Tim Hughes enjoys the best of locally-sourced produce at The Pointer in Brill, where the food travels not miles, but mere metres

We've all heard those stories about the ridiculous distances travelled by certain food items before they reach our table. Beans from Kenya, garlic from China, avocados from Mexico… There are no such concerns at The Pointer, a smart gastro-pub perched on the hill at Brill.

Most of the produce served up by owners David and Fiona Howden, pictured top left, has come just a couple of miles from their farm in neighbouring Ludgershall – vegetables, herbs and, importantly meat.

David and Fi are justifiably proud of their link with the land. When I popped in to see them they were having drinks with cheery butcher John Wilkins and his wife Anna, pictured to the right of David and Fi, whose shop is literally next door. Food doesn’t get more local. Forget food miles, we’re talking food metres.

The quality of that meat has given The Pointer a reputation as carnivore heaven. Yes, there are fine fish and vegetarian dishes (a risotto of English field mushrooms looked fabulous, and included such delights as penny buns, blue hewitts and brown caps), but it’s that hand-reared pork and beef which keeps a steady flow of discerning meat-lovers making the trek up to this impossibly scenic village.

“We use 70 organic ingredients from our farm, from artichokes to rare breed beef,” says Fi. “There are also apples, chives, horseradish, onions, radicchio, tomatoes and shallots… And we don’t sell our stuff to anyone else; it all comes here.”

It is the fertile imagination of chef Mini Patel, however, which turns this rustic fayre into culinary flights of fancy, tantalising and interesting without being fussy. It may be elegant, but it’s also hearty.

Keen to try a bit of everything, we started with a few snacks – a hummus dip with and crisp bread (admittedly not from the farm) and a pork croquette (which certainly was). The croquette (£4) was tasty and delicate and perfectly complemented with a burnt apple sauce.

Bread came fresh and warm in little sealed paper bags, and was accompanied not just by regular creamy butter but an extraordinarily good beef dripping butter. Rich, smooth and loaded with flavour, it exploded on the taste buds. Spread thickly on bread, it was gone without seconds. The dripping alone is worth the trip.

It’s hard to find anything which doesn’t come from the farm, but starters of Brixham crab (£12) and Cornish mackerel (£8) prove the exception. Of the two, the mackerel was the winner. Charred and served with a beetroot sorbet and horseradish it was simply sublime and bursting with flavour. The crab was more subtle, served shredded in a stack with avocado salsa, leaves and shoots, it was fresh, light and lively.

While the steak (belted Galloway sirloin, no less) looked pretty fine – and came served with an enormous Portobello mushroom and delicious beef dripping chips (£25), the big attraction among the mains is a wonderful duo of local fallow deer (£24) which came as a roast loin and slow-cooked faggot. Both were unbelievably good. The firm rich game is balanced by tangy red cabbage, beefy parsnips, cardamom gravy and a curious curry-tinged savoury granola; a symphony of flavours. The venison faggot – a lavishly spiced, peppery patty with a fabulous bite – was the standout success.

It was topped off with a coffee and cardamon pannacotta, served with a slice of almond and lemon cake (£7). Perfect.

Fi admits her 120 apple-fed pigs and 130 cattle are almost family, and are spoilt rotten. “You can taste the difference, can’t you?” she says, as we chat over coffee. And you know what? She’s absolutely right.

The Pointer, Brill 01844 238339
thepointerbrill.co.uk