Yew Tree Inn, Highclere
Gav had originally planned for us to surprise Lisa at the Greyhound at Stockbridge, to celebrate her 40th. Unfortunately the restaurant called Gav just after 7pm to tell him that they had a problem with the gas supply, and were unable to open that night. We were within 200m of the restaurant at the time!
So Gav called the Yew Tree, a Marco Pierre White pub and restaurant at Highclere near Newbury, who were able to give us a table for later that evening.
The restaurant is in a whitewashed half-timbered building, with low beamed ceilings, white table linen and an original art deco mirrored room divider. The service was excellent, friendly and welcoming with good advice on wine and food. Although England has still to implement a smoking ban and people were smoking in other parts of the pub, it wasn’t too bad.
So, to the food. From a very large menu, we had:
Smoked salmon on rye bread, horseradish sauce
Chou farci (stuffed cabbage), tomato coulis
Croustade quails eggs Maintenon, sauce hollandaise
Half lobster, herbs, bernaise sauce
Lamb confit, creamed haricot beans
Roast partridge, chestnuts, sprouts, bacon, crumbs, gravy
10oz ribeye steak, escargots, garlic butter
Rice pudding, red fruit compote
Harvey’s lemon tart
Creme brulee
All washed down with a nice sauvignon blanc and an Argentinian malbec.
We went to the Yew Tree last night and had a wonderful meal, we had not been here for a number of years and was not disappointed, we sat just inside the door and was very well taken care of. It was the first time i had eaten 1/2 dozen Oysters and will not be the last, my lady friend had Wheeler’s of St.James’s fish pie in which she enjoyed too and to finish off she had the Soufflé of raspberries, it was very busy there last night, we had outstanding meals and i would like to say our service was excellent and we will be back.
Jon, coincidentally we were there again on Friday night (still to blog about that), and had a cracking meal, great service and wonderful company (Gav and Lisa again).
Thanks for your comment.
[...] went here last year on Lisa and Gav’s joint birthday, and repeated the party this year. Once again, the food was [...]
I am glad everyone else appears to have enjoyed their meals at The Yew Tree. My experience was totally the opposite - having booked a table for 08.30, my partner and I finally sat down after much complaining at 10.15. Food was just about OK - nothing special but the service despite the politeness and smiles was awful. I wrote to the manager (Kate Robinson) complaining after our visit and got a detailed response acknowledging the poor service we received and offering a complimentary meal and overnight stay (more than reasonable). I wrote twice accepting their offer and giving dates and received no response and have now written the episode off to experience. Service at the Yew Tree is as apalling as its patron’s haircut and attitude to life.