January 10th, 2010
On New Years Day we found ourselves spending the afternoon at the Old Bridge Hotel at 1 High Street, Huntingdon. With my sister, brother-in-law and the two kids, we had booked a late lunch in the Terrace Restaurant. This has been a favourite hotel and restaurant of mine ever since I first came across it when I originally moved to Cambridgeshire in 1994. Followed soon after by most of my family, they too, came to like its old world charm mixed with first class dining and service experience.
We arrived a little after 1pm, and took some comfortable lounge seats just before the ‘The Misfits” Jazz band started playing to all the guests in the main lounge. We were quickly served by the smart attentive (good-looking) waiting staff with our pre lunch drinks and took the opportunity to sample the ‘freshly made on the premises’ salted crisps which were excellent. The next hours or so had us sitting back, relaxing, listening to the jazz music and watching the world go by from our comfortable sofa seats.
I had heard from my brother-in-law late last year that the Old Bridge Hotel had recently opened its own wine store. Given the owner of this hotel, John Hoskins, is a master of wine, I was keen to take a look inside and was quickly delighted to discover that as well as having a fantastic range to choose from, they also have over twelve different wines you can sample each day. I quickly picked up my electronic sampling card from the counter and the friendly chap showed me around the wines that were available for tasting. My brother-in-law and I spent the next hour trying some great wines. What was especially surprising is that despite this wine shop being stocked by a Master of Wine (only 1 of two who actually run their own hotel), the choice available catered for all budgets. As they said on some of the information leaflets available, it is more about quality than price. Typically for me though, my favourite turned out to be over £40 a bottle.
As 3pm neared, we took our table in the restaurant and spent the next couple of hours dining out on good quality, freshly cooked and beautifully presented food. My roast beef and Yorkshire pudding was very nice indeed and along with well-cooked vegetables I enjoyed the dish indeed. I opted for the apple crumble and custard desert and it was simply divine. Excellent.
In summary, this is a great place to relax with nice people around you, sampling great food being served up by professionals who clearly care about their customers. If my sister and brother-in-law didn’t live so close by, I would happily book a room in this hotel and spend the night.
Finally, if your passing through Huntingdon during the summer months, do stop by for the afternoon cream tea!
Pryordurkin rating 4 stars. (great ambience and service)
Posted in Food and Drink