Sloe gin and wild mushrooms in a rural corner of Hampshire
You wouldn’t think you could find such a remote and rustic hideaway just one hour from London. The 15 minute drive from Basingstoke quickly leaves behind the Basingstoke burbs and has you winding through quiet lanes and sheep dotted fields to where The Wellington Arms discreetly sits in solitariness, surrounded by well tended vegetable beds and planters.
From the outside this is a modest building revealing little of the warmth and space that bubbles away inside. Step through the door and you will be pleasantly surprised by the sight of a cosy, bustling restaurant, filled to the rafters even midweek, a fire merrily crackling away in the corner, a crystal decanter of homemade sloe gin glittering on the counter, and the owner chatting at leisure with his customers despite being at full capacity.
What draws this loyal crowd of foodies to this remote outpost? A menu of the finest local and home grown fare cooked simply and incredibly well. If it’s not grown on site (even the sheepskin rugs in the rooms are from the Wellington’s own sheep) then it’s procured locally, delivered daily from small producers, from the wild mushrooms to the steak raised at the local Grange Farm.
The menu bulges with comfort food classics such as double baked cheese soufflé, partridge with red cabbage and mash, venison pie, lemon posset, treacle tart and a small but perfectly selected choice of British cheese - and not forgetting the beautifully mellowed sloe gin from the Wellington Arms’s own 2010 vintage.
The Wellington Arms has been dishing out this seductive formula of British food cooked with love, respect and pride, for the last eight years. What’s relatively new is the addition of accommodation, turning this from a well-kept local secret into a destination restaurant with rooms.
As with everything else in this tightly run ship, the three ensuite double rooms are small and perfectly formed with meticulous attention to detail and quality. The Emperor sized bed in the New Room, with it’s endless miles of feathered duvet and pillows, will possibly be the most comfortable bed you have ever slept in. The monsoon rain shower, the reading platform up the ladder in the beamed eaves, the in-room coffee machine, the softest lighting, the faultless finish….this is five star luxury served up with modesty and a small price tag.
If you’re lucky enough to have The Wellington Arms as your local, you won’t need convincing of it’s merits. If you’re looking for a destination restaurant with rooms specialising in local produce that will stand out from the others, then this really is the Best of British.
