The Three Horseshoes Hotel

UK

If you could pick a chef to host you on a winter’s evening, it would be hard to beat Margot Henderson. Her food is, quite simply, things we all want to eat but made really, really well, with the best produce. You know, for instance, even something as simple as a meaty pie – be it rabbit or beef – is going to be a culinary comfort blanket. Her cooking has been available to Londoners through Rochelle Canteen, but move that to a 17th-century inn in the kind of village so quaint it’s made for a Miss Marple mystery, and you have the perfect setting.

The Three Horseshoes at Batcombe isn’t just about the food, though. It still bills itself as a locals’ local, so you can rock up for a pint, but the five rooms make it the ideal spot for a mini break. Go for a bracing yomp in the rolling hills of Somerset, return to your spacious room – perhaps for a nap on your king-sized bed and a soak in the roll-top bath – then brace yourself for a proper feed. Mutton shoulders, calves’ livers or whole roast ducks, then perfectly executed apple pie or crumble, always followed by a whisky in the cosy pub. It’s everything you could ask for from a winter break.

Doubles from £220.

Words by Alex Mead.

This article was taken from the Christmas 2024 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe today, click here.