Address: Craven Road, Lower Green, Inkpen, Berkshire. Rg17 9DX

Telephone number: 01488 668326

Website: http://www.theswaninn-organics.co.uk/

Date of visit: 28 July 2011

Approximate costs per head: Around £20 for 2 courses

Comments on wine list/beer: Local beer (Butts) from £3.10 a pint, organic wine

Cuisine: pub food and Italian dishes

Likes and dislikes: interesting place, makes a lot of noise about “organic” food. I am neutral about this place – not over the moon and nothing to dislike.

Note: opening times – see website

Summary:

This is a Pub, Restaurant, Hotel and Organic Shop complex.

The Pub

If you are driving there, the last stretch is really narrow and its on a bus route.

This place is listed is the good pub guide, good bear guide and is a Rick Stein food hero but it did not make Michelin or Sawday’s.

There are about 6 tables on the outside – new furniture. The inside is divided in to the Pub part and a dining room complete with table cloths.

The menu is a strange mixture of all the traditional pub dishes, inter dispersed with lots of Italian dishes.

As it was a very nice day, I decided to sit outside. I had a pint of the local special and a pint of mild from Cheddar Brewery. I have to put my hand up and say that beers were quite strong. This is not a place for a couple of pints, food and drive. Mind you, I liked the Butts – it had a certain woody taste. The Cheddar mild was a dark golden colour not black. I first came across milds that are not black in the Hobgoblin in Reading. The manageress (extremely knowledgeable) told me that milds are defined by the way it is brewed, not the colour.

Onto food. I did not fancy the Italian so I had two starters. I started off with a trio of smoked fish – trout, salmon and mackerel – served with horseradish cream  and a small salad (£6.50). The fishes were ok except for the mackerel. It was full of small bones. I had expected the kitchen to remove all the fine bones. Next I had the deep fried brie which came as a nice wedge with again a small salad. The small salad was a mix salad with shredded cabbage, lattice and carrots – 10 out of 10 for freshness. The brie was ok but not great as it was a bit young and not runny. Most restaurants that serve deep fried camembert or brie use young cheeses which are less tasty than the mature ones.

In conclusion, it was fine but not great. Next, the shop.

The Shop

It was closed so I had to get the lady behind the bar to open it up.

This was a big disappointment as Rick Stein raved on about it in his book.

There were very few things on sell. In the centre was several freezers offering frozen organic meat or dishes (lasagne, pies etc) from the restaurant/pub. There was a shelf lines with organic bottles beers and ciders and then jam, porridge and dried pasta. The prices were not too bad, it was just the small range and the lack of fresh food that was so disappointing.

E