The Oak Wigmore — Restaurant in England

This is only the second time l step in the Oak, and l didn't think much of it the first time.

We arrived half an hour early, and were greeted dryly, when we asked for a drink, with "We have no spaces, sorry" till one of us reminded her we had booked. She served us a drink and took us to the table which was in a dark place and as it was a beautiful evening, we asked if we could go outside first to relax and have our aperitif, to which she agreed.

Another lady, who my friend said had perhaps not done waitressing before, came with the drinks and passed us the menus. She came back a short while later to take the order, and we ordered after asking for the food not to be cooked till we were at the table as we wanted to relax first. We hadn't finished our aperitif by the point when she came back, a very short while later, and told us to come to the table as the starter was going to be ready soon. We told her we wanted to stay and finish our drinks first (is that being a nightmare customer?) so she went away. She came back 5 minutes later and told us our scallops were ready (we have to try the scallops in all the restaurant to see how they compare). We both looked really amused and got up, as she was looking very stern and wanted us to go along. She let us go first in the narrow corridor and followed us, hushing us along with a "Straight on, straight on!" in an authoritarian, stern voice. l felt like l was a soldier being pushed along the battle wall. We knew where our table was, we didn't need an officer to take us there.

l was so stunned by their behaviour so far that when she came back with the scallops, l looked at her very seriously and told her a lot lot more than l told that waitress in Foyles who had been rushing our cocktails. Here, nobody was being welcoming, not a smile in sight, we both felt like cattle. (downgraded from soldiers) l told her it was nice not to be rushed, that we hadn't finished our drinks outside and that we had asked for the food not to be cooked before we were at the table; l told her so many things that l usually cannot say as l am a shy person - she can't have been used to being told that sort of thing and didn't look very happy. l was cross. We were paying enough that we didn't need this sort of service where they are doing us a 'favour' by allowing us to have a table and being served when it suited them. (I am definitely the nightmare customer)

The boss-like lady must have heard what had happened and came, to talk to us half way through our mains to see if all was ok, but she chose the time when l had a very large hard piece of something that takes very long to chew, in my mouth. Maybe a piece of my friend's steak. l couldn't answer. She stayed for quite a while, asking questions, my friend answering and looking at me, and me looking at her just smiling/nodding/chewing, wondering when she was going to notice my mouth was full and hell, l was not going to swallow it whole for her, like l would have normally done to be polite, and then choked. l should have taken that piece of meat out of my mouth with my fingers, held it up, and answered the question. Maybe she would have then realised it was a professional mistake to talk to customers when one of them is chewing. As it was, my main course was not brilliant (it was a vegetarian, deep fried "wild mushroom wrapped egg" which l didn't know was just a Scotch egg. l didn't fancy it when l tasted it. The starters weren't great either. They then seemed to avoid our table, leaving finished-with main-course plates on the table for a good 20 minutes, when they had been rushing the rest.(not many other tables that night) The attitude felt pretentious. The menu looked great, but the sauces were not like the menu advertised. There was a lot of acidity/vinegar/sugar used. Bless them, they removed the compulsory service charge at the end, but for a bill of £92, l thought it was a "not-again". At the end she apologised and told us they were short-staffed and were overly busy(..?) Does that excuse for bad personal...

I remember going to The Oak at Wigmore with my father, back in the day, when it was run by an alcoholic ex fireman who used to get so drunk he'd fall asleep behind the bar! The Oak, now, is a very different proposition: an elegant gastro-pub whose face-lift has been tastefully and sensitively rendered. Having travelled far and wide, the Welsh Marches, for my money, is one of the world's highlights - my favourite place- and Wigmore is a charming example of this region: the ruined castle just across the road from The Oak, is well worth a visit for a touch of the sublime, and the Wigmore Rolls- the forest behind the castle- has some lovely walks. In fact many of the local villages: Adforton, Leintwardine, Brampton Bryan and Lingen - to name just a few- would make for an evocative rural road trip. I popped into The Oak for Sunday lunch for the first time in many years having returned to live in the area. Sunday lunch is big here, offered by many pubs, and talked about by many locals who are forever comparing venues. I read the website blurb on the chef and looked at the menu and my expectations were high. Ian Pugh comes with impressive credentials: a local lad who worked his way up from being a pot washer in Mr. Underhills - one of Ludlow's best restaurants in its foodie heyday -to working as a chef in a Michelin starred kitchen. This sets a high bar and my review of the food is matched accordingly. Firstly, the service was friendly, bashfully efficient, and it's always nice to be greeted by an avuncular labrador at the door. Now for the food: I ordered roast beef and it arrived promptly. This is the second roast beef Sunday lunch I've had at a gastropub recently and this one compared favourably. For me, the meat must be the star of the show, and this was proper Herefordshire beef, medium rare, perfectly cooked and not too chewy. The roast potatoes were good- crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle -but they were not memorably good as they sometimes can be. The Yorkshire pudding was large, soft at the bottom and crispy at the top and was perfectly decent. The carrots and broccoli were sparse but tasty, as was the red cabbage. More memorable was the cauliflower cheese which had a crunchy top - breadcrumbs? Nuts? - cauliflower which still retained some bite and a delicious cheesy white sauce. The celeriac and courgette gratin was underwhelming, rather spongy and slightly tasteless and more could have been made of this delicious and distinctive vegetable. However, I have two genuine gripes to an otherwise enjoyable meal: firstly, there was not enough gravy- this was a fault at the other gastropub where I had Sunday lunch recently: it is frustrating to be arriving at the latter stages of the meal - with potatoes, and yorkshire pudding still left - and to have a bone dry plate. This, presumably, should be an easy fix with a small gravy boat included on the table; secondly, the food was tepid - not the separate vegetables admittedly- but the meat, gravy and potatoes: not disastrously so, but noticeably so, and the plate was cold which, if warmed, could have solved this problem. I should mention too, that I started with a delicious bloody Mary and accompanied my meal with a fine Argentinian Malbec. Would I recommend The Oak? definitely; will I return? For sure .... but there is stiff competition for Sunday lunch in this neck of the woods, and there was a little tweaking needed before I would consider mine...

Driving from deep Wiltshire into deeper Herefordshire, The Oak was not an ‘on your doorstep’ option … but we’d be happy to drive much further than that 100 miles to experience its delights again.||||First glance at the supper menu was reassuringly straightforward – there’s a scallops starter and a parfait on the pudding list – yet the work of Chef Ian Pugh (he of the former Ludlow Michelin Star restaurant, ‘Mr Underhill’s’) is much more surprising; and tantalising. ||||We had the Stone Bass main: delicately pan-fried, moist with caramelised fennel orzotto and enhanced by a delightful, translucent, buttery spring vegetable side. If that was not Mediterranean enough, the wine list offered a complementary (favourite yet underrated) Italian Vermentino. Such designful touches always show, for Simone and me, a restaurant that‘s going (and thinking) the extra mile.||||It was as hot as hell that September night, but Lene and her staff were bright, sparkling, convivial and undaunted – leaving us in no doubt that, local or visitor, they really cared about guest satisfaction. What’s more, there was something reassuring about that secluded, flatteringly-lit dining space and bar – with it’s promise that ‘tomorrow can wait’. Quite simply, here is a bucolic, Herefordshire country restaurant channeling effervescent confidence – both by cuisine, and in hospitality. ||||And if you’re lucky enough to stay over – as did we - in one of the (two) contemporary and well-considered bedrooms – you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy a ravishing breakfast, too. ||||While The Oak continues to thrive, survive and raise its game … and Lene and Ian boundary-push comfort, consideration and cuisine, we shall all return: again and...