The Baskerville, Henley-On-Thames

Rugby shirts and various sporting prints around the small but comfortable front bar area. Pride, Landlord and Loddon Hoppit on handpump. The rest of the pub is geared toward ding – it is, after all, the GPG Oxfordshire dining pub of the year and, although I didn't eat this time, for a change I was there with a vested interest in the food set-up. In addition to a reasonably priced a la carte menu there was a fabulous, fortnightly changing, table d'hote style menu offering a good variety of choice and excellent value at £11.50 for two courses. Nice, also, to see some good non-turkey alternatives on the forthcoming dec/xmas menu (eg pan-fried pigeon breast or roast halibut) but disappointing that it is offered only for bookings of 4 or more. If it does/did, as suggested, have some connection with Loddon brewery, then a choice of their beers would be a welcome change to the usual suspects.

Official site of The Baskerville - www.thebaskerville.com

Official site of The Baskerville - www.thebaskerville.com

A culinary bent predominates here, although not at the expense of the solo drinker with options of Sharp's Doom Bar, Rebellion IPA, Loddon Hoppit and Loddon Hullabaloo (the latter £2.15 a half). This 30s-style build is all brick exterior and wood interior and offers room to the left on entry for drinkers (a group of five locals were doing just that on my entrance) with dining accommodated up and towards the right, with a further area behind the square-shaped bar seemingly available for both. Walled paraphernalia emphasised two of those well-heeled sporting pastimes in these parts - rowing and rugby union - and location-wise, it's close to both GWR's Shiplake Railway Station and the Thames Path.