We’ve been a bit busy and should have blogged earlier, as Christmas Day seems a long time ago now. Despite our change of plan, and having to “knock the boating idea on the head”, we still met up with Gerald and Janet (nb ‘Toulouse’) for lunch at The Halfway Inn on the A4 near Newbury, Berkshire. At 12:30 we embarked upon nearly 4 hours of eating, drinking and wonderful company.
James, Gerald, Janet and Doug at the start of our seven courses!
Had to take a close up of James’ vegetarian main course.
Just about to start our third (and main) course.
The owners, and their wonderfully attentive staff, had hung over 800 baubles from the ceilings as part of the fantastic atmosphere in the restaurant.
A former pub, The Halfway Inn is now superbly presented with scented candles and a pianist to add to the relaxed atmosphere. We had lunch there with Janet and Gerald a few weeks back and decided then that it was the perfect place for Christmas.
Afterwards we went back to Janet and Gerald’s home for a lovely end to a great day. We stayed overnight (thanks so much J and G) and, after a quick visit to Froud’s Bridge to check on ‘Chance’ we went back to Selsey to await the arrival of Frances and Kel, and their dog “Hixie”, for a family celebration on Boxing Day. It was great to have “Hixie” with us for Christmas but she seemed to be a bit confused that Oscar wasn’t there.
Hixie doing her Rudolph impression!
That veggie main course looks interesting, what exactly was it?
ReplyDeleteX Yvonne
Hi Yvonne
ReplyDeleteThe chef made it especially for me and came out to chat and explain all the amazing combinations, there was an asparagus parcel, the squash contained a mild thai green curry, there was a field mushroom with a gorgonzola topping sat on a lovely rich sauce, and a wild mushroom pie, it was all absolutely delicious and even the meat eaters wished they had chosen it! If you ever get on the K&A its well worth the visit. Best wishes for the New Year to you both. James x