Thursday, August 20, 2009 - A supplement to the Oxford Times
Oxfordshire Food review by DENISE BARKLEY.
I found myself in the Cotswolds recently when I went to Burford to dine at one of this west Oxfordshire tourist town’s most picturesque of establishments, The Lamb Inn. Everyone knows that Burford is pretty, but this was heartily endorsed earlier this year when the respected American business magazine Forbes named the leafy Cotswold town as the sixth most idyllic place to live in Europe.
Idyllic is certainly a word that comes to mind when you set eyes on The Lamb, created from a row of weavers’ cottages, dating back to 1420, in Sheep Street - where the hotel’s owners have another of their establishments, the equally attractive Bay Tree Hotel. But I had no time to reflect on the beauty of The Lamb or Burford as, true to form this summer, when we arrived for dinner, it was raining.
There seem to be several entrance doors into the hotel, and we ended up clattering rather noisly on the flagstone floor into one of the lounges.
Because the hotel has been created from a row of cottages, you can weave pleasantly from the charming glass panel-encased bar into a number of different lounges, all comfortably furnished with lots of antiques, big paintings and flower arrangements. Very traditional, very Cotswold. Upstairs, I was told, there are 17 individually-styled bedrooms.
Our efficient waiter soon had us equipped with fortifying aperitifs and, with nuts and olives to nibble, we made the all-important menu decisions and were soon shown through to the restaurant.
I haven’t been to The Lamb in six years (It was my daughter’s chosen destination for a family meal on her 18th birthday). The restaurant is lovely - furnished in dark wood with red decor, but still very light and airy. If you are seated near the windows you can enjoy a view of the pretty courtyard.
We kicked off with an amuse bouche of a small crispy duck spring roll with thinly sliced beetroot, prettily arranged on a slate. On to starters, and my husband didn’t have to make any decision - he cannot resist scallops. They arrived, nicely seared and prettily presented with some langoustines (these lovely sweet prawns seem be having something of a renaissance of late), drizzled with vanilla sauce.
My ballotine of salmon featured some very rare salmon (too rare for my liking) rolled with herbs, accompanied by local crayfish and a blob of creme fraiche to cut through the richness.
Main course options included pan-fried salmon with oyster beignet and ginger and lemon grass broth, or roast pork fillet with confit pork belly tarte tatin, but, never being able to resist duck, I opted for the roast breast accompanied by a little duck and foie gras faggot’. Yummy, and so were the braised cabbage, fondant potato and sweet and sour mushrooms which all worked excellently with it.
This was a real fine dining experience, and my husband was happy with his main course, a posh take on steak and chips which featured sliced rump of beef with a tomato stew, rosti potato, shallot puree and fried mushrooms. The beautifully pink beef turned out to be a tiny bit on the chewy side.
Puddings - I was a bit worried that the pistachio cake might be heavy, but it wasn’t at all. It was light and nutty and came with a small mound of lemon pannacotta. I would have liked some sauce or fruit puree to moisten it a bit more, though. My husband’s pear tarte tatin was fab, but the blue cheese ice cream was a killer. Very strong indeed!
We ended the evening with coffee taken in the genteel lounge. If you fancy a little Cotswold pampering, The Lamb Inn is a very pleasant choice.
