My husband Geoff and I were staying at Oxbourne House in Oxhill, Warwickshire a lovely B&B run by Posy and Graeme McDonald which we found on the Alastair Sawday website. Oxhill is a small rural village situated roughly half-way between Stratford-on-Avon and Banbury and so is close to many places to visit in the Cotswolds . We were greeted warmly by Posy, shown our room and then served tea and chocolate cake in the large and pretty garden. Breakfast the following day was excellent, cereals, toast, fresh fruit and yoghurt, and a cooked breakfast with a big cafetiere of freshly brewed coffee. It was like breakfast, elevenses and lunch rolled into one.
That evening we set off to the local pub around the corner called The Peacock Inn, a very quintessential country pub, flowers in abundance outside in hanging baskets and tubs amongst a couple of picnic tables and inside was softly lit with a nice relaxing ambience, cream wood panels up to the dado rail, dark wooden beams, wood flooring and lots of candles and fir cones dotted around.
The young staff were all very friendly and service was prompt. First we had some very fresh local granary bread served, unfortunately, with hard cold butter, my pet hate. Geoff tried to soften his by putting it over the candle on our table which didn’t really work as I could see that the butter would probably drip onto the flame and put it out and it would just get messy.
For our main meal we both chose pork medallions with a Marsala & cream sauce. There was plenty of pork served with leek, cabbage, beans and broccoli. The Dauphinoise potatoes were delicious and of course the Marsala cream sauce was quite rich and tasted divine. The pork was tender and lean, no fat or gristle. This dish filled us up and I found it hard to eat the last few mouthfuls but it was so tasty I just had to! The problem was we had no room at all for a dessert, what a shame.
We made our way back to our B&B but of course by this time it was pitch black outside and no street lighting for us to see with, so it was rather tricky finding our way and dodging the puddles.
Well, we just had to go back to the Peacock to try a starter and dessert of course. Again the service was warm and friendly and for starter I had pan-fried mushrooms with Stilton cream sauce and rustic toast. I adore mushrooms and these were to die for. I didn’t want it to end. I had to mop up the rest of the sauce with the bread.
We both ordered apple & blackberry crumble for dessert and this was served with cream or custard. I chose cream, Geoff had custard. The large chunks of apple were very tasty as were the blackberries although a few more would have been nice, they were rather small and sparse. No matter, the crumble was very nice and home-made.
Again we had to return back to the B&B in the pitch black, forgetting to ask for a torch. Geoff enjoyed a couple of pints of Peacock beer which he said was very nice indeed whilst I enjoyed a glass of Savignon Blanc. The first evenings bill came to £38 which were the two pork dishes, a large glass of wine and two pints of beer. They have a really nice pub dog, a black Labrador who would lie down in front of the doorway so the waiters would have to climb over him each time they went through it. If you’re ever in the area we thoroughly recommend The Peacock, we wouldn’t hesitate on returning, the same with Oxbourne house B&B. Take a look at our reviews on other places in the area, Meg Rivers within the Lapstone complex and Daylesford Organic Farm which we visited the same weekend.
Living life, loving the Cotswolds,
A x
