Now I'm not an easy woman to please. I notice things. Sloppy decor, disinterested staff, traffic noise, undelivered promises. They are all on my radar. Fortunately, the Wykeham Arms suffers from none of them. From the moment I phoned up to make a reservation to the minute we carried out bags out of the pub's front door I liked everything about this place.
Firstly, lets start with the staff. Genuine, fun, happy people, apparently doing something they enjoy and doing it well. A surprise birthday breakfast in bed was no problem - even though it had to be carried across the street and up two flights of steep stairs, it was still delivered with a smile and a "many happy returns". Every request and conversation is met with a kind of cheery helpfulness that just can't be faked.
The accomodation itself is charming. We were in the 'annex' - the old post office across the road from the pub. Our attic story room was clean, spacious, pleasantly decorated and overlooked the delightful courtyard garden and over the yards and gardens to the College Chapel behind. Housekeeping was thorough and discrete.
The pub itself is the picture of a perfect English town pub. Packed with paraphernalia of English public school life and a bevvy of loyal regulars it's the sort of place most of us would like to have at the bottom of our own street. The food was leagues ahead of traditional pub fare and left most London gastropubs in the shade too. The lamb was simply the best I've ever tasted. The wine list is comprehensive and unstuffy, with helpful tasting notes to guide you to the perfect bottle. The cheese board was generous and well selected and my request for chutney was greeted with a typical mixture of enthusiasm and humour.
My only regret - one of us was taken ill on Sunday so we had to go home earlier than planned - so I never got to try the Sunday roast...







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