‘I had a drive-in Sunday roast fresh from my local farm - and it was good but there is one catch’

Most Sundays I spend cleaning, preparing the roast dinner for the family before church and then cooking.

The thought of collecting a ready made Sunday roast with no washing up needed sounded ideal, although I was sceptical.

I preordered the family of four pulled pork Sunday roast (£39.95), and a meat free roast for one (£10.95). It wasn’t clear online what the meat free one would contain but I wanted to try it out.

While the drive thru is now closed, I was glad I preordered online as the car park was busy. Fortunately they have designated car parking spaces for those who’ve ordered Sunday dinners to collect them.

There’s a clearly signed intercom so that staff can deliver your roasts to your car. I was pleased to see two huge bags of roast being delivered to us which smelt wonderful.

I saw some customers snaffle some of their roasts in the carpark. It did smell good.

We live a ten minute drive away but there was lots of traffic so it took us 25 minutes to get home.

The family roast was portioned into a large container of meat, a container of roasted carrots, roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, four huge Yorkshire puddings and two small tubs of gravy.

My meat free roast was all in one box with a few roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, carrots and a large roast potato on top. There was a small tub of gravy and stuffing too.

I thought the meat family offering was great value for money because for the ingredients alone it would probably have cost me £20 to buy these from a supermarket, not to mention farm produce, and the cost of cooking it.

I know my family would have also enjoyed mashed potatoes and a variety of vegetables - but you got a decent portion nonetheless.

The Yorkshire puddings were large and crispy but were obviously cold due to the traffic.

The carrots were nicely roasted with herbs but the roast potatoes were quite hard. My family said the best part was the pulled pork with gravy.

Pork shoulder is a fairly cheap cut, but it was cooked to perfection and you get a decent portion to share.

My meat free roast was lacklustre but I often find this when eating out as a vegetarian. I am used to my own home made roasts where I use a range of vegetables and add a nut roast or vegan bake with it for protein.

My dinner included a giant Yorkshire pudding, which pretty much filled the box, alongside a few trimmings such as the cauliflower cheese, a few roast potatoes, and carrots.

I would have loved a variety of vegetables or even some peas and a meat alternative although I would’ve settled for a good range of vegetables and parsnips especially as it was only £10.95.

I’d definitely recommend the meat option for four people if you want a roast to takeaway.

For me however in future I would pick my own roast from the Blacker Hall Farm shop because they sell freshly made sides such as a large tub of mushy peas, gravy and x4 Yorkshire puddings (three sides for £10). Then I’d select a range of their seasonal vegetables, and prepare them myself.

As far as takeaway roasts go this was one of the better ones we’ve had but for me a roast doesn’t transport well, so it’s never going to beat a home-made roast, but it's definitely a great option if you live alone.

History

The Garthwaite family, who have been running the farm since 1901 diversified their offering in order to sustain their 400 acres of land.

John Garthwaite said the extension of the farm was to reduce food miles between farm and consumer.

Anne Garthwaite previously said: “As John and I both grew up with farming we were used to eating our own meat. “We knew it was totally unadulterated and this is what we fed to our children.

“Bread was baked from scratch, treats were from the family recipe books and milk came from the cow outside.

“Somehow we wanted others to experience that same feeling, as we really believed it was better and the most natural way of doing things.”

Blacker Hall Farm now has a deli, farm shop, barn kitchen, pop-up pizza, and a Little Farmer’s Trail.