After a great Malaysian-Singaporean meal last night at the Blue Ginger, Nicola and I went British for lunch today and headed to The Fighting Cocks in Moseley for one of their Sunday roasts. We got there early as Nicola warned me it could be busy and settled ourselves into a nice two-seater table by a radiator. It was very cold and wintry outside!

It’s a very attractive pub inside, retaining many of its original 1800 features, including stained-glass windows, but with a nice contemporary feel. There were plenty of Sunday newspapers laid around so it seemed like a place for any time of day: coffee, lunch, dinner – and, of course, somewhere to have a pint or two or glass of wine.

So, what roast should we have? Beef? Pork? Chicken? – or even a vegetarian that sounded so good, I seriously considered it. There were plenty of other main courses if you’re not a Sunday roast person, including a slow cooked ox cheek in red wine, fish and chips and steak and fries – and again, a vegetarian option: a delicious-sounding fig and goat’s cheese tart. We both went for the Suffolk roast chicken – half a farm-assured Shropshire chicken with thyme and parsley butter. All roasts are served with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, vegetables and gravy. Our waitress, Becs, was really welcoming and friendly and we were soon happily relaxing at our cosy table with time to talk while we waited for the food. We didn’t have too wait too long, and soon two huge plates of very appetising-looking roasts were laid before us. I wondered how on earth I’d manage to eat it all – I rarely eat large lunches but it had seemed a good idea to eat proper lunch before heading home to London. However, it was so good, there was no way I was going to waste any!

It was very well cooked: delicious moist chicken, beautifully puffed Yorkshire pudding that was crisp outside with a slightly soft middle; well roasted potatoes – crispy outside, light and fluffy inside; and the parsnips and carrots had just the right bite. Any doubts I had about eating it all were put aside as I tucked in until, a little while later I realised my plate was almost empty. The roast chicken at £9.50 was very good value. Sunday lunch at The Fighting Cocks is definitely to be recommended.