The Olde Bell Inn, Hurley

A ringing endorsement for robust seasonality

The  interior of an old country inn, that from the outside looks unchanged and unchanging, is the last place I would expect quirky decoration in a dining room. Huge wooden benches with very high backs wrapped in rough blankets held on with leather straps. Glass carriage lamps on the walls, heavy pewter plates, a mixture of antique chairs and heavy oak tables all make for an unexpected charming atmosphere on a warm May evening.

Redecorated by interior designer Ilse Crawford in 2009, who includes Soho House, New York in her portfolio, the dining room is a lot of fun and not the only surprise. The menu is resolutely seasonal, including spring flavours and textures at every turn.  Head Chef, James Ferguson, trained by Ramsey and Hartnett with time spent in the kitchens of Fergus Henderson and Marco Pierre White at L’escargot has crafted a menu quirky enough to match the decor, but not too outré to put off the casual diner.

What it isn't is old fashioned country hotel dining, it is very modern even if the flavours are rooted in the fields, seas and gardens of England. Smoked ham hock terrine with spiced courgette chutney or whole quail , English peas, gem lettuce and mint couldn't shout louder about their terroir if they tried. My starter of fresh channel island crab, rock samphire and cucumber delivered a sweet seaside subtlety in the meat offset by the earthy note in the samphire and held together by the long strips of cucumber.

English asparagus, Ragstone goats cheese and elderflower cream, left the asparagus to do the talking. The cream a delicate mix of the Herefordshire unpasteurised cheese and local elderflower was a little too subtle and too creamy for my philistine palate and while delightful on its own didn’t actually enhance the fresh, zingy asparagus.

A main of saffron braised squid,fennel and grilled truffle potatoes delivered a rich sauce to accompany the delicately spiced and perfectly soft squid. The big surprise were the potatoes, not something you often get to say. Blue, black roughly textured tubers halved and topped with a garlic cream, I hadn’t seen the like since visiting Peru and thoroughly enjoyed the novelty, one I’d like to see more of on menus.

The Tamworth pork cutlet with braised chicory, white beans and smoked bacon packed a much bigger punch, a  right hook compared to the squid’s gentle jab. Its wonderfully hearty bean stew, oozing a saltiness from the bacon would have made a complete meal on its own without the huge pork chop on top. But what a piece of pig, thickly cut, golden on the outside but still moist and full of flavour, it was a piece of meat that genuinely put a smile on my face.

A short list of puddings spoke of seasonality and English comfort classics, treacle tart, orange marmalade sponge or rhubarb pavlova all sounded good but the garden sorrel pannacotta with strawberries from the Olde Bell’s garden was all we chose; that pork really didn’t leave room for much else. Perhaps the sorrel was way too refined for me. While it was a very well executed and creamy pannacotta I just couldn’t detect the flavour. The strawberries were a mixture of tiny intensely flavoured home grown fruits mixed with some larger berries that pretty obviously didn’t come from the garden. They would all have been quite happy on their own with the pannacotta so didn’t need the strawberry syrup which somehow managed to dominate the other flavours.

A minor gripe in an otherwise excellent evening.

Total cost for 2 starters, 2 mains, 1 pudding, 1 bottle Albarino £100.69 inc. 12.5% service

The Olde Bell Inn, High Street, Hurley SL6 5LX 01628 825881

Hidden French Flies the Flag in Henley's Food Wilderness

With such a rich restaurant scene, boasting Michelin stars and creative chefs within 10 miles of the centre of Henley, it is a real suprise that the town itself has such a sorry culinary landscape.

In Bray you can't move for Michelin stars and Heston's gastro pubs. Marlow has the Hand & Flowers and Danesfield House where Adam Simmonds has just won a star. It also has the inspired but under rated Vanilla Pod. In Maidenhead you can visit The Royal Oak, also now boasting a star. Even just outside Henley there are excellent and thoughtful restaurants, Orwells in Shiplake Cross,The Olde Bell and the Black Boys in Hurley, stand out as does Ruchetta in Peppard Common.

Yet in Henley itself there is a series of chains, Hotel du Vin and a couple of independents, that are complacent and/or tired. Hotel du Vin is a perfectly servicable French bistro and does a very good Sunday lunch but always plays it safe. Two Italian's resting on their comfortable laurels in Villa Marina and Antico are competent but dull and expensive to boot. As for the Spanish tapas bar/restaurant La Bodega, all I would say is that it helps to have downed a few drinks first then you won't notice how poor an interpretation of tapas it is, or indeed how much you have somehow spent. Finally in this litany of sorrow I have never forgiven The Little Angel for trying to tell me a sorry pile of shredded lamb in gravy was lamb shank. It wasn't.

