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hat’s owner Jonathan Nelsey’s
description of the Hare and
Hounds in Speen where for 12
years he and wife Jean have
created an elegant but cosy pub, hotel
and restaurant.
We chat to Jonathan at the bar over an
aperitif (there’s a good list of vodkas
and gins on a blackboard) and he is the
quintessential innkeeper.
As he entertains us, he keeps his eye on
the locals, the arriving guests for the bar
and The Barn restaurant – a lovely space
with a unique atmosphere – and his well-
trained staff.
There are 30 bedrooms, too, under his
wing and he says they are just the right
standard for the restaurant – “you need to
make sure that your rooms match,” says
Jonathan.
He is especially proud of the fare matching
his description of the Hare and Hounds
being an English inn – it’s not intimidating,
where you get either a one-word or a
100-words description on the menu, but
it’s not basic.
We think he’s pitched it just right.
Under chef Tom Brannagan – one of many
staff who has worked at the Hare and
Hounds for a spell, then returned a few
years later, like general manager Chris
Dyble –the menu has some ‘pubby’ dishes
and others more sophisticated.
There’s mushrooms on toast, button
mushrooms in red wine and stilton cream
sauce, or devilled pigs in blankets in a
paprika cream sauce, for starters.
There are steaks (more of them later),
duck and game pie for mains and
some lovely desserts like affogato or
cheesecake and a proper cheese board.
Jonathan is particularly proud of his
steaks – they’re cooked in a Bertha, a
professional indoor charcoal oven and
grill.
Jonathan, a chef turned innkeeper, says
he hasn’t been so excited about a bit of kit
for the kitchen since combination ovens,
way back.
The reason is because the Bertha is
enclosed, the charcoal infuses the meat
and doesn’t escape like a traditional
barbecue.
We try the 8oz rump (£15), which comes
with fries, onion rings, salad, grilled
tomato and mushroom and a red wine and
stilton sauce.
We ask for medium rare and it’s perfect.
It slices easily to dip into the pungent
stilton sauce and the barbecued flavour is
still detectable.
The other main we choose is the slow
roast pork shoulder (£14.25), chive mash,
The taste of a country inn
Hilary Scott says you’d be mad not to march down to the Hare and Hounds in Speen to get
a taste of their traditional pub menu, with a dash of something extra, in a cosy and inviting
hostelry
“A proper English inn where you can eat, drink and sleep”