The Bear and Ragged Staff, Cumnor

Had I only myself to consider I would probably have opted to dine there on one of its regular game nights, which take place on the last Wednesday of the month in the season. But since Rosemarie is no great fan of feather and fur, it seemed wiser to visit when the regular menu was in operation.

In the event, we went for Sunday lunch, with Rosemarie’s mother Olive as our companion. We were delighted to find that Rebecca and her team were offering not just the autumn menu but classic Sunday roasts as well.

As I said, it was too long since it had been visited. In my early days of working in Oxford I used to lunch there with colleagues as often as once a week. But that was back in the 1970s, when the journey took only five minutes or so without the jams that now exist around the clock (thanks to those blasted retail warehouses) in Botley Road.

Later there were periods of gastronomic excellence there under the stewardship, at different times, of George Dailey and Bruce Buchan. My impression had been that over the past few years, however, its food had had little appeal to the discerning palate. This had perhaps been an accurate one in the light of the experience of its new tenant (the place is owned by Greene King) Mark Greenwood. He arrived to find the kitchen equipment consisted mainly of freezers and microwaves, all of which were speedily jettisoned.

Mark, who was born in Manchester, spent most of his career in the Far East, working as a stockbroker in countries such as Dubai and Hong Kong before becoming an investor in bars and restaurants in Thailand. His move to England was largely motivated by the need to get a good education for his two daughters, the elder of whom, 16-year-old Carmel, was among the attractive young team of waiting staff looking after us at lunch.

Mark’s success at pulling in the punters was evident in the fact that almost all the tables were either full or bearing ‘reserved’ notices. We were seated at a rather cramped table next to the bar. It was rather chilly, too, as a consequence of draughts from the nearby entrance from the car park. But I didn’t complain at the time, so it is perhaps a little unfair of me to do so now.

There was certainly nothing to complain about in respect of the meal, which began for me with a superb salad of tender pieces of pigeon breast, with diced smoked bacon and sliced brown cap mushrooms in a creamy sauce. For Rosemarie there were a pair of Asian fishcakes (made, as Mark explained, without the addition of potato) with aioli and “autumn coleslaw”, this being large pieces of purple cabbage and shavings of carrot.

Olive, who was on the Sunday menu, began with delicious gougons of sole and continued with a superb plate of roast beef – tender topside and in generous quantity – with roast potatoes and home-made Yorkshire pudding, which she thought absolutely superb. Buried beneath the pile of meat were carrots and spinach.

My main course was an 8oz venison steak, which arrived medium to well cooked as specified, with a tangy mushroom and red-wine sauce, well-dressed green salad, and a pile of chips, a glorious gold and clearly hand-cut from huge potatoes.

Rosemarie was equally delighted with her big slab of roasted pork belly, with redcurrant jus and a mound of colcannon. This was from the ‘pub classics’ section of the menu, which also included chef’s pie of the day (it was spicy lamb with lentil) and oxtail stew with herb dumplings (I could barely resist!). Other seasonal dishes included pan-fried skate wing, wild mushroom, thyme and roasted garlic risotto, and slow-roasted lamb shank.

As usual I passed on pud and even, on this occasion, cheese (mainly because the Oxford Blue had run out). But Rosemarie gave me a tantalising taste of her unusually gooey (and therefore exceptionally nice) dark and white chocolate brownie. Olive offered me some of her whiskey-soaked sultana bread and butter pudding, with crème Anglaise, but she was clearly enjoying it so much that I thought it would be unfair to accept.