Out & About June 2017

Swanning around HILARY SCOTT follows in the footsteps of travellers through the ages and calls in at The Swan Inn, Newtown

People have been dropping in to The Swan Inn at Newtown for centuries. Since mediaeval times, thirsty and hungry travellers have been given a warm welcome. And the nod to its illustrious past is evident all through this charming inn these days – from Edwardian and Victorian pictures on the wall, which show its heyday as a coaching inn, to gentle scenes of Newbury and the inn’s association with the racecourse. But there’s nothing old-fashioned about its food and drinks in 2017 – they are bang up-to-date. The Swan Inn was taken over in January by genial business partners Mike Evans and Karen Baskett, who have worked in the hospitality industry for more than 30 years. Sammy M, their chef, worked in the kitchen before, but all the rest of the very well-trained staff are new and eager to implement Mike and Karen’s ethos of a family-friendly pub. Says Karen: “We want to create a great family pub with good food and a good atmosphere.” And in such a short time it seems they have done it. Both are keen to stress they are still working

made tartare sauce and some hunks of bread. The prawn cocktail was filling, though, and a generous portion with heaps of shredded lettuce and a good sprinkling of paprika over the top-notch Marie Rose sauce. The roast beef – on Sundays you can have beef, lamb, pork or chicken – was cooked beautifully. The large slabs filled my plate end-to-end and only their height showed there was something else on the plate. And under this mound of delightfully pink in the middle with a slight char on the ends beef were perfectly cooked carrots, a rich squash purée and some red cabbage which sang with spices. The roasties were nestling under too and were excellent and the Yorkshire pudding – sitting proud atop the meat – held its crunch until I had eaten as much as I could of this generous plate. My companion had a Brie and Beetroot tart with salad and skinny fries, £11.50. An obviously crunchy home-made shortcrust base held oozing Brie with a beetroot chutney in the middle. The top was on the good side of crusty too and the side salad had been given thought – cos lettuce, rocket, tomatoes and cucumber in a light dressing. For dessert and just to help the review (of course) we had an assortment – a vanilla crème brulée, £5.95, which arrived at the table flaming, sticky toffee pudding, £6.50, a lemon tart with crème Anglaise, £6.25, a brownie with chocolate sauce, £6.50, and two sorbets, three

on it, but the doors are open and that warm welcome is still key. Outside and inside, traditional muted colours of pale greys and greens look fresh and inviting and the bar still has its ancient beams. The food has had a lot of attention. There’s an extensive restaurant menu with a specials menu too, and bar snacks include sausage rolls, honey and mustard-glazed chipolatas and sandwiches. Children can have fish goujons, spaghetti and more, as well as a little rib eye steak so as not to feel left out. We loved the Pimp Your Prosecco menu – great for girlies and ladies who lunch. We could imagine clinking our Purple Sparkles together – Prosecco, sloe gin and lemon – or getting giddy over a Lemon Sherbet, prosecco with lemon and lime juice, or a Twinkle, prosecco and elderflower, and much more. Prices range from £5-£9.50 so there’s something for every budget. We settled down at a table by the window overlooking the garden on a Sunday and the pub was pretty packed. One of us went totally traditional with a classic prawn cocktail, £7.25, and the roast beef, £12.95. The prawn cocktail was fine, but did not reach the heights of the garlic king prawns, £9.25, my companion had. These were swimming in a rich buttery sauce with a side of tangy home-

Prawn cocktail

Garlic king prawns

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