On a nice English summer day (when we are actually lucky enough to have one!), there’s nothing better than to take a trip into the English countryside for some fresh air and a spot of lunch.
We did that the other day on one of our more recent rare, sunny days a couple of weeks ago, and took ourselves out to Wantage, to check out The Sparsholt.
The countryside there is glorious – real ‘England My England’ stuff. It’s a stone’s throw from the ancient Ridgeway and the Uffington White Horse and the views are spectacular on the way. Formerly The Star Inn, The Sparsholt is an 18th century former pub that came under the ownership of Westbury Street Holdings in 2022. WSH Restaurants also operates The Clockspire in Somerset, The Boxford in Newbury and The Woodspeen, also in Newbury. The company’s newest venture, The Braywood is set to open later this year in Paley Street, near Bray.
In addition to being a restaurant, The Sparsholt also has eight bedrooms in an adjacent converted barn.
The dining room and bar is a mix of old and new – original beams alongside ultra modern furniture and decor. It overlooks the terrace and garden which is great for al fresco dining, weather permitting.
The head chef is Luke Sutton, whose sterling CV includes stints at the renowned L’Ortalan in Reading and The Woodspeen, so we were expecting the food to be pretty top-notch: it was.
We were welcomed by Sharon, the assistant manager, who explained that the building dates from 1725, and until recently was called The Star, but the name change coincided with a new menu format.
Talking of menus, I was very impressed with the range of products, and there were plenty of appealing vegetarian dishes. There is a special vegan menu too, with two choices for each course.
I enjoyed a Negroni, while my husband (being the duty driver) enjoyed a refreshing bottle of sparkling water.
We were tempted by the duck leg bon bons with pickled walnut ketchup from the Snacks menu (everything at £5) and they were delicious.
They were piping hot, packed with duck and the ketchup offset the richness perfectly.
To start, I’d chosen white sourdough crumpet, brown crab rarebit, pickled fennel. It was beautifully presented and the crumpet was deliciously sour.
The pickled fennel was a revelation to me – I’ve pickled cucumber, onions and lots of other veg, but will definitely be attempting to match their fine slicing and well balanced pickling.
With the crab it was a perfect combination, the portion size was just right – not too large, but generous enough.
My husband had chosen the duck liver parfait, summer cherries and brioche toast. It, too, was beautifully presented and a very generous portion. Of course, it was very rich, but also incredibly light.
I know that sounds like a contradiction, but it was true – and the cherries were the perfect partner.
Never being able to resist a steak, my better half had already earmarked the Longhorn Ribeye, Caesar gem wedge, beef fat bearnaise and triple cooked chips. The meat was cooked medium as requested and he declared it a great success.
Having had a seafood starter, I stayed with fish and chose roasted monkfish, coco beans, broccoli, basil and sunflower seed sauce. The broccoli was crispy, just as I like it, and the coco beans were a new one for me and they were excellent.
The sunflower seed sauce was really good – shades of tahini, but with more depth of flavour. It was a delicious main course, and just the right amount.
We didn’t have room for anything else, but Sharon persuaded us to try some of the chef’s homemade basil ice cream. We had just a soupcon each, but it was delicious, and a perfect end to our meal.
We really enjoyed our visit to The Sparsholt. It was a Wednesday lunchtime but surprisingly quiet, especially as it was one of the rare, decent, days weather-wise so far this summer..
The prices are well balanced, to encourage locals to pop in for a snack or two – from £5 a portion – and the outside terrace is dog friendly.
