Address: 11 Church Green, Whitney, Oxon OX28 4AZ

Telephone: 01993 892 270

Website: www.fleecewhitney.co.uk

Date of visit: 15 December 2011

Costs: Under £20 for 2 courses unless you have the steak.

Wines and beer:  Simple wine list at a reasonable price. Bottles start  at £14.95. Beer is Green King complemented with a guest beer.

Likes and dislikes: Greene King is not my preferred tipple. Guest ale was Rocking Rudolph, a Xmas beer from Hardy and Hansdon which was all right but not great. Again, the wine list was OK but nothing special. Tables are clean and the food is all right and very reasonably priced. Good service (servers).

Cuisine: British.

Summary:

Whitney is about 10miles from Oxford.

The Fleece has had a few decent write ups including Pub of the Year. Sawday’s gave it a very good review in the latest guide.

It is free parking along the edge of the Green for 2 hours. This gave me ample time to sample the delights.

Upon entry, I was amazed to find the place packed to the rafters. Not a spare table except for the high ones with high stools around the bar area. I know its chic but the high tables and chairs are not very comfortable – you can’t lean back.

The bar served Greene King and the usual lagers. I was attracted to the guest ale – Rocking Rudolph (£3.40 a pint)- as the sign on the hand pump had flashing lights.

There is a standard menu and a blackboard for the day’s specials. Most food came with chips. They also had a few deli boards – cheese, charcuterie, fish etc, all at £11.50

The starters were pretty normal until I came across haggis with neeps and tatties served with a whisky cream sauce (£6.75). I went for the haggis and the cheese board.

The haggis arrived some 25 minutes later and it was warm not hot. The haggis was crème brulee (upside down) shaped and sat on a pile of mash potatoes (tatties) surround by a  pool of sauce. I have never understood why haggis is normally served dry, it worked well with gravy and in this case, the whisky sauce was pretty good. However, I could not find any neeps (swede or turnips). The dish was quite tasty.

I then had to wait another 25 minutes for my cheese board. OK, they were packed but still…….When it came, I had stilton, cheddar, taleggio and some hard goats cheese. The apple chutney they served with the cheese was fantastic and the celery sticks and a big pile of biscuits certain made the dish pretty filling.

This is a nice place in a fantastic location. The food is fine. They just need to sort the beer out. But then, I noticed that most of their clients were women who were drinking Evian or wine.

E