Hotel restaurants don’t come much more charming than this.

The  historic Georgian market town of Farnham on the Hampshire borders has had The Bush in its centre since the 1600s. Somehow it maintains its air of calm, despite the bustling market town outside its walls and garden.

Its remarkable age shows in its wonderful cosy downstairs dining room and bar with their welcoming real fires in the winter, and in the ancient timbers and frescos to be admired all year round.

Thackeray mentions it in his 1857 novel The Virginians, and Oliver Cromwell is said to have paid a visit  in 1648. The name incidentally comes from the old custom of inn keepers hanging an ivy bush outside their premises to let passers by know that wine was sold inside.

We had a glass ourselves in the bar first, a lovely old room, or at least it was once they dimmed down the retina-searing ceiling lights. Oh, and there’s a fire here. Lovely. Food in the form of light dishes is served such as Classic fish finger sandwich or Falafel panini, with hummus and tomato chutney,

The dining room is the historic heart of the hotel though with window frames that have seen the centuries go by, massive oak beams and ‘saucy’ wall frescoes faded with extreme age.

It’s a romantic spot any time of year, but when the fires are going it’s really heartwarming, and we sat as close up as we could. After all, how often do you see a real fire now? They will probably be banned soon,  and then outsourced to China to lower the UK’s carbon footprint. We can then have the warmth back as a DVD, or something.

The food is country house hotel style. Something for everyone and with a bit of fancy and done well with a seasonal twist. Starters of Salmon gravadlax, chive crème frisée salad, and a Chicken and Cognac liver parfait, plum and apple chutney, and ciabatta croutes, were both generous and tasty.

Roasted seabass, olive and spring onion potato cake, spinach and tomato cream sauce was well done, but for a slightly heavy hand with the rock salt in the spinach, while a classic sirloin steak with mushroom, tomato and chips was simple and excellent.

We shared an apple and berry crumble, with a jug of thick custard. Perfect.

Service was charming, we were reluctant to head out into the chill night. There are bedrooms though, of course. We had a look, they are elegant and unique, and in the main building very historic, great places to stay for a weekend and there’s a lot of foodie action in the town all week long

In warmer weather the beautiful enclosed garden is definitely the place to eat, as well as ideal for gorgeous weddings. I saw two Kamado Joe BBQs chained up ready to be unleashed in the summer. I love those things as they show proper determination to do BBQ well. I’ll be back for a burger or two , that’s if this weather ever improves.

farnhambush.com

The Borough

Farnham

GU9 7NN