Date Night at The Bull

When we were exploring Frome last year, my ears perked up when I overheard an American accent.

I struck up a conversation, as you do, with the usual queries.

Where ya from?  Why ya here?  How long ya stayin'?

When I told her that I live in London she looked at me almost with pity and said 

"Oh, that's not England."

Now you know I love London, but I definitely see her point.

London is its own special world.  But, the rest of England is something truly special.

If you live in this metropolis, it should be a rule that you get out of the city

at least once a month to explore England and the rest of the UK.

So we've decided to put a new twist on Date Night every once in a while.

Option 1. Travel an hour via bus and tube to an expensive restaurant in Central London before fighting our way back home hoping not to miss the last bus.

Option 2. Drive the car thirty minutes outside of the city to an idyllic little village for a cozy dinner in front of the fireplace and an overnight stay in a historic inn.

Um, I'm gonna go with option number 2.

Wrotham (pronounced root-em) is a tiny village in Kent just south of London.

The small town with a population of less than 2,000 has three pubs all within a hundred yards of each other,
one of which is The Bull Hotel.
We were lucky enough to get the perfect invite for our date night with a twist.

The Bull dates back to the 1300's as a coaching inn offering respite to weary travelers along the Pilgrim's Way.

"With an eclectic past, including being the headquarters of a renowned gang of smugglers, as well as a favourite watering hole for Battle of Britain pilots, the 600 hundred year old Bull is now a beautiful four star country retreat as well as a gourmet dining destination with an AA rosette for culinary excellence. "

 

We were greeted at reception by the proud owner Martin Deadman.

He and his wife Lygia purchased the 14th century coaching inn in 2008

and have lovingly refurbished the historical building.

Our room was absolutely adorable.  Pretty in pink with exposed beams and a hardwood floor that slanted just enough to add some charm.  I've declared that leather loveseat as the comfiest couch in England.
Our en suite even had a nice big tub.

 We dropped of our overnight bag and went out for a walk in the sunshine.
My breathing patterns change when I get out of the city.  The colors, the sounds and the smells.

Everything is more focused and the world slows down a bit.

The promise of a story is behind every tree, stone and building.

My fellow American was right.  This is England. 

But, let's get back to our date night and the most important part... dinner!

(Er...second most important.)

I counted three fireplaces in the heavily beamed ground floor restaurant and bar area.

The space is open and clean but still maintains the charm of a historical pub.

Before dinner, we took our books downstairs to the bar and found a sofa to snuggle up on for a read.

Between the warm fires, the decor and the friendly bar service we were quite cozy.

Soon it was time for dinner prepared by the head chef, James Hawkes.

James has been with Martin from the beginning and they really want people to visit the Bull for the food.

They offer a modern British menu using locally-sourced fresh ingredients.
The service was friendly and casual, without pretension, but with much pride.
It was obvious that they were happy to be serving us great food.

My appetizer was Poached Pear, Stilton and Walnut Salad.  The sharp, rich taste of the cheese went perfectly with the crunchy candied walnuts and sweet pears.  I could have easily ordered a second serving.

Matt chose the Ham Hock Terrine, Piccalilli and Toast as his appetizer.

Piccalilli is a pickled relish of chopped cauliflower and other vegetables with spices.
His dish wasn't quite as pretty as mine but he cleaned his plate, too.

I'm definitely a meat and potatoes girl so for my main
I chose the steak with lemon garlic butter, served with chips and a salad.  The steak was perfect, tender and juicy.
As far as I'm concerned, potatoes are the food of the gods so of course they were terrific.
The salad was topped with roasted peppers which I'm not too keen on so Matt finished that off.

Matt's choice was the Fillet of Line Caught Cod, Braised Leek with Fennel Seeds, Tarragon Crushed New Potatoes and Mushroom Puree.  That's quite a mouthful for a simple and elegant dish.
The fish was firm and flaky and the flavors were spot on.

We shared two scrumptious desserts, the Zesty Lemon Posset with Winter Berry Compote (not pictured) and the Dark Chocolate Flourless Cake with Blackcurrant Sorbet (topped with yummy honeycomb).  Both perfection.

Our lovely dinner was accompanied by a few glasses of wine from their extensive wine list, although we had it completely backwards.  I had a white with my steak and Matt had a red with his fish.  We're such rule breakers.

