Worth stopping off for
5:42pm Thursday 8th December 2011 in Eating Out
Worth stopping off for
EAT AT: The BLOWING STONE,
Kingston Lisle, Wantage, OX12 9QL.
Tel: 01367 820288. www.theblowingstone.co.uk.
Food served: Monday to Saturday 12-2pm and 6.30-9pm. Sunday 12.30-2.30pm.
NESTLED away in the depths of the Oxfordshire countryside, The Blowing Stone probably isn’t one of those pubs people from Swindon would drive past on a regular basis to be able to say “that looks nice, we should pop in some time”.
But if it was, you would. And you certainly wouldn’t be disappointed when you got through the doors.
This cosy pub is the perfect place to hole up for the afternoon or evening to enjoy a drink and a meal.
We visited on a Thursday night in November and despite the conservatory dining area being empty, it still felt busy and there were plenty of tempting looking plates of food making their way past my mum and I from the kitchen.
The menu was full of appetising sounding dishes. Starters included king prawn linguine with spring onion, chilli and parsley (£8.50), venison carpaccio with beetroot, horseradish relish and mixed cress salad (£7.95) and cep mushroom tortellini with truffle oil and parmesan (£7.95), while mains included slow roasted belly pork with carmelised apples, cider jus and dauphinose pototoes (£14.95), beer batterd haddock, chips and peas (£12.95) and braised rump steak in a red wine gravy (£13.95).
We opted for the baked camembert to share (£10.95) as a starter, followed by a chicken kiev (£12.95) from the main menu and the Cajun lamb rump with a tomato, chorizo and butter bean stew (£13.95) from the specials board.
Everything was cooked to perfection. The camembert was beautifully gooey, the chicken kiev was, besides being enormous, juicy and oozing with garlic butter and the lamb was to die for.
I have never tasted such tender lamb and the stew complemented it perfectly. I’m quite possibly the fussiest person in Swindon when in comes to fat on meat but I only left the smallest sliver – and anyone else would have eaten it. Ever since that night it I’ve been planning on recreating the dish at home – although I’m not sure I could do it justice.
After looking at the sample menu online earlier in the day, I made sure I’d saved room for pudding as I knew exactly what I wanted – raspberry brulee with a brandy snap and raspberry sorbet.
Only I was left disappointed, as it wasn’t on offer. I managed to resist having a sulk and instead ordered the glazed lemon tart, which came with rhubarb ice cream and my mum ordered the ginger and lime cheesecake, with passonfruit couli, which came with lemon sorbet (both £6.50).
As it turned out, the tart was ample compensation and the rhubarb ice cream was absolutely wonderful (and we were spoilt as we were both given ice cream and sorbet – which were equally delicious).
The only comment to be made on the puddings was that the cheesecake had a slightly soggy biscuit base – but the filling was full of flavour.
In total, including two rounds of drinks, our bill came to £60.35.
We’d definitely visit again – although next time I’ll be calling ahead to check the pudding menu and making a reservation around that.
STEPHANIE TYE
