The Bull Charlbury
Charlbury, Oxfordshire
The team behind Notting Hill's Pelican pub have branched out into the Cotswolds, but lest anyone get the impression that they have simply followed a well-heeled clientele out to their holiday homes, owners Phil Winser and James Gummer grew up around these parts and cut their drinking teeth in the Bull. The place itself has been standing on the corner of Sheep Street since Henry VIII was taking wives, and it retains an air of homeliness, with raftered ceilings, welcoming fires and the flicker of ecclesiastical candles. Staff are clued-up as well as boundlessly helpful, and it would be positively churlish to overlook the offer of soda bread and seaweed to start proceedings. Chef George Williams' kitchen draws on produce from its own nearby smallholding, and there are plans for the tending of livestock before too long. Dishes have that winning combination of accessible simplicity while being big on impact, resulting in starters such as trout with green tomatoes, plus an intermediate slate of vegetables and sides listed ahead of the mains. Consider a loaded vegetable platter for two, or salt-baked celeriac with green sauce, before setting about centrepiece platefuls with plenty of substance. Expect anything from beef rib for two or a pork chop with creamed chard to brown-buttered plaice, although we were particularly taken with the muntjac schnitzel. Fish specials and Sunday roasts turned on the spit add to the allure, while desserts could run from treacle tart to poached pear with meringue. An enterprising list of cask ales and speciality ciders competes with the adventurous wine selection (fleshed out with a weekly changing list of single bottles).