After dinner we spent some time in the bar people watching.
They often feature live music and it's obviously a very popular place with the locals.

We had a great night's sleep and woke to the lovely sound of church bells.
Breakfast was included with the stay and was just okay.  Not nearly as special as dinner.

Then it was time to head back to London refreshed from our littlegetaway.

The perfect date night.


 Which would you pick, Option 1 or Option 2?

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 *We were guests of The Bull for the purposes of review.   All photos, writing and opinions are my own.
As always, I promise to be open, honest and transparent with my readers.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Two Years On

I can't believe that I've now been living in England for two years.
When we originally made the move,I was nervous about the transition
but thought it's temporary and I can do anything for two years.

Two years have flown by and obviously our stay has extended.
At this point, the distant future is up in the air but London will be home for a while longer.
I miss my family and friends in the US so very much and I'm overdue for a trip home.

But, I'm happy with the course my life has taken.
Today I'm going to share with you five of my favorite things about living in England.

London

We will start with the amazing thing that is London.  It's really unlike anyplace I've ever been before.  I'll admit my first impression wasn't great as it can be overwhelming.  But now that I've been here two years, I can say (and I often do) that I love London.  You can never be bored here.  There is always something to see and do.  She never ceases to engage, insprire and surprise me.

History

If you are a lover of history, then England is the place to be.  It's all around you.  Every street, building, pub has an interesting story.   Can you imagine walking to work and passing by the Tower of London?   Or visiting Churchill's War Rooms that are exactly as they were when he walked out of them after the war.  Living in London is like living in a history book.

English Countryside

I'm not naturally a city girl.  This is the first time I've ever lived in a big city.  So, on a regular basis I insist that Matthew gets me out of London to explore England.  It's truly a magical place and I can't get enough.  Standing on a windswept cliffside looking at a scene straight out of an epic movie is something that I will never get over.  Cottages, cobblestone, sheep, moors and heath.  And it's just so green!  It like being wrapped is a comfy, green duvet. 

Travel

It's not just the rest of England that we are able to explore.  Europe is just a short train, boat or plane ride away.  In a few hours and for less than £100 we can be in one of many amazing locations.  Traveling has completely become my addiction and I want to go as much as possible. We have some very exciting plans for 2014.

Pubs  

And lastly, of course, is the quintessential English Pub.  It's the Brit's living room really.  Someplace to go and settle in by the fire for a few hours of great company and hearty food.  Each one is different and special. 

 These are just a few of the things that I love about living in England.

Of course, there are some not so great things, too  (cough.rain.cough)

But, I'm lovin' this new chapter in life.

What do you love about England?

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Greenwich Pub Review - The Guildford Arms

*We received a complimentary meal for the purposes of review.  

  Recently, I guest posted over on True Colours while Casey was exploring Ireland and Scotland.

(Have you been reading the posts about her trip?  Wonderful!)

In my guest post I listed five of my favorite things about the UK.  Can you guess what number five was?

Pubs!

I've written about pubs before and they are a definite highlight of life on this side of the pond.

Not in a boozey-party way but as in one of life's comforts.

I've described them as the open plan living and dining room of the UK.

A comfortable place to gather with family and friends, share a meal and a laugh.

At least once a week either Matt or I will send a text that says

"Shall we meet at the pub for dinner?"

Last weekend we were invited to try another one that we'd not yet visited.

The Guildford Arms is in Royal Greenwich and just a ten minute bus ride from us.
So, on Saturday we popped over for a late lunch.

Since the 1990's, because of changes in social attitudes and cheap supermarket alcohol, thousands of pubs have been closing their doors.  Reportedly more than 20 each week.

Pubs are having to reinvent themselves to remain relevant, adding food and entertainment to their offering.

 The Guildford Arms is a perfect example of this reinvention.

  

 It's a beautiful building.  The ground floor pub is cozy and casual with lots of windows to let the light in.

On the first floor is an elegant dining room and the second floor is a private room.

It's a handsome Georgian Pub and they've done a great job of updating the space.
They also have a beautiful garden that is listed in Time Out's Guide to Best Beer Gardens in London.

 

There are two kitchens, one that serves a bar menu and one for the main menu which changes seasonally.

The chef responsible for the menus is Guy Awford who is known for his distinctive modern British style.

