2 courses for £14.95
3 courses for £19.95

To begin

Chef’s home made asparagus soup

Garnished with croutons, crispy bacon and crusty bread

Smoked trout and beetroot with horseradish crème fraiche

Flaked trout, beetroot, radish and new potatoes on a bed of mixed leaves with horseradish crème fraiche

Creamy mushroom and stilton toasts (v)

Chestnut, button and field mushrooms in a creamy stilton sauce, served on bruschetta toasts

Handmade duck liver pate with melba toast and chutney

Served on a bed of mixed leaves with apricot and ginger chutney

The main event

La Hogue summer chicken, mozzarella and sun blushed tomatoes en croute

Served with new potatoes and a selection of fresh vegetables

Traditional roast suffolk beef

Served with roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding and a selection of fresh vegetables

Parsley and parmesan crusted salmon fillet

Served with new potatoes and a selection of fresh vegetables

Goats cheese, roasted vegetable and mushroom plait (v)

Butternut squash, red and yellow peppers, courgettes, mushrooms and goats cheese in a puff pastry plait. Served with roast potatoes, a selection of fresh vegetables and vegetarian gravy.

A happy ending

Fresh fruit pavlova

Meringue with fresh fruit and chantilly cream

Lemon cheesecake

Banoffee pie

A biscuit base with caramel sauce and sliced banana, topped with whipped double cream, chocolate and caramel sauce

Sticky toffee pudding and vanilla ice cream

Warm homemade sticky toffee pudding with a scoop of vanilla ice cream & sticky toffee sauce

La Hogue gourmet cheese platter

Cheese and biscuits with local chutney (+£2.00 surcharge)

National Award Winning Farm Shop & Cafe, La Hogue at Chippenham near Newmarket, have recently completed a new road development leading to the farm shop. The development included a brand new commercial grade concrete drive and extension and renovation of its existing car park facilities.

2 courses for £14.95
3 courses for £19.95

To begin

• Chefs home-made roasted red pepper and tomato soup, garnished with basil pesto and croutons and served with a warm rustic roll
• Home-made smoked salmon and spinach roulade, served with a mixed leaf salad
• Duo of deep fried breaded brie, served on a bed of mixed leaves with red currant jelly
• Creamy stilton mushrooms served on brushetta

The main event

• Traditional roast beef, with red wine gravy, yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, parsnips and a selection of fresh vegetables
• Blythburgh pork loin stuffed with apricot, hazelnut, sage & onion stuffing, served with Aspalls cyder gravy, yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and a selection of fresh vegetables
• Parmesan and parsley crusted salmon fillet, served with lemon butter sauce, roast potatoes and a selection of fresh vegetables
• Aubergine Parmigiana, served with roast potatoes and a selection of fresh vegetables.

A happy ending

• Lemon and raspberry meringue roulade
• Baked blueberry cheesecake
• Vanilla crème brulee and home-made shortbread biscuits
• Warm chocolate brownie and vanilla ice cream
• Selection of cheese and biscuits with red onion chutney (+ £2.00 supplement)

La Hogue is adopting and looking after some baby orphan lambs and we’re giving kids and grown ups the opportunity to bottle feed them milk.

The feedings will take place everyday at 11:00 am and 3:00 pm between the 29th March — 14th April.

The Lamb feedings will be FREE however there will be a donation bucket which will be split between the voluntary feeding supervisor, some feed costs and our charity for this year the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

The lambs are orphans either because sadly their mums died whilst giving birth, rejected them or had 3 lambs or more so didn’t have enough milk to feed them all.

The lambs belong to a local farmer and once old enough will be returned to go onto a free range life on open pastures.

So come join in the fun and make some little lambs very happy!

Please note: All children must be accompanied by an adult. There will be hand washing and anti bacterial facilities proved and notices on hand washing and hygiene which you must adhere to.

To celebrate national farmhouse breakfast week (20th – 26th January 2012) we’re offering a special All Day Breakfast Menu to celebrate National Farmhouse Breakfast Week.

