Not long ago, when not much was happening except a bit of daydreaming in the sun, sort of a typical day here in the south of France for a retiree like me, I realized that we were just a Ryanair flight away from one of the true cradles of the English language, the home of William Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon. We'd visited friends in England more than once. But for some reason, visiting Stratford and taking in a Royal Shakespeare Company performance was an idea that had just never come up. Odd, given our enjoyment of both the written and spoken word, our appreciation of a good yarn. And who spins yarns better than Shakespeare?I'm working on a series of posts concerning our recent visit and I begin at the end, on our way back from Stratford to the home of our friends in Southampton. We traveled off the motorway and stopped for lunch in the market town of Woodstock, perhaps best known for Blenheim Castle.
Hampers Food and Wine Company well describes where we chose to lunch. It's a cozy, pleasant space on the town's main street. Not only are there fine comestibles to be had seven days a week, but if you choose to picnic instead of eat in, well-stocked gourmet hampers are available with assortments of cheeses, charcuterie, sweets, and beverages. We chose to eat in. Simple lunches. Soup and sandwiches and wine and beer. The soup of the day was cream of broccoli. I had roast beef and horseradish on a baguette although I could have chosen ciabatta (as did some members of the party) or brown baps (whatever they are). A couple of bottles of bitter and a couple of glasses of wine accompanied our meals properly. A sweet for dessert and at a bit over £10 apiece average, it was well-priced for a quality, filling lunch on the road.
Recommended. HERE'S their website.
You can read more of my food writing and restaurant reviews, mostly about France but with the occasional pub thrown in, HERE.
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