He is also the chef behind the pub's sister restaurant Inside, which is recommended in the Michelin Guide and was the runner up in Time Out's best neighborhood restaurant.

Unlike many gastropubs, there was a very respectable beer range on tap.  Matt even counted.

(It's how he rates a pub.) Nine on tap with 4 from his new favorite brewer, Meantime.

They also have an interesting wine menu.  Our Pinot Grigio was lovely and served nicely chilled.

(I didn't have to embarrass Matt by asking for ice cubes.)

But, let's get down to the really important stuff.  The food.

There are several things that I like about this menu.

It's embarrassing but simply true that I'm a picky eater.  I'm not too keen on trying new things.

Sometimes gastropubs can try a little bit too hard to be "posh" and do things with food that just shouldn't be done.

This is just the menu that I want to see.  Really good solid ingredients cooked in an interesting way.

And the prices are more than reasonable for the quality of the food.

Homemade bread (still warm from the oven) with olive oil and balsamic

The balsamic was smooth and sweet.  Matt and I were fighting over it.

Duck Liver & Truffle Oil Pate, Pickled Vegetables, Frisee, Chargrilled Bread

Matt loved this.  The attentive server noticed him trying to get every last bit and offered to

bring him some more bread to finish it off.

Smoked Haddock Fishcakes, Aioli, Watercress, Lemon

Often with fishcakes, it's hard to find the fish from the fillers.  Not in this case.

Flaky white fish was the focus and the watercress dressed simply with lemon juice was the perfect partner.

Pan Fried Cornish Sea Bass, Confit Leeks, Artichoke, Girolles, Fondant Potato, Mushroom Foam
Matt and I always order different dishes so we can share and try more things.
I called dibs on the steak so he selected the Sea Bass.  He was very intrigued with the mushroom foam.
I asked for his review of the dish and he said that "it was very well cooked and melted in my mouth." 
I tasted it and it was wonderful.

Chargrilled Aged Hereford Rib-Eye Steak, Hand Cut chips, Green Salad, Garlic Butter
Few things make me happier than steak & chips on a plate.
I ordered it cooked to medium and it was served closer to well.
But, it was still tender and juicy and that garlic butter was perfect.

White Chocolate & Hazelnut Chunk Brownie, Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Tuile

I mean, look at it.  Gooey brownie with whole hazelnuts.  Homemade vanilla ice cream.  Yum!

 

Treacle Tart with Orange Buttermilk Ice Cream
This little slice of heaven was the star of the meal.
Sweet and citrusy... absolutely eyes-rolling-back-in-your-head-yummy-noises amazing.
 That orange buttermilk ice cream is something really special.

This is what they have to say on the website and is exactly what we found to be true.

"The honesty and quality of the food is very much our focus; with an emphasis on imaginative, Modern British cooking, using fresh produce sourced by local suppliers. From chutneys and oatcakes to pasta and ice cream we make everything we serve."

Really good service, excellent food & drinks served in very pleasant surroundings.
Add in a broad product offering which should appeal to just about everyone, and you have a recipe for success.
We can't really call ourselves "Foodies" but we certainly know a great meal when we have one.

We'll be back for sure.



The Guildford Arms
 Opening Times
Tuesday – Saturday  12:00pm – 11:30pm
Sunday  12:00pm – 10:30pm

Food Served
Tuesday – Friday 12:00pm – 3:00pm / 6:00pm – 10:00pm
Saturday  12:00pm – 10:00pm
Sunday  12:00pm – 9:00pm

Visit Guy’s blog for recipes and cookery tips www.guyawford.com



Which three courses would you chose from that menu?

P.S.  You may have noticed that I'm starting to do more reviews on Oh, the places we will go!  I'm working really hard to expand and grow this blog and I hope to do more.  This is all new territory for me and it is certainly challenging to find a balance.  I want you to know that I always consider my readers before I accept any request.  The first question is always "Is this relevant to my life?" and the next is "Will this be of interest to my readers?"  I will always disclose when a post is in partnership.  I've only ever been asked to do an honest review and I will only ever do so. If you have any comments are questions, please feel free to contact me.  

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 *We received a complimentary meal from The Guildford Arms for the purposes of review.
All photos, writing and opinions are my own.
As always, I promise to be open, honest and transparent with my readers.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.


You can find this review and many others in my
London Attraction Guide.

