5:07pm Thursday 8th October 2009
By Jayne Sullivan
The people behind the Miller’s Collection certainly know what they’re doing when it comes to creating the perfect English pub.
They take traditional buildings, add soft, period furnishings, focus firmly on local, seasonal food and a well-researched wine list, then sit back and let word spread.
Following on from the success of the Peat Spade in Longstock and the Anchor Inn at Lower Froyle, Lucy Townsend has partnered with former Hotel du Vin chef Matt Green-Armytage to completely refurbish the 18th century Queen’s Arms Hotel, deep in the heart of the beautiful Lambourn Valley.
It’s a gem of a setting. Surrounded by rolling farmland, chocolate-box cottages and meandering bridleways, the hotel is a haven for lovers of the English countryside at its most beautiful.
You don’t have to be a member of the huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’ set to love the Queens Arms, although these are inevitably the sort of people you’ll find propping up the bar – a black lab or two draped across their Hunters.
The menu features seasonal food and supports local suppliers. Game is bought from local shoots, fish comes from Coopers of Andover, and other produce is sourced from local farmers.
Walls are crammed with black and white photos of English country sports: as you might expect from a pub set deep in racehorse training territory, there’s a strong racing theme, and jockeys jostle for space with men in tweed caps and bristling moustaches clutching various hunting paraphernalia. Somewhat disconcertingly, there’s even a large print of Brad Pitt in fishing waders grinning knowingly at the occupants of the women’s lavatory.
The dining room retains the feel of an old traditional pub with clever little touches to bring it bang up to date. Flickering candles throw shadows onto inky blue walls, and wooden tables are surrounded by mismatched chairs and high-backed settles covered with soft tartan throws.
We’ve spent the afternoon in nearby Hungerford, and have worked up a hearty appetite, so we fall with delight on the chunky bread, which comes in a quirky metal Hovis tin, while we look at the menu.
Game is well represented, with local rabbit and bacon pie – always a popular choice – and venison liver with spring greens mash.
There’s a choice of fish, from slow-poached sea trout to grilled Cornish mackerel, but vegetarians are less well catered for with a tomato and bocconcini tart their only option among the main courses.
Starters include confit duck and foie gras terrine, and a cluster of Colchester oysters.
The smoked haddock and spinach tart is a revelation, with short, buttery pastry and a deeply smoky filling. It comes with a perfectly cooked poached egg wobbling on top, and the dark yellow juice that oozes over the plate is just crying out to be mopped up by a thick slice of that crusty bread. The rare valley venison, scattered with wafer-thin slivers of salty parmesan, is perfectly soft and juicy; with a drizzle of syrupy balsamic vinegar to bring out its natural sweetness.
Expectations raised, the main courses don’t disappoint. Plump rump steak comes with buttery bearnaise sauce spiked with sharp tarragon, and a generous slab of crisp and delicious belly pork is topped with chunks of sticky caramelised apple.
Everything is washed down with a ruby red Devils Corner pinot noir, bursting with ripe cherry flavours.
Lingering over the wine gives us time to adjust our waistbands and contemplate pudding, which is a tough choice. Baked alaska and strawberry pavlova jostle for pole position, but it’s too difficult to choose between them, so we opt instead for a plate of English cheeses with amber slices of quince, and a sharp but creamy gooseberry fool topped with glassy marbles of sweet elderflower jelly.
A drop more wine and it’s a good job we don’t have to argue over the car keys.
We’re retiring to one of the beautifully appointed eight bedrooms over the bar, and we couldn’t be happier.
Each one is sponsored by a field sports trade company, and the Hardy bedroom pays homage to a firm that has been developing some of the world’s finest fishing tackle since the 19th century.
We’re slightly less taken with the fishing heritage than the fact that the room is the last word in luxury. There’s a sumptuous bed, real coffee, and the most amazing wet room that boasts a flat-screen wall-mounted TV, walk-in shower, thick towels and a free-standing roll-top bath with its claw feet planted firmly on a dark slate foor.
The next day brings the chance to settle down again in that cosy bar and tuck into a top-notch breakfast.
If you’re ever in racing country and want great food, good wine and a generous helping of English charm, the Queens Arms Hotel is a dead cert.
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