National farmhouse breakfast week is a promotion to encourage us all to eat what many consider to be the most important meal of the day. To celebrate this, we’re joining in with some amazing offers and special promotions in the farm cafe from Sunday 20th – Saturday 26th January (inclusive).

Served everyday from 9:00am – 3:00pm (10:00am – 3:00pm on Sundays).

Also in the farm shop

20% off breakfast items, including:

• All fresh free range eggs (including hen, duck and quail eggs)
• All Suffolk back and streaky bacon
• All home made breakfast sausages
• Black puddings

The Menu

The La Hogue “Big Breakfast”, including:

• 2 Suffolk dry cure back bacon
• 2 homemade free range breakfast sausages
• Local free range egg
• Hash browns
• Black pudding
• Giddled tomato
• Mushrooms
• Baked beans
• White or brown toast
• Free range duck egg available for a £0.50 supplement

Only £8.49!

La Hogue special Welsh Rarebit

Homemade bread topped with melted farmhouse cheddar accompanied with either fried or poached free range eggs, drycure bacon or black pudding.

Only £5.95!

Breakfast in a bun

Suffolk dry cure back bacon, hash browns and a  free range fried egg in a home baked rustic roll.

Only £4-99!

Mushrooms on toast

Locally grown mushrooms in a creamy Colston Bassett Stilton sauce on toasted organic bread.

Only £5.25!

We started off with some home bred lambs from our pet ewes (once the girls here at La Hogue realised my plans for the lambs I was vilified, shunned and sent to Coventry without any supper). Despite being in the dog house, I then increased the flock with some fantastic young Charollais and Texel cross lambs from local farms.

I then bought several small groups of breeding ewes including some Black Welsh rare breeds again from local farms, and two strapping Stock Rams called “Brad & Mo” in preparation for next year.

Now although all the above sounds idyllic and dandy (apart from being sent to Coventry), I knew in the back of my mind that the time was looming to investigate and make the decision as to where my lambs were going to be slaughtered for the shop.

Abattoirs have had a fair bit of bad press in recent years and in some cases rightly so where there was over whelming evidence of cruel handling or general welfare issues of animals.

There was no way I was going to risk this so I started researching the nearest abattoirs and asking awkward questions of their management with regard to the process.

One abattoir stood out to me and that was Lamberts in Eye, Suffolk. On research of their website, I was slightly surprised but intrigued to see they displayed an article where 3 or so years ago three of Lamberts employees had been found guilty of improper handling of animals. My first reaction was to dismiss Lamberts as an option, but then on further consideration, started to be intrigued by the honesty (or naivety) of having this on their web page.

I phoned their Managing Director Kevin Burrows (whose family had been involved in traditional butchery for approximately 200 years) and after a few questions and without prompting, he said the only way I was going to be happy was if I followed the lambs right through the process so that I could be satisfied they were treated properly.

This was not something I was going to relish but felt he was right if I really wanted to be certain things were as they should be.

The day arrived and after carefully selecting the lambs, which I thought were in the prime condition, set off to Eye in my recently purchased livestock trailer with 13 lambs bedded in oodles of soft barley straw.

I was met at Lamberts by Kevin Burrows and their newly appointed Marketing, PR & Communications man Graham Pentelow (follow @LambertAbattoir on Twitter). I was again intrigued that an abattoir should have a full time PR manager. It simply surprised me that such a business should have one, but as time went on it became clear why.

It immediately hit me that Kevin was a no nonsense, plain talking sort of guy who if you asked him a question he would puff his chest out and answer honestly with nothing to hide. I liked that. After a briefing of what the process entailed I was dressed up in a hygienic suit and donned a white net hat that even Hilda Ogden would have been embarrassed to wear.

I backed my trailer onto the loading ramp and noticed I was being watched by a stern looking lady wearing a silly hat like myself. This, explained Graham was one of three independent EEC vets who check the animals as they are unloaded and follow them into the lairage and holding pens.

The other thing I noticed was the number of CCTV cameras at every point I went. It almost felt like I was off the film Running Man where Arnold Schwarznegger and accomplice’s steps are videoed at every nook & cranny.

