It was an impromptu decision to book a table at this Gastro pub. Saturday lunchtime, I thought I would call to see if they had any reservations; thankfully they did, but we would have to eat in the garden. No problem, it’s been a warm sunny day. Dinner at 6pm it was then!

I’ve read, as I do, reviews by my favourite food critics. One of these is Giles Coren and he gave the place a rave review. I appreciate Giles’ reviews too as he has a similar outlook to food as I do – good, honest, tasty food coupled with good service.

Upon arrival we turned up literally as the front door was being unlocked, well sort of. We parked at the rear in the car park which gave a lovely view of the garden that we would be dining in. Sun was shining, the flowers were out in the various borders, and it was great to see a raised planting area by the kitchen where the herbs etc were being grown. We later discovered about the pigs, chickens and bees too, but back to arrival. After trying the front door we found it was locked. Simon, the Front of House and part-owner poked his head through the window and told us he would go and get the key to unlock. Our table was reserved for 6PM and the sign on the door said “Saturday 630PM”. I was wondering if I had got the time wrong, but there was nothing to be concerned about here.

After letting us in, Simon greeted us into the main dining area, which is small, but homely and welcoming (it’s not all about size!). He offered us some drinks whilst we were waiting and then said we could choose wherever we wanted to in the garden. We sat in a nice sunny spot, surrounded by trees on the other side of the road, and well tended borders bursting with various tulips and other plants. After waiting for about 10 mins or so we were ushered back in to choose our food from the chalkboard menu.

Before having to read through the choices, Simon asked us if we’d been before. It was refreshing to speak with an owner with such honest enthusiasm about his guests. It felt like talking to an old friend, and we had only just met him. I explained that I had seen various blogs and things, and I mentioned Giles Coren. He asked if I followed him on Twitter and he even realised that I had tweeted that afternoon about our visit to the pub – great service so far!

Talking with Simon you can see the passion in his eyes when he speaks about the pub, which he runs with his partner Jason (who does the cooking). They’ve been running the pub for about 5 years, and I must admit it’s a hidden gem. It’s not on a main road, so unless you knew it was there you would probably not drive by it. Hopefully after reading this review you will venture out and try this cracking place out. The pub’s website, here, does say that it only has 8 tables inside, and it is small – I think it’s the smallest pub that I’ve seen that does food. Don’t let this put you off though.

We chose our courses and then went back to our table in the garden. It was still very pleasantly warm. A short while later we had some bread brought to us by a very charming waiter, again a friendly attitude and natural smile, I guess the owner’s attitude is infectious. We had 4 chunks of bread, 2 white, 2 brown, 1 of which was Rye with caraway – really nice. The first, and only, criticism in this review – the butter was rock hard. I know it’s only a small thing, but hard butter doesn’t work with soft, warm bread. For this to be the only dip in the whole visit was almost negligible.

Enough of the background and stuff, onto the food review! For starters I ordered the “Country style terrine of local rabbit & wood pigeon with home-grown green tomato chutney & char-grilled toast“. Great textured slab of terrine, served with a leaf salad, chutney and toast. The terrine was moist, flavoursome and chunky. You had to push with the knife to cut it, and it didn’t fall apart when cut – it stood strong! Paired with the biting chutney it was a delicious mouthful. Mini had the “Asparagus with poached Wellington egg, croutons and crumbled cheese.”. (We think the cheese was feta). The egg, from their hens who live in the field on the premises, was deep, golden yellow and poached perfectly – slicing the yolk allowed this liquid gold to pour onto the fresh asparagus. The croutons were crunchy and dry, a great change to those burned, greasy things you can sometimes get.

My main was the “Sirloin steak with fat cut chips” , I also ordered some spinach and garlic as an accompaniment. As soon as I saw the bowl of chips arrive, I knew they would be good. If you’ve read my other blogs you know I rant on about chips. Seriously, how hard is it to do a good chip? These chips were BRILLIANT. Dry, crunchy, fluffy, tasty. I would have been happy having a bigger bowl and 2 thick slices of bread, that’s how good they were. In my opinion these were miles better than the chips I’ve had at “Dinner at the MO”, “The Royal Oak” and “The Hand & Flowers”. Maybe I hold the British chip at too high a standard to achieve, but tonight this quality level was easily reached. The steak that accompanied them was again perfectly cooked, medium rare, and had a nice thick band of fat running round the outside, which melted when chewed. The meat itself cut easily and had a great flavour, not as strong as some I’ve had in the past, but it was really enjoyable. Another thing to note here are the portion sizes – not skimpy during any course. Mini had the “Spring Lamb stew” with a side of green beans, pea and mint. He informed me that the peas were perfectly balanced with the mint, giving a refreshing taste. The lamb practically melted when put into the mouth. It wasn’t a heavy stew as this was now Spring, but it was a very, very tasty meal. Considering how fussy mini can be with his meat then this was a definite thumbs up! We both had a glass of the house red with this course, and it is supplied to the pub by a local merchant, Caviste. They are based at Odiham and we’ve been to the farmshop that they are co-located with. For a house red this was a cracking glass of wine. On the first smell you got a hit of berry, and it had a good, rounded taste to it.

As the sun was setting, it started to get a bit chilly. I was only wearing a T-shirt and just before it started to get chilly Simon bought out a mohair blanket for either of us to use. Mini was wearing a jumper so I guess he thought I might get cold. What service! I did get cold around dessert time, and was thankful to wrap this around my shoulders as it just took the edge off the breeze that was blowing now and then. This didn’t put a damper on the evening in any way. As you can also see in the pic below, the teapot has a cosy on it – these are made by Simon’s mum and you can buy the tea service in the pub!

For dessert I opted for the “Sticky toffee pudding with our clotted cream & lashings of toffee sauce“. Great choice. The pudding was light and tasty, but the star for me was the sauce. I could easily have had it in a pint mug and just drink it. It had a dark molasses hint to it, proper flavour as you would expect toffee sauce to give. Mini had “The Wellington Mess forced Yorkshire rhubarb, whipped cream & meringues” – he didn’t say much which is always a good sign as he was busy eating it. All you could hear from our table was a lot of MMMMMMMM’s

With dessert we both had teas. I had one from an Australian company, Husk. ‘Calma – A relaxing blend which promotes a sense of calm Organic peppermint, rosebuds, lemon balm, spearmint and aniseed’ – it had a great perfume to it, and was a refreshing cup of tea. Mini had a Darjeeling, and also a glass of the home made Sloe gin, which was divine. It reminded me (as I had to have a little test) of medicine as a child, but the really nice stuff that you didn’t mind taking!!

So, to summarise. If you don’t want a great meal, with brilliant service and genuinely friendly people with real ethics, then don’t visit the Wellington Arms. The fact that you’ve read this far means you have an interest in food, so you would be daft not to book a table here!!! The total bill, which also included some takeaways (they do their own jams and things, and also sell organic eggs – we had 6 eggs and a jar of jam) and a 10% optional service charge, came to £119. This included drinks too (1 PT 6X, 2 G&T’s, 2 glasses of wine and a Sloe gin).

Food – 9/10

Service – 10/10

Value – 9/10