The Hollybush, Witney

“Of course I would propose,” I assured her. It seemed the polite thing to reply. To say no would have seemed unfriendly. My guess was that she was seeking to discover, as a matter of general principle, whether a man in such a location would be inclined to pop the question. Doubtless she had someone specific in mind to do the popping. Maybe the two are even now planning their trip to Venice. Happy travels!

You will gather they are a jolly crowd at the Hollybush. That an old buffer like me can be incorporated into the fun, as it were, is one of the reasons I like the place. Another is that the pub is exceptionally well run, under bosses John, Pinky and Luke Champion and their team. So, too, is the Champions’ other pub, The Horseshoes, farther along the street.

In a fair few visits to the Hollybush over the years, I have never been disappointed by either the food or drink. The second of these comes especially easy on the wallet if enjoyed on a Wednesday evening when (from 5 to 9pm) all the wine is sold at half price.

Witney is a favourite destination for Rosemarie and me when we feel like a change of scenery. That it is exceptionally well served by Stagecoach’s S1 bus service, from a stop at the bottom of our road, makes for an easy, hassle-free journey. For our Saturday visit to Witney a few weeks back we were joined by Rosemarie’s mother, Olive. Earlier in the day, I had emailed a booking to the Hollybush requesting, if possible, a favourite table in the front bar. This had indeed been reserved for us and, after quick hellos at the bar to Luke and regular barman Aiden McLean, we made our way to our seats by the window. A bottle of fruity Italian white wine (Il Meridione Catarratto, from Sicily) speedily followed.

Choosing what to eat proved no great challenge, since Rosemarie had earlier indicated that she had a craving for fish and chips and Olive and I had immediately spotted dishes we fancied among specials listed on a blackboard.

Portions are substantial here which suggested, since none of us was ravenously hungry, that we had better go easy on starters. The solution was for us all to share one of the pub’s speciality deli boards which you make up from your own list of items, which are charged at £2 a go. Among the most tempting items are polenta chips (a new trendy foodstuff that I tried a few weeks ago in Oxford’s Fire & Stone), honey-mustard sausages, warm black pudding and a good variety of cheeses. Even more tempting for us — and the items we went for — were three of the fishy things. The goujons of white fish (cod, I think) were delicious in their crispy golden batter. That they were almost certainly cod was confirmed in the later arrival of Rosemarie’s big chunk of pearly white main course fish, which was billed as such, with its accompaniment of heavenly chips (her words) and minted pea puree.

The marinated anchovies and smoked mackerel pate were a hit too, even with me, who has never been very fond of mackerel, dismissed as a “scavenger of the sea” by those who catch them.

My specials board main course was stuffed lamb loin. Though not as fat-lite as the waitress told me it would be, the meat was nonetheless exceptionally tender. There were three slices enclosing a delicious stuffing of coconut and apricots. It came with braised red cabbage (always popular with me) and herb roasted new potatoes. Olive’s special was the steak and kidney pie with roasted root vegetables and creamy mash. The pie was of individual size and arrived in its container. Once she’d seen it, and admired its crisp brown topping of puff pastry, she asked for it to be sent back to the kitchen to be decanted. Luke very courteously obliged, quickly returning with the meaty rich filling on view.

Determined that one of us should sample a pudding, I cajoled Olive into ordering the summer pudding with clotted cream. The classic dish fashioned from soft fruits and bread swiftly disappeared — which was not a surprise.