Tag Archive: pub

Review: Magdalen Arms, Oxford

A while ago, before the days of this blog, we took a weekend break to dine at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons. That definitely registers as my favourite lunch ever. We arrived at 12 and wandered out around 6 when they were starting to lay for dinner. Aperitifs on the sunny lawn, a wander around …

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Review: The Parkers Arms, Forest of Bowland

There are Jospers, Inkas and Big Green Eggs sprouting all over the restaurant kitchens of Great Britain, and of course the food on our plates is all the better for that kiss of char and smoke. It’s easy to think of it as a new thing, something brought over from the barbecue cultures of the …

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Review: The Stagg, Titley

Given that we’re going to be leaving the Welsh Marches soon, it felt like time to return to that most historic and significant of pubs, The Stagg at Titley. You’ll know it of course. You don’t? Call yourself a foodie? The Stagg is of course the very first pub in the entire world to have …

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Review: The Bennetts End, near Ludlow

Sometimes you get a better view from a hill than a mountain. You’re probably expecting something philosophical now, but I meant it literally. Take the Clee Hills, for instance. Driving up over towering Clee Hill you are greeted by one of the vastest views in England. Stretched out before you are four different counties, and …

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Review: The Butcher’s Arms, Eldersfield

Well, that was jolly good. The Butcher’s Arms is a proper country pub, honest and comfy. I’m getting heartily sick of walking into gastropubs that turn out to belong to a boutique chain of identikit establishments, walls hung with photos of pheasants and foxhounds, deja vu menus of hand-dived scallops and sticky toffee pudding. So …

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