Review: The Mole Inn, Toot Baldon

Good vibes from the very start…

As soon as we entered the restaurant, we knew this place was our kind of vibe. Gorgeous outside seating, beautiful beams, an abundance of natural light pouring in, and staff who cooed over Moose immediately (anybody who’s a dog person is my kind of person!)

Our waitress was great at making suggestions, as we were tempted by quite a lot on the menu and finding it tough to choose.

To start with, we shared the mature cheddar croquettes with burnt apple puree and truffle honey, and the burrata with grilled peaches, pine nuts, and basil.

The croquettes were gorgeous. A beautiful crunch, unleashing a wave of hot cheesy goodness. The apple was the perfect hit of acid to cut through it all. Unusually light – could’ve eaten 100. Very good. The burrata was fresh and perfect for a warm evening. The peaches had a smoky hit.

The Main event…

I opted for the spiced rolled shoulder of Oxfordshire lamb, accompanied by soft polenta, purple shooting broc, and salsa verde. Charlie went for the rare middle-breed white pork belly, which was served with heritage tomatoes, potatoes, broad beans, quince aioli, and feta.

The rolled lamb was DIVINE. The flavours were perfect, rich but not sickly, creamy but not fatty. Not something I’ve ordered before but would definitely order again. It was also the sort of dish that arrives and you think it’ll be too much, too heavy, but it was unusually light – which I think I could say for most of the dishes we had this evening.

The pork belly was gorgeous, salty, and punchy. The feta and aioli really lifted the dish and added the summer freshness we wanted.

As always, we didn’t need dessert, but this didn’t stop us…

We just couldn’t see ‘apple, walnut and ginger’ pudding on the dessert menu, and not order it. Would be rude! The brown sugar sauce was to die for, so decadent but yet again, not too heavy, and the vanilla ice cream was the perfect icy hit to cut through the warm and fruity sponge. 10/10 no notes. Look at the height on it!

We will 100% be visiting again and making our way through the whole menu, as it all looked delish. The Mole Inn is the perfect place to stop for a refresher after a long dog walk (there are lots in the area), for a Friday night date night with some vino, or a big group gathering/celebration. They can do it all!