Hillside, The

This distinguished pub in the delightful village of Bengeo specialises in genuinely good, straightforward food, with no pretensions. Completely refurbished with great taste and skill, it has lost none of its character in the process, from the quietly understated décor to the plan sensible furniture within.

It is a place to relax, socialise with friends and have a quiet, delicious lunch or dinner. Chef Justin Sharp is passionate about using local seasonal produce.  Chicken is freshly delivered from Temple Farm in Roydon, game is from nearby Puckeridge and our friendships with local allotments allow us to use local vegetables.

With a good sense of the convenience of its customers it opens daily for lunch and dinner, except Sundays when it is closed in the evening.

A fixed price menu operates at lunchtime and early evening offering dishes to start such as smoked haddock and leek risotto, and rabbit, pigeon and duck terrine with celeriac roulade, cornichons and toast, followed by local trout cake with mixed leaves, lemon and sauce gribiche or breast of local wood pigeon with rosti potato, spinach and chestnuts.

Dinner works from an a la carte menu which changes regularly but you could expect to see dishes such as 28 day dry aged Angus cotes de boeuf, rocket, frites, vine tomato, flat mushroom, garlic butter or maybe, duo of mallard, confit leg, breast roasted pink, swede puree, marron chestnuts. For fish lovers, fresh fish will always be on the menu with dishes such as whole grilled Cornish plaice, spinach, sauté of ceps, roasted salsify

Wines by the glass are very reasonably priced with 175ml glasses at under £4. Close examination of the list leaves little, if any, room for criticism for this modest and imaginative collection.

To find out more about The Hillside, including their full selection of menus, from brunch through lunch to dinner, and their comprehensive wine list, their Website should prove to be an invaluable aid.