Overcoming huge doubts about faking a rural idyll in a retail outlet, Katherine MacAlister enjoys her shopping respite

I wanted to hate it.

Just the name Farmshop was a bit too pretentious, too contrived for me, the restaurant being nestled as it is between the moneyed designer shops of Bicester Village, it’s rural aspirations as far removed from the materialistic avenues of fashion as you could possibly find.

I was also mourning the demise of Busaba, the Thai restaurant that Farmshop had so swiftly replaced, because I loved it there.

But as Soho House is expanding faster than Felix and his amazing underpants, news that it was opening a restaurant came as no surprise.

After all, preparations for the summer opening of its next venture The Farmhouse at Great Tew – with 40 log cabins spread around lakes with the main farmhouse available for groups, and the cottage for more intimate parties – are gathering pace.

Soho House is a group of private members’ clubs, aimed primarily at those in the arts and media. That it would carry it off its Bicester Village debut with acute style was a given.

But would I like it? Or would it be too achingly cool for school? Luckily, its laid-back, comfy demeanour works. And when you’ve been shopping hard all day, what you need is to relax and eat something delicious, healthy and quick, which the Farmshop delivers.

None of that rammed, panicky, pushy, small-tabled hunting you get in other BV restaurants. At The Farmshop it’s an oasis of calm, as you sink gratefully onto its banquettes, cast your shopping bags down (don’t tell Mr Greedy, they are still in the boot of the car) and settle into the huge, lofty, airy, muted wooden space, a real getaway from the hustle and bustle outside.

It’s like a cross between the wild west and an alpine chalet.

Once cocooned, the menu is short and to the point. It doesn’t really do starters but has a section bizarrely dedicated to eggs(!?) salads, cocktails, juices, sandwiches, a few mains, puddings and tea.

We went for dinner, ordering puy lentil, roast sweet potato and basil pesto salad (£8) while sipping on a very tidy Bloody Mary and a glass of Prosecco. Our food arrived almost immediately because The Farmshop sets itself a target of serving your drinks in three minutes, salads in five and mains in 10 minutes flat.

The lentils were delicious, in a fennel and basil pesto dressing with oily roasted slivers of sweet potato, and really quite filling.

Next we went for quarter spit-roast chicken with aioli (£7), which was tiny and bare on the plate because you have to order chips separately (£4), which we did with a buttered lettuce and avocado salad (£4).

There was a good amount of flesh and the chicken was well cooked.

The chips deserve their own review. Crinkled (controversial, I know) but crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and lovely and salty.

It did mean that my red and golden beetroot, endive, goats curd and walnut salad (£8) was rather neglected, which was very un-Ladies-who-lunch of me.

We were absolutely stuffed, but our lovely waitress, Carla, talked us into a slice of apple pie (£5). When she turned up with the whole pie straight out of the oven, I felt like an extra on Little House On The Prairie.

My-oh-my it was good. Crumbly pastry and gently sweetened apple with a hint of Calvados, accompanied by strong vanilla ice cream, it was heaven.

We were almost groaning, Other occupants started looking a bit nervous and moved their designer bags closer to their tables as we swayed towards the door.

And I realised that I’d fallen for the whole Farmshop package. So if you’re local, it’s definitely somewhere to visit. And with Village now open until 10pm, anything is possible. Just don’t tell Mr Greedy.

Farmshop, Pringle Drive, Bicester
Open 8.30am-10pm.
farmshopbicester.com 01865 686400