Monday Morning Randomness

Hello Lovelies,

I've been really focusing on the travel and review aspect of this blog lately, spending loads of time editing photographs and writing up travel posts.  I'm really excited by that aspect of Oh, the places we will go! and love inspiring others to travel.

But, today I just want to have a little chat.  This is how the blog started and I don't want to get away from that. I don't have any photos ready so I've just decided to show you what's on my iPhone from the past few weeks.  So here's some Monday morning randomness.

 

1//  Have you seen Great Britain in sports news recently?  Wimbledon.  Tour de France. Such exciting stuff.  I've never really been into tennis, but watching Andy Murray win the Men's Final was so exciting.  We were watching from home and you could hear all of our neighbors cheering.  One rainy day I met a few girlfrends at the Pimm's Pop-Up Summer Garden complete with fake grass and a tree to watch in comfort.

2// Speaking of Pimm's.  Have you tried the new Special Edition Blackberry & Elderflower Pimm's.  It is so good!  Such a refreshing summer drink.

3// And summer is in full swing (I will bite my tongue and not say "finally", even though I just said it.)   I was getting bored with our cold spring, but London does summer so well!  Everyone has a spring in their step and a smile on their face and spends every possible moment outside.  With sunset after 9pm there is plenty of time to enjoy the glorious weather. 

4// Just find a pub with plenty of outside seating and enjoy.  I love, love, love English pubs.  They are like the a second living room.  Families gather for a leisurely meal and a laugh.  The waitresses aren't pushing you to leave quickly so they can turn the table.  Such a great way to spend a day. 

5// Tuesday night was Rib Night at our local when we were living over at Tower Bridge.  The Kings Arm is a great pub and we were there every Tuesday night usually with a group of friends.  I'm so going to miss that.  But I'm sure we will find our favorite in Blackheath.  And I'm sure we will go back for ribs whenever possible.  They were so good and the fried onion strings!!!  So nummy!

6// I'm not crazy about tea so I've started to drink more coffee.  But with this heat, only iced coffee will do.  Or you could try my very favorite coffee treat.  An affogato is a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a double shot of espresso poured over it.  So. Frickin. Good.  My friend Gina has a nespresso and I've put it on my wish list. 

7// Speaking of Gina.  My partner in crime is back in Canada for two weeks and I'm missin her like crazy.  She so needs to get back here.

8//  Don't you love this Queen's Head Jelly Mold.  (It's called jelly here not jello.)  Speaking of royals, it's so exciting to be in the UK right now with all of the fuss over the Royal Baby.  Kate was admitted a few hours ago and we are all waiting to see if the new baby is a prince or princess.   

By the way, I wanted to thank everyone who participated in my very first giveaway!  I had such a fun time doing it and was thrilled to contact Andi at My Beautiful Adventures to let her know she had won a personal planner.

I don't plan to do a lot of giveaways on this blog, only when I see something that I really think you will like.  When Chelsea  at Lost in Travels invited me to be involved in this giveaway with a great group of bloggers I just couldn't resist.  Besides the prizes are amazing...  ONA Bowery Canvas camera bag, Little Miss Gee camera strap and a Starbucks gift card.  If you live in the US, be sure to pop over for your chance to win! (Sorry, this one's not international.)

I'm happy to be linking up with Monday Coffee with Molly for our morning chat!

I hope that you have a wonderful day!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for stopping by.

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All opinions, photos and writing are my own except as noted.

This post is not in partnership with any business or organization.
As always, I promise to be open, honest and transparent with my readers.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. 

London Marathon 2013

I apologize in advance for the number of photos in this post.

I just couldn't narrow it down any further. It was such a great day.  
We knew the London Marathon route would be passing very closely and had discussed heading up to the pub to watch.  When the tragedy in Boston happened, we were more determined than ever to get out there and support the runners and volunteers.

About 9 that morning we walked over to the 12 mile marker which was right before the runners turned onto Tower Bridge Road.  It was a nice, relaxed atmosphere with more people arriving as the morning progressed.  We got there just in time to see the first group go by which were the wheelchair athletes.

You can spot British 6 Time Gold Medal Paralympian David Weir in the photo above with the werewolf on his helmet. Shortly after, preceded by the camera truck, were the Elite Female Runners. 

