We just happened upon this place while enjoying a drive around the countryside near Banbury. It was around lunchtime as we drove through the village of South Newington. As we came out of a bend in the road it was there in front of us.
The Duck in the Pond. I’m sure the pub was called something else way back, when I was just learning to hold a pint glass, but no matter, in a flash we decided. Time for lunch.
It has a nice and roomy car park and the first thing we noticed was a young couple in the garden with their young daughter playing the ancient pub sport of Aunt Sally. I’m reliably informed that there is a pretty competitive league in these parts.
As we entered it was obvious that the building had recently been completely refurbished and it was now more of a restaurant than a pub, although, what looked like a regular customer, was propping up the bar, celebrating the fact that England had just whitewashed the Aussies 3-0.
Thank God for Rugby Union!
Neither of us were that hungry, so we decided to share a Ploughman’s Lunch.
The menu described the Ploughman’s as mature cheddar, carved ham or stilton, with grape chutney, red onion relish, apple, celery, pickles and warm ciabatta. Priced at £9.50.
I’m glad we shared, because one Ploughman’s was more than enough for two.
However, (and this is the only negative). When the menu description says it includes carved ham or stilton, it should include carved ham or stilton. If they had none, then it would be nice to be advised of that fact.
Despite that, it was delicious, and we liked the fact that they anticipated that we were going to share by bringing us two plates and two sets of utensils.
It was obvious the The Duck and Pond enjoys a good reputation, because during our short stay there was a steady flow of young people coming in for a more substantial Lunch in the Restaurant rather than a Bar Meal like us. The Sunday Menu looked varied and tempting from beer battered fish at £12 to a 10oz ribeye steak at £19.50 with traditional roasts somewhere in between.
The new owners have clearly invested a few pennies into refurbishing this ancient pub, so good luck to them, because they are on the right track.
