It’s also surprisingly cavernous, with room after room providing space from 130 covers.

The food is simple, with a significant minority of it constructed rather than cooked: potted beef with marrowbone, black pudding with mustard and onion relish, sausage and mash, stuffed pig’s trotters. It’s very meaty, perhaps because there’s so much great animal protein to be has in this part of the world, and veggie have to make do with a blackboard option, sandwiches or a crumpet with curd cheese, cress and beetroot.

As at many other, lesser, pubs that do food, you give your table number and order at the bar, with cutlery food delivered to your table in due course. It’s not a foolproof procedure and caused some mild confusion when we visited during the opening weekend, but our starters arrived without a problem. The house special, a selection of cold cut with prickles and bread (£8.50), look great served on a thick slab of elm wood with wedges of chewy, organic, seeded bread. The ox tongue was light and mild, slices of collared pork were reminiscent in the best possible way of slices juicy leftover roast, and the piccalilli had the right combination of a crisp texture and unearthly yellow colour. The Morecambe Bay shrimps (6.50) were potted on butter and mace, and served warm with a toasted muffin. Rich, sweet and nutty, these were the real treat.

A mix-up with the dishes delayed our main course for a while, and my friend was disappointed with his 9oz rump steak (13.95). The menu boasts of a five-weeks maturation period and gives us so much information that we can track down the farmer responsible but, for all this pedigree, the meat wasn’t hugely well flavoured. It was cooked perfectly, though, and served with good chip (not thin frites) and a buttery Béarnaise sauce. My avocado and chicken salad (£7.90) was crisp and full of interest, thought the creamy dressing didn’t have the promised herbal notes that would have brought it all together.

Puddings were a very good orange and chocolate mini-pud served with clotted cream (£4.50) and a simple, pleasing dish of smooth home-made vanilla ice cream with warm chocolate sauce (£4.50), though you can go for a selection of Lancashire cheeses, damson jelly or a curd tart.

Like the produce it uses, The Three Fishes has care, passion and expertise behind it, and the reputation of the Northcote Manor team is so good that the place was absolutely packed out when we visited. In the first few months of operation, a quiet lunchtime may show off all the produce to even better advantage.
…

The Publican Food Awards November 2005

April 21, 2020July 18, 2020

The Three Fishes “Pub of The Year” Award

The Three Fishes has swept up another award last week, when we were awarded the coveted “Pub of The Year” title by The Publican, the UK’s leading licensed trade newspaper.

A celebration of the best pub food in the UK saw the best pub operators in the business gather at the Savoy in London for these prestigious awards. John Porter, Food editor of The Publican said: “the awards are a timely reminder of just how exciting and innovative pub food is, at a time when the government is forcing many pubs to make a tough choice between serving food or allowing smokers into the pub. the winners are all shining examples of successful pub food.

Among the winners were, The Crooked Billet in Stoke Row – best British Food & Wine offering of the year. Newcomer of The year went to The Hands and Flowers in Marlow and Chef of The year – Claude Paillet of the Bricklayers Arms – Herts. But the team at The Three Fishes stole the show with the overall “Pub of The Year” – We are over the moon with these achievements.

…