Food

The Porch House, Stow – Fabulous Food at England’s Oldest Inn

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During our recent visit to the Cotswolds, The Porch House in Stow-on-the-Wold very kindly invited us to try their food. We had visited before, even though only for a couple of drinks, and remembered the beautiful, rustic atmosphere of England’s oldest inn (built in 947 AD, with a few oak beams and bricks remaining; most of today’s building is from the 16th Century). After a morning of driving around the countryside in a convertible 1988 Jaguar XJS we were hungry and quick to make our choices on the food: smoked mackerel pate with paprika mayonnaise & grapefruit gel (£7), pan-roasted scallops with pea puree, roasted sweetcorn, and blood pudding (£11) for starters, chicken mushroom leek pie with crushed potatoes, glazed mixed beets, Cheltenham carrots & tender stem broccoli (£16), and an 8oz Dexter Beef Burger with chips for mains (£15), as well as chocolate delice with pistachio crumb, candied orange […]

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Food

The Queen’s Head in Stow-on-the-Wold

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During our recent trip to the Cotswolds Ms B and I stopped at the Queen’s Head Inn in Stow-on-the-Wold to grab a quick bite. The pub, located in a beautiful old building on the Square, is owned by the Donnington Brewery, ranked #9 out of 30 Stow restaurants on Tripadvisor, with a Certificate of Excellence thrown in on top for good measure.      We ordered fish of the week (£13.95), pan-fried salmon with boiled potatoes in this case, and an 8oz Ribeye Steak with chips (£16). We enjoyed our meals in the yard outside on the back of the building. Both the salmon and the steak were decent, nothing out of the ordinary, but pleasant enough. We loved the old building and the quirky way in which it is decorated inside, including, among others a massive porcelain Queen’s head statue. Service was quick and friendly.    Looking for more […]

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Food, London

The Sheep on Sheep Street, Stow-on-the-Wold – Our Restaurant Review

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During our stay at the Sheep on Sheep Street (read our review here), last weekend, we were invited to try out their restaurant, which has received brilliant reviews since its reopening last year and was shortlisted for the 2017 ‘best new pub or bar’ Publican Awards. It is equally popular with tourists who arrive from the Big Smoke for a quiet weekend of hiking, sight-seeing, and relaxation, and locals, who seem to have become huge fans.    Owned and operated by forward-thinking, family-owned pub and hotel group Brakspear , who’ve been in the business for over 200 years, the spacious bar and dining area combines old elements of the 17th Century with a quirky retro-touch and plenty of colour. The signature bar top runs for more than ten metres and offers the best view of the open kitchen and pizza oven. There is also a fireplace which undoubtedly adds a […]

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Food, London, Travel

The Sheep on Sheep Street, Stow-on-the-Wold – Our Hotel Review

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Last weekend the Sheep on Sheep Street in Stow-on-the-Wold invited us to check out their newly refurbished hotel, previously called the Grapevine. Innovative, family-owned pub and hotel group Brakspear, who’ve been in the business for over 200 years, clearly have put some thought into this refurbishment exercise. Their own in-house interior-design team came up with a very pleasant, modern, hip and artsy, but not too over-the-top decoration and furniture, with plenty of space, where possible (some of the hallways and staircases will inevitably be a bit less spacious, considering that the hotel is located in a beautiful 17th Century building).    Stow, founded in the 11th Century, is one of our favourite locations in the Cotswolds and a great starting point to explore this area of great natural beauty with its mostly 14th to 17th Century villages built from the warm, honey-coloured Cotswold lime stone. The market square of Stow […]

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