EXCLUSIVEPub goes viral for its 'disgusting' £3.50 5-inch cheese and onion roll... but would YOU try it?
An enormous five-inch cheese and onion cob being sold for £3.50 at a Nottinghamshire pub has gone viral on social media with some users claiming it looks 'disgusting' while others have said it is the pinnacle of British cuisine.
After one of the huge sandwiches was posted on X, a furious debate broke out in the comments over whether the beige offering was a culinary hate crime and an insult to the country.
Michelle Henderson, who runs The Dew Drop Inn in Ilkeston, was bemused by the scandal and told MailOnline her famous baps are often sold out as she gets through huge blocks of cheese and strings of white onions.
She said: ‘It’s been a British tradition at the pub for years, started by a former landlord to sell no frills baps which go down well with a pint.
’They’re legendary and people come from all over to get one.
‘We don’t skimp on the size!'
’They’re good value, tasty and the size of a doorstep - some people eat them all and others don’t.'
The bemused manager, who is due to be taking over as landlady this summer of the popular family pub in Ilkeston, said: ‘It’s crazy that our bread rolls have gone viral’
She said the simple snack - giant white cobs - are spread with butter and filled with a large wedge of cheddar cheese and three hoops of onion.
Michelle Henderson, who runs The Dew Drop Inn in Nottinghamshire, told how her famous baps are often sold out
The huge roll is 5 inches tall with a mammoth 1.5 inch wedge of cheese in the middle
The enormous cob has divided opinion on social media with some claiming it looks 'disgusting'
’They are generously sized and the cheese and onion is the favourite followed by ham salad.’
Sometimes she sells as many as 200 a day, all priced at £3.50.
She told how when Ilkeston Town Foot Club recently played a Manchester reserve team ‘all the lads jumped off the train and their first stop was the pub for a cob.'
Fellow bar manager Savannah Webb, 24, who has worked at the pub beside Ilkeston train station which falls just across the border with Derbyshire, added: ‘We’re known far and wide for our baps.
‘On a busy weekend they’re always gone.’
She said: ‘It is a very friendly pub and everyone treats one another like family. I’ve worked here for five years and love my job.’
She told how customers didn’t want ‘fancy food’ and were content to tuck into a cob - the Midlands term for a bread roll with on theory suggesting it reflects the size and shape of a cobblestone.
Ms Webb said: ‘I think out our was the first to to the cbs with such big chunks of cheese and slices of onion. They’re mad, we know!
‘We could never take them off the menu they’re so popular. The buzz in social media has been crazy.'
She said they also sold classic pub snacks, pork pies, scotch eggs and sausage rolls sourced from a local butcher.
When MailOnline visited the independent pub, an imposing red brick former Victorian hotel called The Old Middleton, Ms Henderson was busy pulling pints and making cobs.
Sign writer Paul Spencer said: ‘Its a lovely pub and is thriving not just because of the cobs and craft beer.’
The local, who is helping to restore the signage on the pub which is still open while under renovation, added: ‘It’s an amazing atmosphere.’
Tucking into a ham salad bap, he said: ‘Very tasty! It doesn’t need any pickle, mayo or salad, it’s good as it is.'
The large but cosy pub, build in 1874, boasts three bars and a courtyard garden
The large but cosy pub, build in 1874, boasts three bars and a courtyard garden.
Construction worker Rupert Smith, a regular who has his own pint glass hanging up at the bar, said: ’They do great beer and wonderful big baps here, the best, and they’re excellent value.’
Another local Teddy said: ‘It’s a proper pub, as it should be, with good beer and range of cobs and pork pies.’
MailOnline caught up with former landlord John Cooke, who lives nearby and had come in for a beer.
He proudly pointed out that during his time running the Dew Drop Inn from 2007 to 2011, it had been named ‘Pub of the Year’ several times.
He said: ‘We made the pub such a success and it’s all down to the staff, the punters, the beer and of course the cobs.
‘It’s still as popular today and is always busy.
‘A former landlord had started the cobs and the tradition has continued and all these years later they’ve become a hit on the internet!’
