Backed by a group of young American investors and their embryonic Public House Group, with a sister gastropub The Pelican in Notting Hill, The Bull at Charlbury has been dramatically reborn. It is now a pub that is worth sitting up for and taking notice of. To date, Charlbury, as a gourmet dining destination, has seriously under delivered on top-notch food. The best hospitality venue in this sleepy Cotswolds village has consistently been the majestic “Rose & Crown” real ale emporium run by the Page family. It has won multiple regional CAMRA awards time after time.
The early 16th century Bull has now fully opened after soft launching in late July and fine-tuning its gastropub and bedroom operations throughout late summer.
The Bull is now offering a very simple menu that changes almost on a daily basis depending upon what is foraged locally and what’s in season or what fish has been landed at the coast.
George Williams is not your ordinary career chef either. Three times a Cambridge University rugby Blue (I can forgive him that he’s not the Dark Blue variety so loved by us all here at Bitten) his true love is cooking and using locally sourced ingredients. A product of St. Paul’s School, he’s chosen a particularly left-field career but that simply shows he is in complete love with his craft. Vegetables are from FarmEd community allotments near Shipton-under-Wychwood and The Bull’s own private growing plot on the Bruerne Estate.
We were there the Friday of the Wilderness festival so we were somewhat overrun by Londoner hipsters in their red plaid shirts and Red Wing workboots and gangs of Volvo SUV-driving, urban clans. However the “out-of-towners” will eventually disappear in time as autumn descends. I sense us Oxfordshire locals will embrace this gastropub and enjoy this innovative piece of urban cool in our chic calm countryside. It’s not a Soho FarmHouse selfie-toting cliché but it is more “contemporary meets classic” in an authentic way.
The wine list is exceptional and sensibly priced. Try a Chenin Blanc but don’t order a Chinon as the bar staff were still in training when we attended! Tabitha who served us is a local lass and from the previous incarnation of The Bull. She’s fabulous.
The menu is tighter than a WWE wrestler’s trunks. A few key meats, fish, and glorious vegetable sides are the focus of the mains. George takes one veg and transforms it into the hero of a totally novel interpretation of a modern side dish. We tried the shiitake mushrooms with lardo, green beans topped with brown crab, crunchy rosemary potatoes, and enticing sweet tomatoes topped with melted Lincolnshire Poacher cheese. This is breathtakingly exciting stuff.
Starters are truly innovative too. We sampled juicy clams in cider with chunks of cubed sourdough bread and fresh sardines atop a dramatic green fig leaf.
Exotic mushrooms from Clarkson’s Farm in nearby Chadlington are delivered by Jeremy himself. He has been seen chewing the cud with locals during the pub’s launch run. He prefers the bar’s snugs and being sat around the cosy Austrian ski hut, Stammtisch-type circular tables. Thankfully the team have resisted all his smooth attempts at putting his bang-average fizzy Hawkstone Lager on tap. But worry not – there is an extensive range of draught quality local craft and real ales on offer.
So what are the types of protein on offer? The outside spit offers culinary theatre and the garden grill is often in use most days for the barbecued meats. The perfectly grilled pink lamb, peas, and chard was excellent. The hefty and nicely cut chunk of Monkfish came sitting aloft tomatoes and samphire, with a mouth-watering jus, and perfectly accompanied by the rosemary and garlic new potatoes and a fresh green salad. Beef rump and pigeon with girolles were also available the lunchtime we were there.
Puddings are simple and tasty; an excellent chocolate mousse and a pistachio Bakewell-type tart definitely passed muster.
The only weakness was the coffee. Personally, the coffee was too bitter & burnt for my own tastes. The Bull would be better sourcing its coffee nearby if it’s serious about food miles and sourcing ingredients locally – say from the likes of UE Coffee Roasters in Witney or The Missing Bean Roastery in East Oxford.
Brett the General Manager and Tabatha warmly waved us goodbye from the front steps of Sheep Street after an absolute feast. George even dashed from the kitchen to offer fresh tempura-fried flowers to our side dishes mid-lunch. The service is heartfelt.
The Bull is worth a visit before its fame spreads. With the renovated Bell due to open in mid-September under the expert direction of Carole Bamford and her outstanding Daylesford team, Charlbury is becoming seriously hot, hot, hot for foodies.
You read it here first! And my Bell review will be coming very soon too.
The Bull
Sheep St
Charlbury
OX7 3RR
01608 656957
info@thebullcharlbury.com
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