The Howard Arms, Ilmington

We visited the Howard Arms on a Sunday in January 2011 to celebrate my and my mother-in-law's birthdays. We booked a table for 4 in the restaurant. We'd been here a few times per year for the last decade or so travelling 80 miles round trip and were still unsure as to whether the current owners (for the last few years) could match the award winning status the Greenstocks brought to 'The Howard'. It was going OK until the main courses arrived, I had beef but the other 3 had slices from a leg of lamb - the meat was interlaced with fat and was tough and chewy as a result. It was also served with Yorkshire puddings which is a bit odd for lamb and they weren't even nice ones, dry and hard. We advised the staff who were very apologetic and offered some beef or to take off the bill which is fair enough (my party took the latter option) but this shouldn't happen in a pub where a simple roast is �16 per person and the total meal bill for 4 with minimal drinks would have been around �140 and the atmosphere was irrepairable. There were other minor mistakes too which don't happen very often if at all in other pub restaurants. We noticed for the first time in a long time empty tables which might be sending a message? So after a decade we'll be looking for an alternative because as they say nothing good ever lasts forever...

17 Jan 2011 08:19

The Radnor Arms, Coleshill

Is Hodge1 the owner of the pub by any chance?
As you can work out from that review, since changing hands the pub's emphasis has moved from food to drink, the previous owners, Richard and Shelley departed in late 2009 to continue their culinary excellence at the Lamb at Buckland.
Having visited the Radnors web site which stated that it had changed hands, we were hoping to find it little changed but it's very different.
For a start, why is there now a dart board in the dining room?
The food is nothing special and feels more like a cafe then a restaurant, my wife had an anaemic John Dory dish and I had a steak which wasn't bad but was curiously served with stilton cheese on top of it.
To top it all off we had to endure the potent perfume of the 'chef's' tatooed girlfriend as she leant on the bar just across from our table for most of the evening.
There are worse pubs and I am sure the beer is good but this isn't the Radnor Arms it used to be it used to be under Richard and Shelley so don't confuse it.

1 Aug 2010 13:50

The Lamb, Buckland

We'd been impressed by the owners' previous pub, the Radnor Arms in Coleshill and were sorry to see that they'd moved on as one of the attractions of staying in Coleshill was walking to the pub for a nice meal. Alas the new owner has put a dart board in dining room which says all you need to know so we decided to track Richard and Shelley down and found a newspaper article via Google stating they had moved to the Lamb at Buckland and opened the doors in March 2010.
There weren't an awful lot of reviews online so we took an exploratory drive and found a nice spacious pub tucked away in a picturesque Oxfordshire village just off the A420 but very very quiet.
Peeking through the windows it looked worth a proper visit so we booked for the following Saturday night.
First impressions are crucial and ass you turn off the lane there is a very tired looking black sign for the pub, no doubt a legacy of the previous owner which the new owners would be best to remove altogether as this suggests decay and neglect, their new smaller white signs dotted around the village to guide you in look much more attractive.
We had no issues parking in the spacious car park and walked through reception into the bar to be greeted by Shelley.
She took our drinks order and suggested we start off on the partly occupied terrace on what was a mild late July evening. My Hobgoblin (as gifted to Obama by our PM, an Oxfordshire local) was well kept and my partner's St. Clements was a good one (she finds quite a few are quite artificial tasting).
Our orders were promptly taken and shortly after we took our place in the otherwise empty dining room by the patio doors that look onto the terrace. The ambience of this room is pleasant with some traditional good quality furniture. As mentioned in a previous review, the table mats did still look rather scruffy but little else to fault.
We found some simple bread and butter on the table which kept us occupied until the starters came shortly afterwards.
I'd ordered the warm Chorizo salad which was excellent and my partner had ordered the Gravadlax which was a very large portion bolstered by a selection of vegetables which we struggled to recognise but tasted very good all the same - Shelley enquired if there was a problem as so much was left!
For mains I'd ordered the sirloin steak with garlic butter and my partner went for the Halibut. Shelley had advised me to order vegetables or salad as none came with the dish which was disappointing considering the cost but at just �1.50 for a very tasty mixed salad (the thinly sliced apple within was a pleasant surprise) it made no odds really.
The steak was as ordered (medium to well) and served very plainly with just a smudge of garlic butter on top the only garnish and it was very good. The accompanying chips were largely OK with enough nice ones in the bowl to satisfy but many were over cooked and dry.
My partner's Halibut was serviced on a bed of linguini with a chili and parsley which she found quite bland but maybe she picked the wrong thing?
The desserts were always very good at the Radnor and things were no different here.
After some careful consideration we chose to share the white chocolate mouse in filo pasty wafer with raspberries and, this arrived in sandwich format with the mousse presented daringly between to vertical pieces of filo pastry. Once tipped over the biscuity type pastry could be broken satisfyingly with a spoon allowing access to the creamy and yet light mousse.
I ordered a filter coffee with the dessert (I prefer it with the dessert and this catches many out even though it's clearly stated when ordered) and this arrived reasonably promptly with an unappealing tiny pail piece of marshmallow resting against the side of the cup.
A trip to the gents proved confusing as I didn't expect to find a selection of 'cheeky' postcards on the wall of what aspired to be a classy country pub.

The bill came to �55 + tip which isn't too far away from what a similar meal would cost at the local benchmark, the Swan at Southrop and on that basis Richard and Shelley have some work to do and maybe should pay them a visit to experience the small tweaks they can make but with a little bit more effort they wouldn't be too far behind.

1 Aug 2010 13:21