I haven’t done too much in the Lambourn area so it was great to meet Rupert who owns The Pheasant and asked about a review. He talked to me about two of his places, The Pheasant in Lambourn and the Hart near Andover, both of which also have rooms.
Lambourn proves my theory that the further West (that is on the left hand side isn’t it if you hold the map with Scotland at the top) one goes the better the scenery gets. I am sure that Slough, Bracknell and Reading have their beauty pimples but West Berkshire, which is 51 % land mass of Berkshire, gets full beauty coverage. No pimples here. The Pheasant is a great example of this beauty. It is actually really close to the motorway but you wouldn’t know it as you sat in the pub, near the log fire with the most wonderful interior.
An example of the beautiful decorations, I love this bowler hat light set in a semi private room.
This was my starter, one mahoosive pile of soft calamari coated in hot crispy breadcrumbs, a tangy prawn cocktail in a shot glass, smoked salmon, crab cakes with a bit of a kick, textured mackerel pate and some big fat prawns. This was served with a pot of tartare sauce and some cocktail sauce and more bread than even I could eat. In fact the only downside is that there was so much that I couldn’t eat it all, it isn’t very often that I can say that.
Pan fried bass, sautéed vegetables, sun-dried tomato and rocket pesto, a beautiful sight and a delicious eat. The bass was cooked perfectly with a crispy skin and light flaky flesh which contrasted so well with the pesto.
Oh My! My mum would have gone insanely crazy if she had been given this. To be fair it may be hard to tell as she is one crazy mum (MBE) as it is but she loves puddings and this incredible selection was wrapped up for me to take away. It included  home-made marshmallows, sherbet, fudge and fruit pastilles. I would love to say I took it for my mum but actually I ate some of it and my daughter Rachel ate the rest.
Deb was the most delightful server, nothing was too much trouble including anticipating when I needed anything, even tap water was provided before I asked.
I didn’t get a chance to see the rooms although did interview the manager and that has gone out on Kennet Radio.  The food was comped and that, as always, makes no difference to my reviews. The Pheasant is highly recommended and is in a beautiful part of West Berkshire.