The Swan

Monday 15th September 2008

This is a Crackerjack review of The Swan. Do you agree? Rate and review this venue.

Pubs change hands so often that we should not have been surprised to discover the Swan had reopened under new ownership just the day before our visit.

The talk in the bar gave the game away. Old customers were remarking on new furnishings and changes to the menu. A new barmaid was being shown how to pull a pint.

This is a posh pub at the centre of an almost spookily immaculate Cotswolds village. But Mrs Halley and I found the Swan welcoming and unpretentious.

The new owners are Sebastian and Lana Snow, who for the last 15 years have had a restaurant in Shepherds Bush, London, and have now decided to exchange city life for the bucolic delights of rural Gloucestershire. A smart move, we thought.

The long, low, well-shaped dining room does have a restaurant feel to it, but the front bar, with its separate entrance at the side of the building, still has the cheerful air of a village inn, and is perhaps no more upmarket than you might anticipate in such a salubrious village as this one.

There need be no worries about getting a decent pint. On tap were Wadworths 6X, Hook Norton, from just across the border in Oxfordshire, and a new one to me, Ramsbury Gold. This turned out to be a real discovery, a fine bronze-gold colour, fresh and tangy with a keen hoppy finish. The brewery, in the Kennet Valley near Marlborough, is attached to a farm which supplies all the barley for the maltings. The draught cider is Stowford Press from Weston’s, in Herefordshire.

Wines are similarly well chosen. There is a grand restaurant list, and the dozen or so sold by the glass are advertised on a blackboard above the serving counter at £3.50 upwards for a 175ml glass. We noticed that the wines are better value, proportionately, in the larger glass size, 250ml, although it needs bearing in mind that this quantity amounts to one third of a bottle.

We had come a long way and decided we deserved lunch. The menu for the day offered snacks such as bruschetta (chargrilled bread with tomato, basil, garlic and olive oil) at £2.95 and starters including stuffed courgette at £6.50, French-style fish soup at £7, or a dozen snails at £8.95.

There were pastas and salads at optional starter or mains sizes from £6.25 and then a really intriguing list of main courses. We went mad and ordered daube of beef in chianti with mash, truffle oil and bone marrow crostini at £15.50 for Mrs H and chargrilled squid with garlic roasties, rocket and sweet chilli jam, at £15.95, for me.

As soon as we had taken our rather luxurious seats in the dining room, we were brought linen napkins and a basket of focaccio bread. There was a little dish of good oil and vinegar to dunk the bread in. The place was busy, and it took about 15 minutes for the food to arrive. It was worth the wait, and worth the money: the best cooking we have had this year, anywhere. Chef Sebastian is clearly a genius. And remember, this was only the second day this place had been open.

Mrs H wishes me to record that the vases of flowers on each table were inspired; they were proper garden flowers, dahlias,
lady’s mantle, roses. And much of the modern art on the cream-painted walls was inspired, too.

I am further requested to point out that the cappuccinos we had (£2) were way above the norm for flavour and generosity of coffee not just in pubs, but in coffee shops.

OK, this is a restaurant housed in a pub, but it is still a pub. There’s a cosy separate dining room next to the bar for those who prefer less formal surroundings, and there’s plenty of standing room in the bar, where quite a throng of chaps had gathered for pints and a chat by the time we had finished our lunch.

No doubt the Swan will soon be winning awards – Michelin stars, I shouldn’t wonder – but it is a village inn at heart, and we fervently hope it will stay that way, not just for the sake of the lucky few who live in Southrop, but for the many who should flock here from far afield for a seriously good pint, or the lunch of a lifetime.

Ned Halley

The Swan - Southrop, Gloucestershire.
Tel: 01367 850205

Open: Mon-Sat lunch and dinner; Sun lunch. Ring to check exact hours
Snacks: Bruschetta, £2.95, among others
Disabled access: One step at door; steps to loos
Parking: In the road
Service: Enthusiastic and obliging
Atmosphere: Swish but welcoming

This is a Crackerjack review of The Swan. Do you agree? Rate and review this venue.