"Gorgeous George"

Of all the English towns and cities I know, only Wallingford does something special to celebrate Saint George and his day, although it does not celebrate it on the day itself. They commemorate it the Saturday before or after. Apparently, this year it will be tomorrow, but I might be wrong. Depending on how the weather will be, we might go there. It is fitting that they make a big thing of it in Wallingford, as it is maybe the most English place I have ever known. Every year, I pay homage to Saint George in a rather simplistic manner: I just drink a pint of one of the many beers named in his honour and that's that.

This is what happened last year at the Old Post Office in Wallingford, where I tried a pint of Gorgeous George from Loddon Brewery. I rarely drink Loddon Brewery products, not that I find them bad but they rarely leave any impression on me. Of Gorgeous George, I only remember the label on the pump and the fact that it was rather blonde. I was expecting something a bit darker and redder, like the blushing (and utterly unheroic) knight on the label. I wonder if it will be available tomorrow, either there or elsewhere if we go elsewhere. I might try it again.

Un burger au portobello?

Photo prise au Old Post Office, le pub gastro donc dans les faits le restaurant qui est aussi un ancien bureau de poste à Wallingford. C'est un hamburger au champignon portobello, le portobello remplaçant la boulette de viande. Ma femme est végétarienne, voyez-vous. Il y avait du fromage halloumi avec. J'ai appris à apprécier les burgers végés comme j'ai appris à apprécier les champignons, mais ça c'est un mélange que je n'ai jamais pu supporter. Le portobello est un champignon trop gros pour moi, trop caoutchouteux, au goût comme à la texture, qui me donne la nausée. Je sais que mon frère PJ aime bien, ma femme aussi évidemment, moi je ne comprends pas l'engouement et comment ça peut être utilisé comme un substitut de la viande.

The menu at the Old Post Office in Wallingford

I have been blogging a good deal about Wallingford recently, so I hope it does not come as a surprise ifthe new restaurant/pub I plug in my traditional weekend post is from there. I am talking about the Old Post Office, or OPO, which ironically is not supposed to be the best one in Wallingford (not according to TripAdvisor anyway), but so far it is the only one I have been to and every time I went there I was happy about the food. I usually have fish there, which is now my food of predilection when I go out, but this time it was linguine with prawns and crab. Drowned in a lot of Parmesan, as you can see on the picture. You can see it on the daytime menu here. So far I only had lunch there, so I am plugging the OPO out of a very limited, very partial experience.

I do not find the food outstanding as much as good, but good food is good enough when you are hungry and eating there is in itself pleasant. It is mid-way between a gastropub and a full fledged restaurant, not quite the traditional pub I would naturally go to for the atmosphere, but the setting is nice and in the heart of Wallingford. It is clean, there are always tables available, it is spacious... and then you can have a walk in town, a lovely English town, maybe the most quintessential English town I have seen, at least down south.