Bel & The Dragon

If you are planning to visit us and have time for an overnight stay or just want to find a nice place for lunch or dinner, we strongly suggest Bel & the Dragon in the village of Odiham.  Only 10 minutes drive from our Showroom, Odiham is a quintessential English village with a long main high street, some beautiful period architecture and lots of lovely individual shops and cafe’s to browse.

The Bel & The Dragon is situated on the main high street and is a very good pub/restaurant with rooms.  The decor is relaxed shabby chic and we were welcomed by a gorgeous blazing fire in the bar when we arrived and settled down to a lovely glass of complimentary champagne (there was a slight mix up with our rooms, quickly remedied)! 

Our bedroom was spacious with a large bathroom and huge shower.  The decor is pretty and softly patterned with warm blankets on the bed, a very welcome tea tray and the surprise of a half bottle of port!   There are lots of nice touches throughout the room and lovely smelling toiletries in the bathroom.

Downstairs there is a bright restaurant in a large orangery on the back of the building, this is furnished in rustic wood furniture and there was another fire blazing away in a corner. The kitchen is producing food to a very good level! Think gastro pub but with some unusual ingredients that definitely lift this to a higher level.

We started with the Black Bomber tartlet and Chalk Stream Trout and N’duja fishcake, which was served in a lobster bisque – gorgeous.  For the main course we both opted for fillet steak which was served with herb-crusted bone marrow, pickled shallot & watercress salad and truffle dressing.  On the side we ordered creamed leaks with pancetta, and truffle fries (we LOVE truffle!). The steaks were extremely tender and the sides some of the best comfort food I’ve tasted! For pudding we managed just one Prune and Armagnac Custard Tart which was slightly dry but finished off a very lovely meal.

At £35 each the steaks were on the pricey side and the wine menu was a little expensive too. But the rest of the meal was reasonably priced and the service and presentation very good. The room rate at £130 for a Wednesday evening including a full cooked breakfast was very good value indeed. 

Overall the Bel & The Dragon proved to be a lovely surprise and we would definitely return.

www.belandthedragon-odiham.co.uk