The Queens, Chew Magna: 'This is an idyllic spot'

Where do you go when you just need to get away from it all?

Where do you go when you just need to get away from it all?

Ideally I’d go to a remote Italian lake and spend two weeks living frugally on the finds of a local farmers market, reading and writing in a tiny cottage with a view. Ideally I would throw my phone in said lake on arrival and not speak to anyone until I felt ready to make a return to society. Ideally the only sounds would be birds and the occasional tapping of keys, the sing-song of a moka pot or the flick of a page turning.

But life has a means of trapping us, doesn’t it? Money, responsibilities, the cat.

So in a recent particularly overwhelming patch, I found myself seeking solace in the village of Chew Magna; which does have a lake and is only a forty minute drive from my house. A suitable compromise.

Chew Magna, unlike my fictional terribly remote patch of Italy, has three very good restaurants: The Pony, The Lazy Lobster and The Queens. After a visit to the lake and a short stomp around half the Chew circular walk, which I can highly recommend, we sank onto a picnic bench outside The Queens.

Golden hour sun danced over the grassy patch outside the village hall opposite us on which two kids were playing football. Over to the right was a small bridge over a faint vein of the river Chew. The odd lycra-clad cyclist passed; most stopping for a pint in the evening sun before continuing on their way. No traffic. No busyness.

I could feel my shoulders dropping and my chest opening. One very good negroni later and I felt almost normal. This is an idyllic spot.

As good a view as it gets

The food was set to be pretty beautiful too, as head chef Jordan Meagher has spent time at the likes of Root and the much-missed Bell’s Diner.

Like my mental capacities, all jokes about the omnipresence of small plates have long been spent, so I’ll spare you the trouble. At The Queens, they’re a sort of modern British but with global influences; an inspired mole crema with corn ribs or a too-small dash of crispy chilli oil over an orb of burrata. There are mains for those that are large plate-inclined but they looked far less interesting.

Toasted house focaccia was a pert and lightly caramelised reminder that all meals should be served with good bread.

Gimme some bread to Chew on

Mango and habanero chicken wings came with a spice warning, which says a lot about the residents of Chew Magna. If you can brace yourself for the light tongue tickle, they’re good. As was the burrata with heritage tomatoes and pesto. It’s a small plates menu staple for good reason - when you get great produce at the right temperature it’s a wonderful combination.

Corn ribs that genuinely reminded me of my trip to Mexico, unlike a lot of other ‘Mexican’ food I’ve had since returning to the UK

Like an encounter with a grumpy herd of cows on our walk*, there was the odd misstep. A vastly over-seasoned saucisson, fennel and apple garnish on otherwise plump scallops, and a ham hock and black pudding fritter could have done with more veins of juicy fat running through it.

Would I go back to The Queens? Honestly, I’d quite like to book one of the four rooms in their adjoining B&B and hole up there for a week. I’ve heard they do a bloody good roast too. I’d walk to Chew - even braving a cow infested field - for that.

Probably the best food photo I’ve ever taken

It’s not perfect and yet it is so perfect. Villagey but not twee, calm but not boring, creative but not in a fraught, ego-driven way.

Sadly the hills we drove over to get home, sunset fading in the rearview, were not those of the Italian Alps. Nevertheless, I was feeling much restored.

All words and photos by Meg Houghton-Gilmour

The Queens, Silver St, Chew Magna BS40 8RQ

*No cows were harmed in the making of this review.

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