Sad then that one of the few places in the town itself that was trying to produce interesting flavours with some wit, the Three Tuns, seems to have closed. Yet the scene is not an unrelenting tide of gastronomic mediocrity filled by Brasserie Gerard's, Strada's, Zizzi's and Cafe Rouge, though God help us we have them all.

There is a little gem somehow concealed opposite Domino's pizza (and how I weep as I write those two words), Le Parisien, offering good quality French classics in a small former cafe flanked by Henley's book shop. Open now for more than six months, the restaurants darke exterior decor and discreet position on Bell Street make it easy to miss, which is perhaps why I haven't eaten there until now. Chef Patron Phillipe Brillant has worked in some top kitchens in his native France and in the UK, including Joel Rubichon, so has a very good classic pedigree. This shows in his simple execution and smart presentation.

As to the food I wasn't there to gorge myself just to have a nice Friday night supper, so I opted for the set menu while my companion chose from the A La Carte. An unexpected touch was the amuse bouch of artichoke and black truffle soup served in small elegant coffe cups. Full of complex flavours the earthy tones of the artichoke ofset by the truffle's richness it was a very pretty way to start the meal.

With only 20 covers that I counted, this is a restaurant that has to work hard to make its money, so on the Friday night that I visited it was disappointing that my partner and I were the only diners. This did lead to a certain amount of guilt on my part for though the maitre d', very French by the way, seemed happy to be there it still felt like something of an intrusion.

I can't imagine this happening in any part of London or even a few miles down the road in Marlow. Perhaps its a problem of marketing because its not a problem with the food, and they did tell us they were fully booked the following night.

Main courses of Confit de Canard and Emince de Boeuf with black peppercorn sauce, both served with saute potatos were good though I found the potatoes lacking crispness and was only happy once I had added extra seasoning to everything. Yet for all that this was still probably the best steak I have eaten in Henley, while the duck disappeared in double quick time.

A plate of four French cheeses followed. I confess to not knowing what they were, apart from a mildish roquefort, despite asking I just couldnt understand the answer from the maitre d' and was too embarrassed to ask more than once! However they were very good and helped us to finish an excellent value bottle of Cote du Rhone Villages.

So a very good French meal, served with class and care and unusual for the town of Henley. I am worried that Le Parisien won't last though. You just can't survive on 2 diners on a Friday night. From a purely selfish point of view please go and eat there and save us from chain food hell and complacency.

No poncing about at Orwell's

It’s always disappointing when a pub you have enjoyed starts to go downhill, yet after a series of sorry changes typical of landlord’s Brakspear’s the White Hart in Shiplake Row was ripe for reinvention. Luckily for Shiplake a similar catastrophe had befallen The Goose in Britwell Salome, where the owner had deemed Chef Ryan Lamb’s food to be “too poncy” just weeks after winning a Michelin Star in early 2010. Opening Orwell’s with partner Liam Trottman in May 2010 the alleged “poncy” food has quickly become a favourite with both locals and Henley residents.

Named after the eponymous author who spent most of his childhood in Shiplake, the exterior has been spruced up while there have been few changes to the interior which retains the feel and atmosphere of a comfortable country pub, albeit one with white linen on the tables. The decor is simple with a few paintings and small sculptures provided by a local gallery and seasonal flowers placed on the tables. When we visited just before Christmas the bar was struggling as deliveries in the snow had been intermittent, so there was very little beer available on tap however the bottled ale was excellent (Brakspear’s Ferryman’s Gold), while the Bloody Mary making skills at the bar were exemplary.

Front of house is one of the elements that sets Orwell’s apart. I’m sure we all expect a friendly, warm welcome yet so often it is missing to be replaced by arrogance or indifference. Not so the case with Orwell’s where Michael and his young team genuinely seem to be pleased that you are their guests. Throughout the meal they are efficient, friendly and just as importantly knowledgeable about the food.

