Michelle Tompkins revisits an old haunt to find out (finally) what all the fuss is about

EAT AT: The Bear Hotel,

14 Market Place, Wantage,

Oxfordshire, OX12 8AB Tel: 01235 766366 www.thebearwantage.co.uk

Open: Breakfast: Mon-Fri:7am-9am; Sat & Sun 8am-10am. Lunch: Noon-2.30pm Dinner: Mon-Sat 6pm-9pm Sunday Lunch served: Noon-2.30pm

MANY moons ago, as a young cub reporter, my job was to cover the town of Wantage, exposing drug rings and breaking news of fraud and corruption on a daily basis (okay, so I attended parish council meetings and visited village fetes, but it all seemed so much more important then).

So when a friend suggested revisiting the town some... ahem... 20 years later, I jumped at the chance to go back to my old haunt.

Nothing much has changed about this sleepy Oxfordshire town over the years. The old statue of King Alfred still stands proudly surveying the people from his plinth in the market square, the local teenagers still hang out around his feet, and you still can’t get a parking place in the town centre for love nor money.

But one of the things that has changed in the intervening years is me. Back then, on my meagre wage, I ate my cheap lunch in the museum cafe and only once ate out at a local pub (and that was when someone else was paying).

I never, ever would have ventured into the oh-so-sophisticated Bear Hotel – back then seen as the place to eat out in Wantage, and well out of my price range.

Today, the wage hasn’t grown all that much but at least my confidence has. And so it was the Bear Hotel we wandered into after a (brief) stroll around the town to take in the sights.

It was worth the 20-year wait.

The locals were friendly enough as we settled ourselves into a corner with some drinks and tried to decide what to eat.

The hotel restaurant is in a separate room to the bar but we could see enough through the glass partition to know that the food was looking good.

While the bar area is modern and minimal – with leather sofas and low tables – the restaurant has the feel of a country house drawing room. Bold floral wallpaper dominates one wall, broken only by an open fireplace, and sparkling chandeliers hang overhead. It feels grand but at the same time comfortable, and the waiting staff also helped to put us at ease.

Starters on the menu include salt and pepper prawns (£7), goats cheese salad with pear, walnuts and rocket (£6), and seared scallops with cauliflower puree, black pudding and bacon (£7), but looking at the sizes of the portions we decided to skip them in favour of a main meal.

With choices like venison saddle with celeriac and bacon lardons in a redcurrant and cassis jus (£14.50) and shellfish tagliatelle with mussels, crab and crayfish in a chilli, coriander and cream (£18), choosing was easier said than done.

I eventually chose a simple fish pie (or so I thought), with salmon, cod and smoked haddock (£6.50 small/£11 large), but asking for the large version was a mistake, as was ordering red cabbage to come alongside (£3). The pie was delicious, but so rich with cheese and butter in the mash topping that a smaller portion would have been plenty. With crusty bread on the plate too, I ended up leaving half of everything.

My friend ordered the fillet steak with chips and watercress (£21), topped with peppercorn sauce (£1.50 extra). The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare, and everything was exquisitely presented, but again the plate of food was huge.

We both usually have quite big appetites, but on this occasion we were defeated.

Needless to say, desserts were out of the question, but if I’d had room I probably would have ordered the Baileys crème brulee with biscotti (£6) or maybe the ginger sponge pudding with poached pear (£6).

But that will have to wait for another time, when I’m back in Wantage for another visit. Hopefully I won’t have to wait until 2033...