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I was idly flicking through the Aussie Vogue Living (magazine) today and saw a familiar room – it was a four-page spread on The Olde Bell Inn in Hurley. We went there at the end of July with the Doo-wop's. How weird is that - to see some little inn in Hurley, UK, featured in an Aussie interiors magazine? It had been made over by Ilse Crawford – the interiors doyenne – and I had picked it up in Bazaar (another magazine – yes, I am a bit of a junkie!). Is she Australian?
Hurley is a leafy little village between Maidenhead and Henley. The Olde Bell was on a quiet little road, lots of parking, a traditional looking pub with rooms, extended and made-over in a quirky rustic style. It had the usual low ceilings, the bar was dark but the dining room opened out nicely. There was one step up to the dining room and all other access was fine, spacious even – as usual, I did not check out the toilets.
The menu was limited which is fine, but there was nothing on it that cried, ‘eat me!’ We chose salads, soup, veal and everything was…OK, maybe a bit mediocre. It was disappointing as we were hoping to be wowed by the quality of the ingredients if not by the menu.
The ambience of the place was fine and for socialising with our mates – great. Apparently it has huge gardens and a river runs close by, so, it may be a nice daytime destination in a better summer than this one! We thought it would be fun for a group outing too.
Not, however, a memorable foodie experience but also not an overly expensive one. Fit for purpose, I guess, and I would return although with lower expectations for the food next time..and be more pleasantly surprised perhaps.
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