We were at Orwell’s for lunch to celebrate a birthday and would probably have welcomed a bit of “poncy food” however what appeared was far from it and all the better for that. Meat and veg are sourced locally wherever possible, with a daily delivery of fish fresh of the boat from Brixham. The local, fresh element was reflected in all of our meals such as the starter that two of us opted for, Rabbit Scotch Egg. This is an immaculate little ball of crunchy breadcrumbs, full of soft aromatic rabbit with a still runny quail’s egg at its core. Delicate and light this gem of a dish belies the heavy reputation of the Scotch Egg. Of our two companions one had a simple starter of smoked salmon on toast which looked and indeed was reported as being “very tasty”, while the other had a poached hen’s egg with watercress and an unidentifiable and possibly unnecessary green foam. All very simple, all full of flavour.

My Venison and Ale pie, served with very good crisp but fluffy chips was slightly, but only slightly, disappointing. I like a pie to be a pie with the lid an integral part of the dish, not an afterthought cooked separately and then placed on top. Hidden beneath this lid however was a rich, meat packed delight. Indeed I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a high density of meat in a pie, and while relatively small it was thoroughly filling, with hints of rosemary and juniper amongst the deep flavours of the local deer. I could quibble that the species of deer wasn’t mentioned, as we know venison is not generic, however this is entirely forgivable.

The birthday girl also had pie, but in her case a very hearty, unctuous, rich and flavoursome Cottage Pie. Birthday girl’s partner had yet another version of pie, the steak and ale, it was after all well into the minus figures outside and internal heating was order of the day. Completely stuffed all of us were reluctant to view the desert menu, yet our weak wills and temptation prevailed. A smooth Burnt Cream (Crème brûlée) with the correct depth of vanilla was served with Chocolate short bread that was crunchy, crumbly, fresh and light.

Orwell’s is delightfully free of “poncy food”, it is in fact the complete opposite; good, contemporary and hearty, executed with skill while the service is warm and charming, all at a price point that will keep you coming back. Our meal for four including starter, mains and two puddings, with two beers, a G&T and a large glass of red came to £99. There is a short but good wine list, though as we had two drivers with us we didn’t indulge. Look out for Orwell’s offers too, currently a two course lunch for £10 and dinner for £19.95.

Orwell’s Shiplake, Shiplake Row, Binfield, Oxfordshire, RG9 4DP. 01189 403673 eat@orwellsatshiplake.co.uk www.orwellsatshiplake.co.uk

Go wild in the country

Have you ever been to a Country Show? No neither had I, but I urge you to do so as you will be exposed to an extraordinary world of the strange that you vaguely knew existed but never expected to experience. A place where you can buy a crossbow adjacent to the marquee for the hamster breeders. Camouflage, wellies and tweed vie with shotguns, shooting sticks and ferrets to lure in the country pursuits loving punter and take the unwary civilian by surprise.


So a visit to Thame Country Show over the Easter weekend proved that there is a rural world free from metrosexual, latte slurping townies, who still practice and preserve country pursuits, that in fairness seem mostly like a good idea. For example I now feel, should the collapse of capitalism precipitated by the greed of the banks and the onset of a new brand of Tory self interest arrive, I will be fully prepared to live on a diet of wild rabbit, having witnessed a very long display of the art of netting them. Should I be out ferreting, unlikely I know, I am confident that with just a few metres (sorry feet, metres haven’t penetrated the countryside yet) of fine netting, a faithful hound and some stakes I could fairly simply catch my tea.

There wasn’t a display on killing, skinning and eating the poor bunny, who in this case was made of nylon, but I am sure a quick peruse of a Clarissa Dickson-Wright or Valentine Warner cookery book and a sharp knife will put me right.

On the subject of rabbits there seems to be a vast club of people who breed giant specimens, that like bunny buddha’s, sit fatly in their cages gazing benignly at the small children wanting to stroke their lush and no doubt valuable fur. More fascinating still are their owners, who unlike their counterparts who catch and eat them, really should get out more. This is also true of the stranger still sub tribe of Hamster breeder; grown men and women who quite obviously devote themselves to the ungrateful brown rodents.

But I don’t want it to sound like I’m contemptuous, I loved all this stuff. I think its fantastic that there are large numbers of people who are immersed in lives that are in touch with the wild (or caged in the case of the hamsters), who can forge a living from the woods and the fields. Who will go hunting for their dinner and in general harm no one apart from pigeons, fish and rodent’s. Falconry is incredibly impressive to watch and I’m sure casting lessons will help many more men get away from their wives for hours, maybe days at a time next to a river or pond.

And while I am sure there is a major whiff of Countryside Alliance about them and possibly a darker side of dog fights and poaching, I have definitely gained a new respect for this very different, at least very different to mine, way of life.

I still don’t know what you need a crossbow for though!