The Kings Arms, Mickleton

Pitched up here following a beautiful 3 hour walk across the nearby hills, gagging for a drink and absolutely famished. The place was quite busy with the blue rinse brigade taking advantage of the Senior Citizen's Winter Special (2 courses for �6.95) lunch.

The barmaid looked at her watch, raised her eyebrows, tutted and then barked 'We're closing in half an hour, so you'd better hurry up.' Her greeting was in fact the best thing about our visit.

The resulting 'food' (�12.95 from the a la carte menu) was absolutely dire. Lukewarm, soggy, flaccid fish was accompanied by what were allegedly hand-cut chips. Thankfully there were only 5 of the burnt offerings in the bowl, which helped to limit the stench of rancid, age-old grease. The wizened, rock-hard, shrivelled peas were green. Further resemblance to the pea family ended there.

Even the prospect of a 3 hour walk back to the car on an empty stomach was deemed preferable to eating this, so we quickly drained our glasses of warm, corked wine and left. My only regret was, having removed my muddy wellies in the foyer before entering, I couldn't make a speedier escape.

If you absolutely must stop here, have a small thimble of tap water or possibly a bag of crisps (but only if you're really, really, really starving) and then beat a retreat to the Ebrington Arms, the Fox and Hounds, the Horse and Groom, or the Howard Arms, for some true Cotswold hospitality and truly decent food and drink.

12 Feb 2010 17:56

The Hill, Primrose Hill

Having eaten some of the worst food in living memory three years ago in this very pub, I was quite sceptical when my current squeeze insisted that I return to try out the offerings of the current chef.

Things got off to a bit of a shaky start as we turned up at 8pm to find the pub almost deserted. We were just about to head over to The Steeles (my favourite local) when, in the blink of an eye, the pub started to fill up.

Having decided to stay put, I'm glad we did, as years later, I'll still be able to remember exactly what I ate (and drank) - and exactly how it tasted! The food was historic, the wine was superb and the service was spot on. We had a truly memorable night here, so much so that we returned 2 nights later for more of the same.

15 Jul 2009 08:45