The Barrington Boar

A Somerset Village Inn That Earns Its Drive

The English country pub occupies an unusual position in the national dining hierarchy: beloved in theory, frequently disappointing in practice. The gap between what a village inn could be and what most of them are remains wide enough to make finding a genuinely serious one feel like an event. The Barrington Boar, in the preserved Somerset village of Barrington — placed roughly midway between Taunton and Yeovil — is the version that earns the drive. A slate-floored bar opens the approach, giving way to a crimson-walled dining room anchored by a stone-built fireplace. Guest rooms occupy the space where the old skittle alley once stood. The bones of the building are ancient; what happens inside them is not.

The Drinks Programme: Where the Pub Identity Holds Its Own

In the current moment, serious country dining destinations tend to invest heavily in food and treat the bar as an afterthought. The Barrington Boar positions its cocktail offering as a genuine programme rather than a courtesy. The signature move is the 'Dam-Good Negroni', built around damson gin in place of the standard London dry. It is a regionally inflected variation on a formula that, at technically ambitious bars like 69 Colebrooke Row in London or Schofield's in Manchester, has become a marker of bartending seriousness. The damson substitution does several things at once: it foregrounds local provenance, softens the juniper profile, and introduces a stone-fruit bitterness that holds the Campari without fighting it. It is the kind of decision that signals a kitchen and bar team working in the same register.

This approach , using local or regional spirits as the creative lever rather than imported techniques , is increasingly common across the UK's serious rural drinking establishments. Venues like Bramble in Edinburgh and Merchant Hotel in Belfast have demonstrated that a cocktail programme's credibility rests less on its list length than on the coherence of its choices. The Barrington Boar's version of this is compact, confident, and grounded in the county's larder , which is the right answer for an inn of this kind. The wine list is structured with similar intent: selections available in two glass sizes and half-litre carafes, a format that distributes access across the table without pushing bottles. For drinks programming that works at this register outside cities, see also Avon Gorge by Hotel du Vin in Bristol or, further afield, Harbour View and Fraggle Rock Bar in Bryher, where remoteness and quality coexist by design.

The Kitchen: Regional Cooking Without Apology

Modern British cooking at the pub level tends to resolve into one of two modes: a safe, crowd-pleasing menu with gestures toward seasonality, or an overcomplicated tasting-menu format that forgets what a pub is supposed to feel like. The Barrington Boar holds a less common position between those two poles. The kitchen, led by Alasdair Clifford alongside Victoria Collins, operates what one reader summarised as 'real innovation without silliness' , a phrase that carries more critical precision than it might first appear.

The evidence bears that out. A starter of barbecued lamb shoulder glazed in rose harissa with smoked aubergine and pistachio dukkah draws on North African spicing without becoming a fusion exercise. A Japanese-inspired tartare of kelp-cured trout with soy and rhubarb ponzu, adorned with shiso and winter radish, applies umami layering to a cold-water British fish with enough restraint that the trout remains the subject. These are dishes that have absorbed international technique and then applied it to West Country produce, which is the more demanding direction to work in.

Seasonality is structural rather than decorative. Wye Valley asparagus, when in season, forms the centrepiece of a vegetable main with confit new potatoes, baby turnips, and sprouting broccoli in herb vinaigrette. The menu's meat section reaches into premium-aged territory: a 50-day aged Devon Red sirloin arrives with a mushroom stuffed with bone marrow and parsley butter, a pairing that acknowledges the beef's depth rather than trying to outcompete it. Local lamb rump with caramelised sweetbreads extends the principle of using the whole animal with the same technical seriousness applied to prime cuts.

Desserts follow the same logic. Yorkshire rhubarb cheesecake with matching sorbet, and a pear frangipane tart with clotted cream , the latter described as picture-perfect , close the meal in a register that is classical without being timid. The sourcing signals are consistent throughout: Devon Red beef, Wye Valley asparagus, West Country dairy. The kitchen is not assembling a menu from a theme; it is cooking from a geography.

Atmosphere and Setting

The physical environment at the Barrington Boar carries more editorial weight than its Somerset postcode might suggest. The combination of stone fireplace, crimson walls, and slate floors reads as a serious effort to preserve the character of an old inn rather than strip it for a gastropub renovation. The guest rooms, repurposed from the former skittle alley, extend the offer for those arriving from further afield , a relevant consideration given that Barrington is not a destination you pass through; you drive to it. The village itself is among the better-preserved in Somerset, which places the inn in a context where the built environment supports rather than undercuts the food-and-drink programme.

For a broader look at what the area around Barrington offers, see our full Barrington restaurants guide.

Planning Your Visit

The Barrington Boar sits in Barrington, Ilminster, TA19 0JB , a village address that requires a car or a committed taxi from Taunton or Yeovil, both of which are within reasonable reach. Given its reputation for confident modern British cooking in a county not overloaded with serious dining options at this level, booking ahead is advisable, particularly at weekends. The combination of dining room, bar, and guest rooms makes it a viable base for exploring the Somerset and Dorset border country. The wine list's carafe structure and the cocktail programme's brevity suggest a drinks offering sized for a two- to three-course dinner rather than a long bar evening, which is the appropriate calibration for this format. Contact and reservation details are leading confirmed through current listings, as specific booking arrangements were not available at time of writing.

For comparable drinking experiences across the UK, the programmes at Mojo Leeds in Leeds, Horseshoe Bar Glasgow, Digby Chick in Na H Eileanan An Iar, L'Atelier Du Vin in Brighton, and Bar Leather Apron in Honolulu each illustrate different approaches to serious drinks programming outside major capital cities.

Frequently Asked Questions

How would you describe the overall feel of The Barrington Boar?

It reads as a working inn that has been taken seriously rather than reinvented. The slate floors, stone fireplace, and crimson dining room preserve the building's character while the kitchen and bar operate at a level well above the country-pub average. If you are expecting the subdued comfort of a preserved old pub with genuinely ambitious food alongside it, that is exactly what this is.

What's the leading thing to order at The Barrington Boar?

The kitchen's most coherent register is in its meat and fish mains. The 50-day aged Devon Red sirloin with bone marrow-stuffed mushroom demonstrates the kitchen's willingness to let premium produce make the argument, while the kelp-cured trout tartare with rhubarb ponzu shows the range at the starter end. The pear frangipane tart with clotted cream is the dessert most cited in reader accounts.

What makes The Barrington Boar worth visiting?

Serious modern British cooking in a genuinely preserved village inn setting, at a standard that is not common in this part of Somerset. The kitchen works from a clear West Country larder , Devon Red beef, Wye Valley asparagus, regional dairy , with enough technical range to hold the interest of diners who follow the national dining conversation. The cocktail programme, anchored by a damson gin Negroni, adds credibility to the drinks side that most rural inns at this price point do not attempt.

Do I need a reservation for The Barrington Boar?

Given the dining room's character and the inn's reputation for confident regional cooking between Taunton and Yeovil, booking ahead is sensible, particularly for Friday and Saturday evenings and weekend lunches. Specific contact and booking details were not available at time of writing , current information should be confirmed through the venue directly or via up-to-date listings.

Does The Barrington Boar have rooms, and is it worth staying?

Guest rooms are available, occupying the space where the inn's original skittle alley once stood. For visitors travelling to the Somerset and Dorset border country from outside the region, staying overnight makes the drive worthwhile and allows for a fuller engagement with both the dinner and the wine list's carafe programme. Barrington itself is a preserved Somerset village, which adds to the case for an overnight stay rather than a day trip.