When we hear the term drive-through (or drive-thru) most of us probably think of fast food chain McDonald’s.
But here in Leicestershire, we’ve found a drive-through with a difference.
This is a hog roast drive-through at family-run Woodhouse Farm, which has diversified in order to ride the coronavirus storm.
It gives customers the chance to enjoy some delicious fresh food at the same time as supporting a local independent business, and that is something I’m always keen to do.
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We told you about the hog roast last week and you obviously loved the sound of it as much as we did, because following the article, the event on July 25 quickly sold out!
Fortunately, we managed to get a slot just in time, so we could try it out for ourselves…..
(Image: Becky Jones)
Where is Woodhouse Farm and how does a drive-through hog roast work?
Woodhouse Farm is in Burbage Common Road, Elmesthorpe.
The drive-through hog roast is an adaptation of the farm’s outside catering business, which was hit hard by the Covid-19 lockdown.
Unable to take hog roasts, beef and lamb roasts, to events, the farm is now running drive-through hog roasts – using pigs reared on-site – in order to keep the business afloat and keep staff in work.
Customers can enjoy spit-roasted pork with crispy crackling, apple sauce and sage and onion stuffing, served in a fresh bread roll or in a tray without bread. You could even try a side of pork fat roast potatoes.
It costs £4.00 for a small roll, £5.00 for a large roll, or £6.00 for a tray. Roast potatoes are £1.50 a portion.
The hogs are cooked on spits for 12 hours to ensure the meat is succulent and the crackling is crispy.
You can also get a dry cured bacon roll for £3.50, speciality sausage roll for £3.50, bacon and sausage roll for £4.50, bacon, sausage and egg roll for £5.00, or a ‘meat feast’ roll with bacon, sausage and pork crackling for £6.00.
Woodhouse Farm also has a farm shop, which sells a wide range of local produce and homemade produce, including fruit and vegetables, plus home and locally-reared lamb, Hereford beef, poultry and pork.
Homemade produce includes pies, sausage rolls and pasties, as well as dry cured bacon, speciality sausages, black pudding, cooked ham and faggots.
The drive-through hog roast process is simple. You pre-order via email or Facebook message, including your car registration and phone number, pre-pay, and then go along at your agreed collection time.
Our collection time was 12.30pm.
When we got there, there was a queue of about half a dozen cars waiting in line to pick up their orders.
A member of staff on the gate checked our details and we joined the queue of cars.
Other staff members were putting together the hog roast orders, then ringing the bell for the guy manning the queue to collect the bags of food and pass to customers.
We had ours within 10 minutes of arriving, which we reckoned was pretty good, then we drove the short distance to Burbage Common to eat our lunch.
(Image: Becky Jones)
What’s the food like?
Everything smelled delicious and as we undid the boxes we were pleased with the generously-filled rolls.
The presentation of the fillings was a little slapdash, but this is a hog roast roll from a farm, so you could say it’s part of the ‘rustic’ experience.
We felt there was only a slight difference in size between the small and the large hog roast roll, but both were packed with plenty of pork, stuffing, apple sauce and crackling.
The meat was particularly succulent and flavoursome, and although I tend not to eat crackling, this was very good – slightly salty and with just the right level of crunchiness.
The bread roll itself was nice and fresh too.
(Image: Becky Jones)
The boys were very happy with their sausage rolls, filled with two chunky, homemade pork sausages which tasted excellent (I checked just to be sure) and clearly had a high meat content.
Verdict
This is certainly something a bit different, and we were impressed with how well the drive-through was organised.
The food was very tasty, and I reckon it offers pretty good value for money, especially as you’re getting a roll filled with meat that’s been reared, prepared and cooked right there on the farm.
You can’t get much fresher than that.
Our rating: 4/5
Food hygiene rating: 4/5
- The next drive-through hog roast takes place on Saturday, August 8. Click here for details.
