Review: Susie Finch
The Royal Oak in Woodchester is the quintessential English pub, with walls as thick as your forearm, oak beams, flagstone floors, beer on tap and a roaring fire in winter.
Step inside and you can imagine the place as an Inn some 400 years ago – although I expect that the standard of fare has changed somewhat since then.
Landlords Niall and Trish McInerney pride themselves on serving fantastic food, sourced from the best ingredients and cooked to the highest standards.
On Friday and Saturday evenings there’s a wide range of dishes on the menu, often with a French influence or a unique twist. The mouth watering choice includes poached salmon alongside richer dishes like tagines and beef bordelaise. In the summer, the unusual mango and chicken salad is popular.
Fish and chips go down well on Friday nights, but the star of the show is the Sunday roast. Pork and beef is carved by Niall at your table and served from a distinctive silver meat trolley inherited from his father.
Everything from the beef, roast potatoes and gravy to the horseradish sauce is homemade. The gravy alone takes hours to prepare and Niall hangs his own meat to ensure the best quality. Vegetarians, vegans and those with special diets can also be catered for – the nut roast in particular always goes down a treat.
The dessert menu is extensive, with a changing range of crumbles, steamed puddings, cheesecakes and French tarts.
Niall and Trish, who also run The Travelling Chefs catering company, are incredibly particular about their suppliers. French tarts really are brought in from France, and if you see a burger made with wagyu beef on the menu, you know it’s the real deal.
