The Wellington Arms Hotel

Baughurst Road, Baughurst Hampshire

Regular readers of Food and Travel probably have a mental picture of the quintessential gourmet bolthole. Well, this is it. First we have the location: just off winding country roads which lead to villages with names that surely must be made-up (although actually in Hampshire and an hour or so from London). Then we have the place itself, it’s a pub by name but a cute, cosy gastropub in style. With just 12 tables and a sliver of a bar, this is a place for eating quality hearty country fare from a daily changing blackboard menu, not playing darts and eating crisps. It has its own sheep, pigs and chickens and makes its own jams, chutneys, ketchups and even tea cosies (well, co-owner Simon’s mum does this bit). The menu is varied but it’s the classics that stand out, the twice-baked cheese souffle was wonderfully fluffy and light inside; the rack of homereared lamb was so deliciously moist, tender and sweet on its own, there really was no need to add the crab apple jelly it came with. To finish, the gingerbread ice cream and rhubarb jelly is a simple but great idea. Completing this cracking little gourmet bolthole are two rooms in a converted, 17th-century hay barn. From the immense emperor bed and the home-made shortbread to Family Guy in the DVD options, you can’t fault them. Doubles from £130 including breakfast. AM.