The Frogmill is part of the Honeycomb Houses Collection, a family-run institution where their philosophy that sits at the heart of all they do is “It’s our House, your home…” we treat our colleagues like family, guests as friends & the pubs like homes. Philosophy is all good and well but it needs to be lived and embodied and we found that to be very true of The Frogmill which has been awarded best pub of the year 2022.

Upon entering we were greeted by name, I put that down to the fact that they’re wanting to put on a show to a couple of reviewers but over the course of the few hours we were there, I heard many a familiar exchange with regulars which confirms this hospitality and warmth wasn’t reserved just for us!

Despite not forewarning them we were bringing a dog, they weren’t at all phased, directing us to the bar area (the restaurant isn’t dog friendly) the bar area was a lovely space though, the tables were well spaced out and the Christmas decorations were an absolute delight. Ralphie (our dog) was immediately offered biscuits and a bowl of water.

We settled into our cosy nook and served some marinated mixed olives whilst we ordered one of their signature cocktail The Bee’s Knee’s which consists of Highclere Castle Gin, citrus, ginger, honey, soda, and a Mojito Mocktail for the designated driver. The Bee’s Knee’s was an absolute delight, sweet but not sickly, very well balanced and almost warming.

We then ordered starters, Creamy Burrata (£8.95) toasted sourdough, confit tomato & garlic puree, prosciutto (gluten-free roll available) and Cauliflower Wings (£6.95) hoisin dressing, seaweed.

The Creamy Burrata was very fresh, with lovely delicate flavours and the burrata as described was lovely and creamy inside, the confit tomato and garlic puree was a delight. It was a generous portion size for a starter, actually, be warned all of the dishes come on the larger size.

The Cauliflower wings were incredibly light and flavoursome, served with fresh seaweed and chilli and spring onion, the dish wasn’t drowning in dressing which was nice and there were some lovely crispy bits at the bottom of the dish. They were served on a little hot plate and were incredibly moorish.

For main, we ordered the Pork Belly (£20.95) pancetta bon bons, tender stem broccoli, baby apples, red wine jus and the Loin of Venison (£28.95) fondant potato, beetroot, spinach, red wine jus, aniseed carrot purée (served pink). Note, they do have a selection of lighter lunch meals if that’s what you’re looking for.

The crackling on the Pork Belly was almost sticky, the mash was really smooth and buttery – you could imagine just eating a bowl of that and leaving happy! The vegetable was perfectly steamed. The pancetta bon bons were potato mixed with pancetta and then breadcrumbed and fried, the outside offering a perfect crispy texture whilst the middle was filled with fluffy potato. The jus and little miniature apples really set the dish off.

The venison was perfectly cooked and was served on top of a lovely carrot purée which again was extremely smooth and flavoursome. The beetroot added a burst of sweetness to the dish, the red wine jus made this dish a rich, indulgent experience.

We were encouraged to order some veg for the side and went for the Buttered Savoy Cabbage (£4.95)
crispy pancetta, however, personally we felt it wasn’t required. It was very buttery and a bit too heavy with our already rich choices of meals.

We were feeling very full by this point but nice breaks were left in between taking orders so by the time we got to desserts we had decided we had enough room! We went for the Sticky Toffee Pudding (£7.25)
glazed bananas, toffee sauce, honeycomb ice cream and the Lemon Meringue Pie (£7.95) buttery biscuit base, Italian meringue, vanilla ice cream, lemon curd.

The Sticky Toffee Pudding was a bit of a twist on the traditional, the sauce, glazed bananas and honeycomb ice cream almost topped the pudding itself which was relatively small in comparison to the Lemon Meringue Pie which should come with a health warning, this is definitely a sharer – I hardly managed to eat half despite it being really delicious, the meringue is incredibly sweet but is offset by the vanilla ice cream found inside the pie and the biscuit base, it looked sensational and tasted it too.

The pub is situated on beautiful grounds and has 19 hotel rooms as well as function rooms for Weddings and Private Events as well as some beautiful private dining areas, many of the rooms are dog friendly and the pub is surrounded by some lovely walks. It would be a lovely place to come for a foodie break and some R&R.

There’s something very understated but very special about The Frogmill, they’ve achieved that hard to find home from home feel and it definitely won us over, we’re already planning our next trip.

The Frogmill
A436, Shipton Oliffe, Cheltenham GL54 4HT
www.thefrogmill.co.uk