Out & About March 2017

The taste of a country inn Hilary Scott says you’d be mad not to march down to the Hare and Hounds in Speen to get a taste of their traditional pub menu, with a dash of something extra, in a cosy and inviting hostelry “A proper English inn where you can eat, drink and sleep”

T hat’s owner Jonathan Nelsey’s description of the Hare and Hounds in Speen where for 12 years he and wife Jean have created an elegant but cosy pub, hotel and restaurant. We chat to Jonathan at the bar over an aperitif (there’s a good list of vodkas and gins on a blackboard) and he is the quintessential innkeeper. As he entertains us, he keeps his eye on the locals, the arriving guests for the bar and The Barn restaurant – a lovely space with a unique atmosphere – and his well- trained staff. There are 30 bedrooms, too, under his wing and he says they are just the right standard for the restaurant – “you need to make sure that your rooms match,” says Jonathan. He is especially proud of the fare matching

his description of the Hare and Hounds being an English inn – it’s not intimidating, where you get either a one-word or a 100-words description on the menu, but it’s not basic. We think he’s pitched it just right. Under chef Tom Brannagan – one of many staff who has worked at the Hare and Hounds for a spell, then returned a few years later, like general manager Chris Dyble –the menu has some ‘pubby’ dishes and others more sophisticated. There’s mushrooms on toast, button mushrooms in red wine and stilton cream sauce, or devilled pigs in blankets in a paprika cream sauce, for starters. There are steaks (more of them later), duck and game pie for mains and some lovely desserts like affogato or cheesecake and a proper cheese board. Jonathan is particularly proud of his

steaks – they’re cooked in a Bertha, a professional indoor charcoal oven and grill. Jonathan, a chef turned innkeeper, says he hasn’t been so excited about a bit of kit for the kitchen since combination ovens, way back. The reason is because the Bertha is enclosed, the charcoal infuses the meat and doesn’t escape like a traditional barbecue. We try the 8oz rump (£15), which comes with fries, onion rings, salad, grilled tomato and mushroom and a red wine and stilton sauce. We ask for medium rare and it’s perfect. It slices easily to dip into the pungent stilton sauce and the barbecued flavour is still detectable. The other main we choose is the slow roast pork shoulder (£14.25), chive mash,

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