Review: The Cricketers, Clavering

January 27, 2015 by Ray Morgan

Review: The Cricketers, Clavering

Sometimes it's nice to get away, especially in January when it feels like the year is a long road stretched out in front of you.

I had heard jolly good things about the Cricketers in Clavering, an unassuming inn in the country where none other than Jamie bloody Oliver learned to cook. It's owned by his parents, Trevor and Sally, who run the inn day to day, providing a bar, restaurant and B&B in an otherwise sleepy village.

Clavering is kind of near Saffron Walden, kind of near Stansted, so it's not a million miles from Leigh-on-Sea - but far enough to feel like you're getting away from it all.

Upon arrival, my partner and I were met by a bouncy, enthusiastic young chap who sprung out from behind the bar to carry our bags, horrified that we were trying to lift them ourselves. "You can't carry your own bags!" he chirped, while deftly opening the pub door with his foot. We were shown to the Pavilion, a conversion just outside the main inn, and handed our room key, which was attached to a cricket ball. Nice touch.

The room itself was splendid. A large four poster bed, dressing table, large cupboards with ironing equipment and comfy armchairs still left plenty of room to chuck our stuff around in, and the bathroom was palatial and SPOTLESS. We walked around it for ages saying "woah, wow, ooooooh!" in delight. We don't get out much.

With the cricket ball stowed in my handbag and dressed for dinner, we popped out of the Pavilion and back into the inn. A fire roared by the bar and we were shown to our table - the service was so impeccable that they'd known to expect us, knew what our package included, and marked a table for us in a lovely little snug round the corner. Every single member of staff was bright, cheerful, funny and chatty.

The food was sensational. Genuinely mind-blowing - and I am a tough crowd. For starters, I enjoyed a twice-baked cauliflower cheese souffle with a side salad (apple and candied walnut) so impressive I almost forgot about the oozing cheesy ramekin that was the main event. For mains, I had a superfood salad with about a million healthy ingredients including feta, seeds, blueberries, sprouting broccoli, alfalfa - all the kinds of thing one SHOULD be eating in January, but with added flavour. Then the dessert. Oh man the dessert. Passion fruit Baked Alaska. I can only apologise to the diners sitting next to me while I was eating this and frankly putting Meg Ryan to shame. IT WAS AMAZING. When the waitress came to take my super-clean plate, I started gushing about the pud and she looked at me with serious eyes and went "Oh my god. I KNOW." What I loved about this food was how it was sophisticated without being pretentious - this is a pub after all.

My partner enjoyed similarly brilliant food (including some Masterchef-style pan seared scallops served with crispy polenta) and we sampled lovely red wine, followed by coffees. We were that kind of full where it was essential we were only metres away from our room so we could roll across the car park puffed-out, red-cheeked and wine-silly.

In the morning, we woke to bright sunshine pouring in, remarking how well we slept. It just had everything we needed - free WiFi, facilities to make a hot drink first thing, a good telly, plenty of room, lots of fluffy towels. On checking out, Mr. Oliver (Sr) chatted to us about us being from Leigh-on-Sea, asked if everything had been to our liking, then returned to friendly banter with both his bar staff and other customers.

Jamie Oliver has always struck me as someone down to earth and if this is where it all started for him, then no wonder. If you fancy getting away - this place would be top of my list to recommend.

We stayed at The Cricketers, Clavering, costing £160 for a three-course meal for two (where you can have anything from the menu), and an overnight Saturday stay. To book, visit http://www.thecricketers.co.uk.