When I tried a Vimto Camembert loaf and a 'cheesecake kebab' earlier this year, I thought I had absolutely seen it all when it comes to bonkers pub food.
The items were both on Hungry Horse's menu in the first part of 2022 and not to be outdone, Hungry Horse's parent company Greene King has launched an eye-catching new menu of its own.
The highlight has to be the 'All the Flamin' Fun of the Fair' sharer, which features two of the signature smoked chicken burgers, skewered with candy floss, along with boneless chicken wings coated in sour cherry cola sauce, popcorn, onion rings, two cream-filled doughnuts, fries, a Sherbet Dip Dab, and a pot of sour cherry cola sauce.
Served on a tray, it is basically a three-course meal and then some, coming in at a whopping 5,237 calories. Considering a signature smoked chicken burger with chips and onion rings costs £10.99, it seems to represent tremendous value at £16.49 (just under £8.25 per person).
READ MORE : I visited the pub serving up a 2,300-calorie Vimto Camembert loaf and a 'cheesecake kebab'
The closest Greene King pub to me is Bridgewater, in Worsley, so I headed there on a miserable Tuesday afternoon to try it for myself. It was relatively quiet in the pub but I was still pleasantly surprised that my food came within 10 minutes.
Visually, it's a marvel to behold. The juxtaposition between sweet and savoury on the platter feels so wrong but is so right. Seeing chicken wings atop a bed of popcorn and two doughnuts with cream oozing out, in such close proximity to burgers and chips should not work - but it is utterly tantalising.
If I have any complaints about the presentation, it would be that the candy floss could have been incorporated in a more imaginative way, rather than just plonked on the top with a skewer through it. However, as I have no better ideas of how this could be done, I can let them off.
Naturally, I got stuck into the burger first - a southern-fried chicken fillet topped with pulled and smoked peri-peri chicken, smoked streaky bacon and Philly cheese sauce. Unfortunately it sounds a lot more appetising than it actually was.
If I hadn't read the menu, I would not have been able to make out what the peri-peri chicken was. The bacon left a lot to be desired and while the southern fried fillet was seasoned okay, the whole thing just tasted quite bland.
Thankfully, it picked up from there. The cherry cola-coated boneless wings were inspired - the chicken was tender, the coating was delicious with just a hint of tanginess and the portion size was plentiful.
The chips and onion rings were cooked well but were let down by the cherry cola dip - which was too thick and just unpleasantly sour in its dip form, as opposed to the more subtle wing marinade. It was sweet popcorn rather than salted, and this was fine by me, although a bit of a mix would have been ideal.
Moving onto the dessert items - the cream doughnuts were delightfully soft. Sadly, the nostalgic novelty of the Sherbert Dip Dab soon wore off and I felt like this was probably overkill. As a minor aside, I also found it odd that there was only one of these, when there was two of everything else.
Against my better judgement, I decided to order an actual dessert as well. I went for what I felt was the natural follow-up - the Funfair Sundae Jar (£5.49). As a word of warning for anyone planning to do the same - it's basically just the sweet items from the platter, plus ice cream and some sauce. If the Sherbet Dip Dab was overkill then this definitely was.
In isolation, it is a lovely enough dessert but if you have ordered the platter and fancy something else sweet, then it may be a better idea to go for something else. Other options include a gorgeous looking Lotus Biscoff Cheesecake (£5.19) which my dining partner seemed much happier with than I was with mine.
If the funfair-themed dishes seem a bit too wacky for you, then other new Greene King menu items include cajun spiced chicken, a spicy flattened steak skewer and Jamaican chicken created by Midlands-based Datties Soul Food Academy.
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