While our group was attending the Farnborough Airshow, we staying at a hotel on the outskirts of Wokingham. This was convenient for our transportation to and from the Farnborough Airshow itself (Wokingham is about halfway between Heathrow and Farnborough), but the hotel itself was on the edge of town, so aside from it’s on-site pub (which, oddly, had beer from Shipyard in the States on tap), there wasn’t much in walking distance. However, there was one notable exception to this, The Oakingham Belle. So on our second night in town, we decided to walk over and check them out and enjoy some good, old-school English pub classics.
The Oakingham Belle is one of those sorts of pubs I run into a lot once you get outside of the major cities: it’s a “new old” pub. The place dates only from 2019, being built at the same time as the nearby housing development, and it’s got what I call “village boozer” ambiance: a nice bar, a few dining rooms (one with a television), and enough seating to have a solid dinner service on busy nights. The name itself looks like a misspelling of “Wokingham”, but it isn’t, it’s a local-history reference: “Oakingham” is an older Victorian misspelling of Wokinghame, and the “Oakingham Belle” was a nickname for 18th-Century Molly Mogg, a famous barmaid.
Like a lot of pubs in England, the Oakingham Belle is a company pub (the building and license are owned by Marston, and that also ties a lot of the beer to Marston brews), vs a “Free House”, but they’ve got a reasonably good assortment of regional beers. But for this particular evening, and my final menu selection, I was in the mood for a Guinness, so I started the evening with a good, fresh pint.
One of my weaknesses when it comes to English pub food is that I adore meat pies (which seriously don’t get enough presence in the US), and decided that I couldn’t resist one of their house pies: a Steak and Malbec pie. A nice, rich, and flavorful steak and onion filling in a nice, dark Malbec sauce, this was a very nicely done pie, with a nice firm crust with a good crumb. Add in some nicely seasons fresh veggies and a nicely done mash, and this was the exact sort of meal that I like to enjoy with a fresh pint and a relaxing dining room.
My coworker opted for the similar Chicken, Ham Hock, and Leek Pie. Served up just like the Steak and Malbec pie, but with a different filling, he rather enjoyed this dish as well.
Another colleague ordered up the fish and chips, and this was an impressive display: a very large, nicely breaded filet of haddock (my preferred fish for a good fish and chips), and served up with an impressive pile of nicely done chips and a side of mushy peas.
But then it was time for dessert. None of my colleagues had experienced “Sticky Toffee Pudding”, so I had to encourage them to order it. It’s always been a favorite of mine: British dessert flavors are built on a subtly different palate: golden syrup, toffee, and treacle tend to dominate where Americans tend to use chocolate, and Sticky Toffee Pudding is a classic: a moist, dark, sponge cake covered in a toffee sauce, topped with either vanilla custard or ice cream. And the version at Oakingham Belle was quite nicely done: a good cake with nice spicing, a good dark toffee sauce, and a nice ice cream.
Overall, we enjoyed The Oakingham Belle. A good selection of beers, a nice assortment of traditional English main course, and a particularly good Sticky Toffee Pudding. What’s not to love?