The incident 3 years ago was stamped on with the employees responsible unceremoniously sacked.  The situation arose in outdated premises and without the ability to effectively monitor welfare.  Lamberts now occupy purpose built facilities opened in 2010 with CCTV cameras installed and uncompromising procedures being put in place to allow complete transparency to all. Every industry has a small proportion of rogues – even Policemen, Bankers, Lawyers and God forbid Farm Shop owners. However, as long as there are systems in place to seek out those Rogues hopefully good will prevail.

Once off the trailer and the vet having been satisfied with their well being, Kevin Burrows’ nephew Craig took me through the next part.

The lambs were carefully guided into a pen where at the end was what looked like to me a cradle shaped sheep holding pen.

Craig explained that this was a new innovation, that once the sheep walked into it they felt safe and relaxed. My experience of livestock told me that it looked as though this was the case.

Before they were aware that anything untoward was going to happen the first lamb was then “stunned” and it was over.

I couldn’t help thinking to myself that when my day came this would be what I would choose. Quickly, efficiently and little preconception of what was going to happen.

The lambs were then processed down a line where at the next check point an independent meat inspector carefully checked all was well with both the carcass and offal.

The efficiency and work ethic of the staff on this processing line was stunning and I wished I could take a few of them back in my sheep trailer to La Hogue (although before I’m vilified by my staff we have an excellent team).

The final part of the process was an independent meat & livestock commission grader who inspected and graded the lambs according to their fat content and conformation.

So there it was – I certainly didn’t find it a pleasant experience but I felt I had done everything possible to ensure the lambs were treated with respect – which they were.

It also got me thinking about education and knowledge of the food chain:

I know I would be slightly hesitant to take my 4 year old in case of trauma, but then kids in my experience often don’t react like adults and have fewer inhibitions. All I know is that it pains me that a good proportion of children and even adults in this country are clueless to what happens to put a lamb chop on their plate.

As for Lamberts and the Burrows family, it’s clear they are very proud of what they do and how well they do it. Abattoirs are an easy punch bag for the public, the same as traffic wardens and speed trap vans but unless the whole country is to turn vegetarian then someone has to do it – and Lamberts do it with pride and compassion. This was the reason for a full time PR man to convey how Lamberts, and many other sadly diminishing abattoirs, do this job that many wouldn’t- with excellence.

Our High Welfare Home produced traditional and Rare Breed Lamb is now available in both the farm Shop & Cafe – and we offer it with pride.

La Hogue farm is holding its 7th annual Producer Fayre on Saturday 15^th and Sunday 16th of September 2012, which has now grown into one of the largest food festivals in East Anglia.

Over 60 producers, including many from Suffolk and Norfolk, will be offering free tastings of their products together with information on how they are produced. The producers include local meat and game farms, bee-keepers, fishermen, quail producers, cheese producers and their cows!

In aid of Help the Heroes, the Irish Guard Band will be playing on Saturday at 12:00 and again at 14:00. A local band will be playing on Sunday at 12:00 and again at 14:00.

The fayre takes place between 10:00am & 4:00pm both days and entry is FREE.

The Farm Shop & Café is open all over the Jubilee Holiday, including Bank Holiday Monday!

Jubilee Monday: 9:00am – 4:00pm
Jubilee Tuesday: 9:00am – 4:00pm

We love British food! And to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee, we’re provided a menu full of Britain’s favourites!

Fathers day is coming soon, so why not treat Dad to a special 2 or 3 course Sunday lunch at our Award Winning Café?

To avoid disappointment, booking is advised.

House wines available from £12.95 a bottle, together with local ales.

Reservations available at 12:15 and 14:30 with full waitress service.

La Hogue is hosting an exciting new Garden & Lifestyle Show themed the Good Life on Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th May 2012 (from 10:00am – 4:00pm) including FREE entry and car parking!

The show will also include specialist Garden Nurseries, Country Furniture, Crafts, Sculptors, local Bee Keepers, Chicken Keepers, garden machinery and lawn care and flower and cookery demonstrations.

Oh, and don’t forget to meet our newborn lambs!