The Barbary Inn, Broad Hinton

The Barbary Inn, Broad Hinton, SN4 9PF

01793 731510

Email: info@thebarburyinn.co.uk

At the end of a sunny Saturday my wife and I were looking forward to a night out at the newly re-styled Barbury Inn at Broad Hinton but our visit did not exactly produce a winner as far as we were concerned.

The Barbury, formerly the Bell Inn but renamed after the nearby Barbury race course, failed to tick all the boxes for us and instead of our expected delight we went away full but disappointed.

We were surprised at the lack of finesse with no table cloths and cheap paper serviettes but we eagerly anticipated some good food as we sat sipping our drinks and listening to an awful drumming sound from upstairs that our pleasant waitress assured us was “only the washing machine”.

The skimpy paper serviettes came in handy to polish up our cutlery, which was smeary, and to eat our main course we had to use the steak knives which were all we had left after using the only other knives and forks for our starters. One of the paper menus we were handed was stained which being laminated would have prevented.

The food was the best part of our experience with Joy starting with chicken liver parfait served with toasted ciabatta and a delightful home-made tomato chutney.

I had a leek and Stilton tartlet but could not taste the cheese at all. However, it was, nevertheless, pleasant.

Joy’s main course of sea bass fillets on a bed of crushed new potatoes was very good, she said, but remarked that a week earlier she had been served bigger fillets of the same fish as a starter in Devon.

I had battered haddock with skinny French fries and a pea puree and wondered why the chips, which were clearly from the freezer, were not made with fresh potatoes.

For dessert I had a trio of homemade ice creams and sorbets, which was simple and enjoyable, but unfortunately my wife’s apple, pear and forest berry crumble had no crumble about it at all and was more like a soggy pastry, although she said it was still enjoyable.

The bill with two drinks came to a not inconsiderable £56.

A dog-friendly pub

Food served noon–9.30pm every day

Disabled access (but steps up to gents’ toilet)

Children’s portions

On main Swindon to Devizes A4361 road

Our Eating Out is an independent review carried out by the Gazette without prior knowledge of the owners.