Out & About September 2017

the secret is out

T here is a bistro in the area that is a very well-kept secret. But it really doesn’t want to be – nor does it deserve to be. Let me introduce Blandy’s at Inglewood – a charming place set in Inglewood House, a country mansion now an Audley retirement village. Now, hold on there – stop imagining what that could be like and listen here. Inglewood is a very pretty converted pile and to get to Blandy’s you walk into a reception area that could be any upmarket hotel, you turn along a corridor filled with stunning artwork and antiques and turn into the bar and bistro. Very swish and elegant. You can sit at the well-stocked bar or take your G&T on to the sun terrace surrounded by lovely gardens. At our table we had views out of the arched Georgian windows on to the wooded grounds and plenty to look at inside with some stunning paintings on the walls. And the food – well here’s a place with refined, polished offerings at one course for £17.50, two for £24 and three for £29.50. A real bargain for the quality. Take our starters – a seared mackerel fillet delivered that morning with confit red, green and orange tomatoes, crispy squid ink tuiles and a drizzle of basil oil. The yielding mackerel flesh could not hide its freshness and the confit tomatoes submitted to a gentle push from the knife and burst into sweetness in the mouth.

Blandy’s Bistro at Inglewood House should be on every foodie’s list of places to dine says HILARY SCOTT

The confit technique was also used in my guinea fowl roast and leg, which sparkled with sea salt and sat atop a silky sweetcorn purée with popcorn and a wedge of a corn cob. We were impressed – how would our mains, lamb and skate wing live up to this good start? Very, very well it turned out. Four thick slices of lamb rump sat on a rich lamb jus and crushed marjoram peas and came with griddled baby artichoke hearts, Parisienne potatoes (balls cooked in butter) spiked with black pepper and a daddy of all anchovies splashed with lemon and coated in a crunchy batter. It all worked so well. I had food envy though at my guest’s skate wing – cooked classically in butter it was surrounded by plump sultanas, capers so tiny they looked like green lentils, but which added a sharpness to contrast the sweet sultanas, fine green beans and lemony cubes of roasted potatoes. It too sang with freshness and skill. The service too was good – our waiter could not have been more attentive without smothering us. The lightness of touch used by Blandys’ South African chef Gert Pienaar meant we did not ask for an over-long wait before dessert and anyway we were so impressed by the first two courses we could not wait to try our final course. The dark chocolate tart was a revelation – using 64 per cent dark chocolate meant it did not have that lip-puckering bitterness that some dark chocolate has. It came with a nougatine ice cream sandwich and a gloss you could use to apply your lipstick.

Blandys Bar and Bistro Inglewood House, Audley Retirement Village, Templeton Road, Kintbury RG17 9AA T: 01488 208173 www.blandysbistro.co.uk

Pictures: Dijana Capan

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