Out & About July 2017

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EAT OUT
Originally a blacksmith’s forge in the 19th century, the Spotted
Dog is a family and pet-friendly pub – and a place to take your
grandmother with their special OAP deal.
On Sundays it offers a choice of four meats and prices start
from £12.50. Choose from beef, lamb, pork or chicken with the
usual accompaniments, including Yorkshires and roasts.
Children can have a roast dinner for £6.95. OAPs get the same
treatment and starters include soup and good old-fashioned
prawn cocktail. Food is served from 12-6pm on Sundays.
The Spotted Dog, Gladstone Lane, Cold Ash, 01635 862458
The Winterbourne is a good place to stop on a walk or
to walk off the Sunday roast. Those less energetic can simply
wander the lovely gardens.
On Sunday try traditional roast beef or roast turkey for £14.95,
but often roast partridge is a choice or braised wild rabbit
served with tarragon risotto, smoked bacon and Parmesan.
Meats come with veg like braised red cabbage, butter baked
carrots and parsnips, tender stem broccoli, duck fat roast
potatoes, celeriac, Yorkshire pudding and red wine gravy.
Last food order is 3.30pm on Sundays.
The Winterbourne Arms, Winterbourne, Newbury
01635 248200
Run by Simon Page and Jason King, The Wellington Arms is
a smart gastropub with a sustainable ethos – be inspired by the
fabulous vegetable garden, see the beehives, sheep, hens and
pigs or buy a cute tea cosy knitted by Simon’s mum.
Sunday dishes can include roast Grange Farm beef ribeye with a
Yorkshire pudding and home-grown horseradish cream for £18
or roast rack of Orchard Farm middlewhite pork with crackling
and apple sauce for £17.50, both served with roast potatoes,
red onion, home-grown fennel, root vegetable gratin and a
generous jug of red wine sauce.
The Wellington Arms, Baughurst, 0118 982 0110
Sunday lunch at the Donnington Valley Hotel is served in
the WinePress restaurant from 12.30-2pm and two courses
cost £19, three £22.
Mains include roast chicken with roast potatoes, glazed parsnips
and green beans, or roast English sirloin of beef, Yorkshire
pudding, roast potatoes, cabbage and carrots. There’s also
baked salmon with new potatoes or a braised lamb shank
and a vegetarian option.
Donnington Valley Hotel, Old Oxford Road, Donnington,
01635 551199,
As part of the Ramsbury estate with its own brewery, distillery
and smokehouse, The Bell serves modern European cuisine in
the restaurant and country classics.
On Sundays, the restaurant offers two courses for £19.50 and
three courses for £24.50 – expect 28 day dry-aged Butts farm
sirloin of beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, slow roast
English onion, baby gem and carrot puree. Or roast chicken
breast or slow cooked Gloucestershire Old Spot pork shoulder.
The Bell at Ramsbury, nr Marlborough, 01672 520 230,
CHOCOLATE FIX
Moo free
Leading (and local) ‘free from’ chocolate manufacturer,
Reading-based Moo Free has some innovative Easter eggs
this year – original, orange and bunnycomb. The chocolate
from which the eggs and the buttons (each egg now
includes 20g of chocolate buttons) are made is a multi-
award winning recipe with rice milk, and it recently won
Best Vegan Chocolate at the VegFest Awards, 2016. Even
better, its dairy-free chocolates are also free from
gluten, wheat, lactose, soya and casein, completely
vegetarian and vegan, and certified organic. And the
Moo Free Easter bunny has bucked the chocolate
trend in another way - they now all weigh 120g, up
from 100g in 2016, but are still £4.25 each.
Available in supermarkets, larger retailers and
independent high-street stores.
The proverbial…
‘As much use as a chocolate teapot’ – well
now’s your chance to try one £24.99, from
Novelty chocolate usually doesn’t live up to
the delicious goodness you expect, however
this teapot is made from 600 grams of the
finest Belgium chocolate – and apart from
being able to eat the entire teapot, you can
also use this to create the ultimate hot
chocolate or fondue.
The best eggs
Tesco and Aldi are the places to head for the best
Easter eggs according to the Good Housekeeping
Institute.
Tesco’s Finest Belgian Milk Chocolate Hidden Egg
(£15) has just been voted the best Easter egg in
Britain and Aldi’s Giant Chocolate Bunny (£3.99) the
best for kids.
127 eggs were assessed on their appearance, aroma
and texture, and judged in different categories
including kids, teens, adults, sharing and free-from.
But the judges weren’t happy with a lot of the
eggs. “Retailers have definitely upped their game
with innovative and eye-catching products, but,
disappointingly, much of the chocolate failed to
deliver on taste,” said Caroline Bloor, consumer
director at Good Housekeeping.