Countryside cuisine at The Swan

5:05pm Friday 4th April 2008

There is something quite special about dining in a real country pub. One that has kept its menu and decor traditional, rather than going down the gastro pub route; making everything cream and minimalist, and adding unpronouncable ingredients to their dishes.

Buckinghamshire is spoilt with its countryside and country pubs, and the residents of quiet Ley Hill have an even bigger choice with two on their doorstep - The Swan and The Crown. The two landlords try and complement each other, and hold a live music event every summer between the two establishments. I paid a visit to the more "foody" of the two pubs, The Swan.

You know you are in a proper country pub when you lose your mobile phone signal and you have to stoop a bit to get in the entrance.

Greeted by friendly owners, husband and wife Nigel and Sam Byatt, we enjoyed a glass of wine in the bar area, before heading to the restaurant section to sample the menu.

Overhearing Nigel and Sam's friendly banter with the other diners, it was clear that The Swan is a real hub of the village and a place where people go to catch up on the gossip over a drink and a meal.

We were presented with a plate of bread and oils while we looked through the menu, finding it hard to settle on just one of the tempting dishes.

The Swan offers some of its starters in a main course option, so if you really fancy the look of two dishes, you can try both.

I opted for goats cheese risotto with peppers, baby spinach and pine nuts for my starter - one of the dishes also available as a main.

Goats cheese can sometimes overpower a dish, but the flavours of the risotto perfectly complemented each other, and the portion was a perfect size.

Also delicious was the chicken liver parfait with apple and grape chutney and toasted brioche.

Main course wise, we were spoilt for choice, eventually plumping for the Oxfordshire pork belly with savoy cabbage and bacon, with buttered mash and apple sauce, and pan fried breast of Gressingham duck with butternut squash puree, Parisienne potatoes and broad beans.

The meals were delicious and warmed us up perfectly on a cold evening. Still not defeated by the food we had eaten, we decided to sample dessert.

A sticky toffee pudding and half a chocolate concoction later, we were stuffed, but felt we really had sampled The Swan at its best.

On the way out after our dinner, we noticed some of our fellow diners had now moved into the bar area to continue their evening over a drink, with real cask ales and a good selection of wine on offer.

It really is a perfectly quintessential village pub, and the people of Ley Hill are very lucky.

The Swan: 01494 783075.

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