What the experts recommend

The Pony & Trap Newtown, Chew Magna, Bristol (01275-332627) Nestling on a quiet lane high up in the Mendips, and boasting cracking views, the charming Pony & Trap (all nooks, crannies and snug banquettes) was recently voted Britain’s third-best gastropub, said Matthew Bayley in The Daily Telegraph. And following my delicious lunch there on a warm early summer’s day, I was left to wonder: which other two gastropubs can be better than this? “And can the Telegraph send me to them too?” A snack of crunchy Scotch quail eggs with brown sauce was “a full English in one bite”. Plump sweet mussels were bathed in cream and cider and dressed in fronds of samphire. A main of pigeon (the menu here is so keen on local provenance that it actually names the marksman who shot the bird) was “earthy, gummy, deep brown and irresistibly plate-lick-worthy”. And a well-aged pork chop came “thick and juicy, with Christmassy spiced apples, celeriac and a light black pudding”. Lunch for two, about £80, without alcohol.

Arbequina 74 Cowley Road, Oxford (01865-792777) Diners visiting from London may get a sense of déjà vu, visiting this new tapas restaurant in east Oxford, says Marina O’loughlin in The Guardian. The wooden stools and rough tables, the bar for dining, the tiles. Then there’s the short menu; the bread basket complete with picos breadsticks and oily flatbread; the shallow earthenware dish with little heaps of sea salt, sumac spice, smoked paprika and dukkah (an Egyptian fruit and spice mix). And finally the “dead giveaway”: beetroot borani, an Iranian-influenced cross between a dip and a salad. Yes, this is the acclaimed Morito in Exmouth Market, “transported to the colourful Cowley Road”. Personally I don’t mind a bit of “overt restaurant plagiarism” if the results are good, and Arbequina delivers the kind of “lunchtime pleasure that sees you (OK, me) ordering a second bottle” and hunkering down. Smoky red prawns are so huge, “they’re in danger of being mistaken for lobsters”. I loved the pork belly with mojo verde and slow-cooked ox cheeks. There are any number of great vegetable dishes and imaginative salads. As for that beetroot borani: Arbequina’s is “even better than the original”. About £20-£25 a head, plus drinks and service.

Pique-nique Tanner Street Park, London SE1 (020-7403 9549) Hervé Durochat, of the Bermondsey Street bistro Casse-croûte, has launched a new French venture in what looks like an old bowls pavilion, says Fay Maschler in the London Evening Standard. Merci, Hervé, is what I say. On our first visit, we opt for the £38 “Poulet de Bresse” set menu: a spread of chicken starters, a flourish of desserts and, as a centrepiece, the “noble chicken roasted on a spit and served two ways”. Of the first courses, we admire a deep-fried croquette, a scoop of creamy chicken liver pâté, and a skewer of sautéed peppered giblets. A lacklustre consommé is a disappointment, but “happiness is fully restored” by a skin-on slice of chicken breast with morel-studded sauce and smooth-as-silk potato purée, plus jusdrenched sliced thigh with green salad. On our next visit, we go à la carte: highlights include pork-based pâté en croûte and “pink and tender” roast pigeon. Desserts are “delectable”. À la carte meal, about £115, including wine and service.