News & Reviews |
||
Arriving at the Bridge at Napton, right at the top of the Southern Oxford canal, a few hundred metres from its junction with the Grand Union, was like coming across an oasis in a desert. We were spending a few days pot¬tering afloat around old haunts in the Braunston area, but eating out had been a huge disappointment. Our first meal, at a canalside inn a few miles from Braunston had been a disaster. From the Canal was the heading for the fish section of the menu: perhaps this wasn't a joke at all. Certainly the near solid gravy that accompanied both our main courses could have been dredged from the cut. Sausages (four of them) resembled the cheapest cash & carry variety, and were served with 'mash'that was greyer and lumpier than boarding school fare of forty years ago. There were, believe it or not, Yorkshire Puddings too. A sorry experience at a hostelry where we had fed well only two years previously. Never mind. The Old Royal Oak at Hillmorton had been a delight on our last visit, so that's where we headed next But time flies and we had forgotten that the last visit was some thirty years ago. What was then an unpretentious canal inn is now extended and modernised, focusing more on trade from the busy road than from the water - more lager and Lada than gin and Jaguar, but I'm sure you get the idea. The menu is Hungry Horse and BigPlate, so you'll get the idea again. But, of its kind, the food was tasty enough and good value. The downside is that here, as in so many places now, to eat outside is to share the smokers' ghetto, with piled up ashtrays and spent butts underfoot. Our meal over, it was with some relief that we cast off from this example of twenty-first century'civilisation'and found a more rural mooring for the night. We didn't eat out at Braunston, where we've always found that the inns up the hill in the village offer a warmer welcome and better food than those at the water's edge. The Braunston Fryer offers fish and chips to hungry boaters and a new tearoom, Poppies, is a nice place for tea and cake: both are open from Wednesday to Satu rday. And don't forget the wonder¬ful Braunston butcher -just the place for barbecue supplies if the sun ever shines. So it was that we came to Napton's family-run The Bridge at Napton, originally built in the late 1700s as a stabling point for horses. There are good moorings here, though I'm sure they're busy in the season. If you are travelling by road, the inn is on the A425 between Sou.th.am and Daventry, The panelled dining room, cosy but unpretentious, looks out over the canal, but with our dog in tow, we thought we'd be banished shivering to the garden on what was a breezy evening. Not a bit of it: 'Dog's are welcome in the back bar'. So, after the warmest of welcomes, we joined two other well-behaved boat dogs and their owners in a pleas¬ant room hung with old photographs of the canal and surrounding area. The guest beers were a treat, and (without anyone asking) water was brought for the four-legged guests. As wel I as the usual sandwiches a nd pub fare, there is an appetizing menu of more adventurous dishes - short menus usually signify individual cooking, and this is the case at Napton. This is not haute cuisine, but it is food with flair; the prices are reasonable and the portions generous. We chose a tasty fish pie, and delicious slow honey roasted belly of pork served with caramelised onions, pea puree and mashed potato. But we were nearly tempted by Mediterranean chicken breast, roast rump of British lamb, and a Thai vegetable curry. Buffalo and Guinness pie (made with locally reared water buffalo) was intriguing. The full menu is on The Bridge at Napton website. So often pubs, and even restaurants, let themselves down with commercially produced desserts, but not at Napton, where all are made on the premises. Bread and butter pudding, banoffee pie, key lime pie, and chocolate and pecan brownies were all tempting. We chose the first two, which were excellent - and there were glowing reports of the others from neighbouring tables. The recipe at the Bridge at Napton is a simple one. Friendly hosts who enjoy what they do, and obviously enjoy cooking; who offer good value and make their customers - especially boaters - feel wanted and at: home. It is strange that others haven't learnt the same lesson. We shall certainly be going back and we hope you'll go too - as long as you leave us space to tie up outside! (Article taken from Canals and Rivers November issue) |
||
If you would like to post a comment to us about the Bridge Inn, please complete the form below.
|
