A CHANCE recently came up to sample the delights of a recently reopened pub deep in the Wiltshire countryside, which was too good to turn down.
The Lamb Inn, in Hindon, is a former 12th-century coaching inn that has recently undergone a redesign courtesy of owners Young's.
Set to the backdrop of the Wiltshire hills, we had planned on taking a walk around Fonthill Lake on our way to the pub from the centre of Salisbury, but unfortunately the weather intervened - definitely worth a try next time.
Other attractions such as Longleat Safari Park and Stonehenge are also only a short drive away, should you wish to venture further.
We were greeted warmly on arrival and shown to our room, a 'Family Boutique' - costing roughly £150 a night.
It was a cosy yet spacious room with a separate lounge area complete with its own flat-screen TV and double sofa bed.
The Lamb has 18 individually designed bedrooms, each with its own unique character.
Ours also contained an honesty bar stocked to the brim with treats and drinks, a Nespresso coffee machine, and a dedicated working space.
It had everything we needed and we settled very quickly.
After taking our things to the room, we headed straight to the pub to relax, read the newspaper and play some games.
While the Rugby World Cup played out in the background with regulars coming and going, we enjoyed Neck Oil on tap and some of the house red.
A very relaxing hour and a half whistled by and before we knew it it was time to get ready for dinner.
As well as the restaurant and pub, there are also two private dining spaces, The Meddling Pike and The Wylye Duck, with space for up to 24 guests.
All-day menus have been created by Head Chef James Braithwaite, spanning lunch and dinner to bar snacks.
Utilising British produce, dishes include pub classics such as Ham hock terrine with Kohlrabi remoulade and South Coast Plaice with Devon crab butter, to a daily changing cut of hand-selected prime beef, which is dry-aged in-house for a minimum of 35 days.
Nestled away in a table in a corner, we ordered Aged West Country Beef Tartare with an egg yolk and rye bread (£15), and Fowey Scallops with pea puree, samphire and nduja butter (£12.5).
To drink, we chose a bottle of the Bodega Norton Porteño Malbec. £26.75. There were flavours of dark ripe fruit, hints of plum and a lovely round finish.
The tartare was rich and fresh and cooked perfectly, as were the scallops, which had the exact texture you'd want - not too chewy or salty. For £12.50, though, it might not be unreasonable to want more than two on the plate.
Onto the mains, and the dry-aged steak looked too good for me to resist - sat as we were with the fridge directly in my eyeline.
I had the 12oz sirloin rare, with chips and watercress and peppercorn sauce (£45). It was cooked to perfection, brown on the outside and soft and juicy on the inside. I was anxious having ordered rare steak at other highly-rated restaurants recently and been disappointed, this was excellently done.
Be warned though, on the day of our visit the steak prices ranged from £38 for the 10oz sirloin to almost £100 for a 32oz.
We also ordered the Braised Salt Marsh Lamb Shoulder Sea herbs and saffron risotto (£18.50), which was superb, and I was actually jealous that I had not ordered it myself, but more lamb on the plate would not have gone a miss.
A very minor complaint is that it took 30 minutes after we had finished the main course before we were able to see the dessert menu.
Onto the dessert and two cheese lovers barely even checked the menu before ordering a cheese board each.
The British Artisan cheese board (£11.5), contained pitchfork cheddar, driftwood goats cheese, Shropshire blue, crackers, chutney, celery, grapes, and we also ordered another glass each of the Malbec to accompany it.
Back up to the room and the bed was very comfortable and a wonderful night's sleep followed for the pair of us, before checking out in the morning and heading home, grateful for a peaceful night away from the hustle and bustle.
The Lamb Inn is open Monday to Saturday 7am-11pm, and 7.30am to 10.30pm on Sunday, with rooms starting from £99 a night.
Go to lambhindon.co.uk for more.
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