The Ocelot Recommends....

This month editor Jamie Hill visited The Red House in Marsh Benham just outside of Newbury. It was absolutely scrumptious.

i’ve probably mentioned a few times before that I love this job. Travelling out to pubs to eat lovely food is a great way to work. My waistline might be complaining a bit but my taste buds certainly aren’t.

This month I travelled to The Red House near Newbury as I had heard very good things about it. Mainly from my father, another person whose waistline shows that he appreciates a good meal, so I dragged him along with me.

It’s a lovely pub set back about a quarter of a mile off the A4. Unfortunately for us it was a bit of a rainy day (aren’t they all!) so we weren’t able to sit in the very enticing garden.

But the interior of the pub was something special indeed. Warm, cosy with wooden beams. It oozed style without losing its traditional pub feel.

The menu was also a joy to behold. This is obviously a pub that enjoys doing traditional British fayre but doing it very well indeed. There was even a lunchtime two courses for £12.95 offer on so you can order some lovely food without breaking the bank if you wanted to.

I ordered carrot and fresh coriander soup for starter which was perfect. The consistency and the taste of the soup was exquisite. My only complaint was that the piece of bread they gave me was a bit damp on the bottom, but that wasn’t much of a complaint once I had dipped it in the soup. My dad ordered fresh asparagus and poached egg in a hollandaise sauce which was, according to him, delicious in its simplicity.

For main course I ordered braised shortribs of beef, celeriac mash and green beans. I like a bit of meat and mash and this suited my palate perfectly. The meat melted in the mouth and I can’t compliment the chef enough for the delicious gravy used. My dad went for the steak and kidney suet pudding. He said afterwards that this was the best example of suet pudding he had ever had. Huge praise indeed.

Unfortunately we were both completely stuffed by the time it came to the dessert. The menu looked lovely but our first two courses were so filling that we were punch drunk by that time. We’ll have to try the desserts when we come back which I’m sure will be very soon.