The Olive Branch is a well-established pub very local to us that gets rave reviews from most of the people we’ve spoken to, but it was only today that we visited for the very first time.
We wanted somewhere a bit more special than our usual venues as we were celebrating Tony’s birthday.
We had planned to visit The King’s Arms at Wing again, as we love their local ingredients, but a note on their website saying it is ‘not suitable for noisy or badly behaved children but charming ones are warmly welcomed’ completely put us off – who’s to say what’s considered noisy, badly behaved or charming?!
The Olive Branch were so welcoming to us as a family, the table had been set with a place for Elliot, too – a high chair, cutlery, placemat and napkin all nicely laid out for him.
We had booked a table, which was inside, though they offered for us to be outside as it was such a lovely day – in hindsight we perhaps should have eaten outside, but the little room just of the bar area was so lovely and relaxing.
I was driving, so restricted myself to a small wine – I chose a Pouilly-Fume La Levee 2014 (Alexandre Bain), that The Olive Branch listed as an ‘Orange Wine’… it was delicious – floral notes yet bold, too. I’d definitely look out for it again.
Tony had a selection of beers from the bar, including the Nettle Beer – I’m not quite sure how to describe it, but I had a slurp and it was very refreshing!
Food was excellent and there was so much choice… I opted for Duck Salad to start, Roast Cod for main and Mango Cheesecake for dessert and could not fault any of it. 
Something that completely bowled us over was Elliot’s Shepherd’s Pie – the children’s menu was great, but until his pie arrived we didn’t realise just how great it would be! It was huge and beautifully presented with a side of vegetables, he was truly spoilt! He loved it, and from a sneaky forkful I can see why.
For the three of us it was about £85 – we both had 3 courses, Elliot had his pie, and I think there were 5-6 drinks in total. We thought was excellent value for the quality of the food and the relaxing atmosphere.
Visit The Olive Branch website