Wined, dined and rested.

Ditcheat in Somerset has been well-known for a while in this corner of Somerset for two things – it is near the home base of famous racehorse trainer Paul Nicholls, and it has a great pub called the Manor House Inn. Only, in late 2023 the pub closed and we all mourned it because the building is an attractive, rather rambling old brick-built edifice with curious gothic arched windows, a traditional Somerset skittle alley and some great outside space.

Then it was re-opened in February 2025 having been bought by an up-and-coming organisation that counts this as its seventh country pub in the west of England. “Chain” pubs do ring little alarm bells – suddenly memories of flashing games machines, swirly carpets and piped music spring to mind. But the Manor House Inn has been beautifully brought back to life, not a flashing light to be seen….. In a way it’s a shame that they’ve lost the skittle alley, but I don’t think these are popular these days so it’s understandable, and it does have the advantage that this lovely long space now allows more diners to be seated. There are some great touches, like the old wooden skittles on display beside the tables, and the end of the long room being used for the pizza oven. (Don’t panic, there’s a lot more than pizza on offer…)

Talking of dining space, this was at a premium when we went; bear in mind it had re-opened 6 weeks previously and it was completely rammed on this particular Saturday night, both with diners and drinkers.

So, things I loved about it – firstly, the serving staff were fantastic, mostly young and all exceptionally friendly, chatty and helpful. Having had that thought, my mind suddenly bounced off into a series of questions such as “Why am I so pathetically thrilled to receive such treatment when actually this is surely how service SHOULD be??”.

Then there was this – again, perhaps a silly thing but it made me smile and just want to tell people about it!  (I’m not going to explain – if you know, you know.)

I also loved the way the décor generally had been refreshed but had also retained the character of the old place.

And then– the food. It was excellent, and not unnecessarily expensive. The menu is shortish, with interesting dishes like the Westcombe cheddar croquettes which were absolutely superb; they were light as a cloud inside and tangily crunchy on the outside…

…. and how often do we get the chance to have a butterflied fresh sardine on toast with salsa verde?  This little beauty was perfectly prepared by the kitchen staff at the Manor House Inn.

The wine list was really interesting, with an eclectic mixture from across the globe including a Grüner Veltliner, a Californian Pinot Noir, a Condrieu and even a couple of orange wines. Dining with someone who has WSET level 3 you don’t often hear admiring oohs and ahs when it comes to the carte des vins. We went for a seriously good Italian Neroamaro from San Marzano which managed to work with every dish we had.

We all chose the same main course, the melt-in-the-mouth English rose veal liver with the full complement of super creamy mash, velvety gravy, crunchy bacon and perfectly cooked greens. What a major taste and texture combination that was. Your mouth goes “Oooh yes, charred outside with a bit of a bite, no hang on it’s actually unctuous inside and oh that flavour and surely that creamy, buttery cloud can’t be mashed potato and good grief is that really greens with texture and flavour?…”  and so on, you get the picture. And all this for a dish that on paper looks so simple, nay one to be avoided at all costs if you ever had school dinners in any decade from the 70s to the 90s. That was definitely a wow moment. Trust me – if you come here, DO NOT AVOID the liver, it may change your life.

And finally, pudding. We all chose the lemon posset and again what a terrific choice; it came with a couple of delicate batons of baby rhubarb and just smoothed its way into the tiny pudding-shaped hole that we all discovered in ourselves.

Mmm, welcome back Manor House Inn, reinvented and better than ever.  Is it a pub?  Is it a restaurant?  Is it (please no, not this) a pizza place?  You’ll have to make your own mind up. My only concern is that it remains here so we can continue to enjoy it.

And when it comes to the bill I have two points to make – first, it wasn’t as expensive as we thought it might be and secondly, this was the first time we coughed up the 12.5% service charge without feeling slightly cheated or bullied. The staff were absolutely tip top and now I’m asking “why isn’t this always the case?”.