 

Included in this group is Ethiopian Tiki Gelana, the gold medal winner of the 2012 Olympic Marathon and Kenyan Silver Medalist Priscah Jeptoo who went on to win the marathon.  Unfortunately, later in the race the favored Gelana collided with one of the wheelchair racers. It negatively affected both of their races but luckily there were no serious injuries.

  There have been serious calls for the organizers to change the start times so the Elite Women and the Wheelchair Athletes do not have to dodge each other. 

We moved along around the corner towards Tower Bridge and stopped to watch the next group.  The Paralympian athletes are such an inspiration.  There was a large group of visually impaired who were running with a guide. 

You should have heard the crowd cheering for Richard Whitehead.  He is a British gold medal winning Paralympian and holds the world record in both the full and half marathons for athletes with a double amputation.

The Elite Men were then running towards tower bridge.  Mo Farah, the British double gold-medal athlete only ran half of the course as a practice run for his plans to run the full marathon in 2014.  Sorry for the poor quality of the picture, they passed us pretty quickly. 

After the paralympians and the elite athletes, all of the other runners started reaching Tower Bridge.  You could tell how excited they were.  Many were on the phone or taking pictures of the bridge and themselves running the London Marathon.  I have to admit that I teared up several times during the day.  It was so moving.

The crowd was so loud and excited.  We were joined by our friend Erin and we stood there and cheered for the runners for over two hours.  If they had a name on their shirt we would yell it out to encourage them. "Go, Dave!!" 

If there was no name, we would just yell anything.

"Mohawk!"  "Go USA"  "Guy in green shirt!" "Canada!"  "Go, Pink Wig!" 

We were standing with two of the cutest little boys.  They were cheering their heads off!

One of them, must have yelled almost every name on those shirts.

At one point, he yelled "I don't know all of your names, but GO everybody!!"

Sweetest thing ever.

It was so precious when one of the runners would see a loved one cheering from the sidelines.  They would cross all the way over, run backwards, whatever they could do to get that encouraging high five, kiss and hug to get them through the next 14 miles.  I'm tearing up just thinking about it.  I've seen few things like it in my life.

 And almost every single runner that passed us was wearing a black ribbon in 

remembrance of the tragedy in Boston.  There were several runners who had run in the Boston Marathon that were now running the London Marathon. 

There was a definite police presence, but there was no fear.  And I've read that the crowds this year were bigger than ever. 

Of course I have to mention the thousands of volunteers who passed out water, energy chews and a quick swipe of Vaseline to the 36,000 runners. 

Did you know that the London Marathon is the largest annual fundraising event on the planet?!  Isn't that fantastic? According to their fundraising website, runners have raised over £500 million dollars for charity since the race began over 30 years ago.  Many of the runners are dressed up in crazy costumes.  Can you imagine running 26 miles in some of this get up?  I don't think I could run in the Rhino costume for one mile. 

And yes, this lady was actually knitting as she ran the 2013 London Marathon.  

No British event is complete without a stop in the pub.   The Official Marathon Guide even listed all of the pubs on the route.  Many of them had live music and special deals.  Such a fun atmosphere on a glorious, sunny day.  

 We watched as the last of the runners passed.  Everyone started packing up and leaving.  Crews started tearing everything down and clearing the route.  You should have seen the water bottles!
There had to be millions of them.

 And the fun was certainly not over.  As we sat outside the pub, we heard loud popping noises and then squealing.  As the clean up trucks were going along, they were running over all the water bottles.  They were exploding and spraying water on anyone that happened to be in the area.

Eventually, the truck made its way right in front of the pub.  Everyone was laughing and diving for cover like a bunch of kids.  I think we all three managed to get splashed.  It was hysterical and so much fun!

 Long after all the spectators had gone and all of the excitement had died down,
one lone marathoner passed by with his number displayed on his chest.  He was proudly wearing his 2012 London Olympics gamesmaker uniform and stopped to give us some encouraging words.

 Everyone outside of the pub put down their drink, stood up and clapped, whooped and cheered him on as he continued on his way to finish the 2013 London Marathon. 

It's a moment I don't think I'll ever forget.

I never knew a 26 mile run could be so much fun

and more importantly, such a moving and inspirational experience.

(Guess who started running again yesterday?) 

Were you at the London Marathon?

What moment inspired you the most? 

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