The story
The Duck on the Pond in Banbury sits at South Newington, OX15 4JE, serving modern British food in a village pub that earned a Good Food Guide 2026 Good rating. The kitchen cooks from a working organic garden out back, and the menu names where its main ingredients come from.
Hendrik Dutson-Steinfeld cooks alongside his wife Julie, and their commitment to local supply shows on the page. Each main ingredient lists its provenance and food miles. The garden grows vegetables, salads and cut flowers, and the menu follows the seasons.
Beer and Cheddar soup tastes like liquid Welsh rarebit. A cured fillet from a retired dairy cow travelled 37 miles from its farm, then came with mustard leaves from the garden. Poached chicken with wild mushrooms arrives with heritage grains cooked in chicken stock, and the pork belly has juicy flesh, crisp crackling and tangy apple sauce. Desserts include hay custard with caramelised milk crumble and honey and buttermilk ice cream.
The interior is smart and rustic, with polished wooden tables, beams, exposed stone walls and a wood-burning stove. The wine list is well spread, with almost everything available by the glass.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
Visitors to this recently refurbished Cotswold village pub are urged to 'take a walk round our garden to see what we grow’. Now in the hands of chef Hendrik Dutson-Steinfeld and his wife Julie, this set-up reflects the couple's strong commitment to locality and seasonality. After perusing the organic kitchen garden, and strolling past the little duck pond and terrace, you’ll enter the smart rustic interior (polished wooden tables, beams, exposed stone walls, a wood-burning stove) to find a menu where all the main ingredients have their provenance and food miles listed. Choose from the good-value set lunch, a 12-course tasting menu or the carte, which kicks off with a hunk of home-baked bread and home-churned butter plus a little appetiser. Next, there might be mouth-wateringly delicious beer and Cheddar soup (tasting like liquid Welsh rarebit) or a scrupulously described ‘cured retired dairy cow fillet’ that has travelled 37 miles from its farm – the latter slightly overwhelmed by a full-flavoured mound of grated Old Winchester cheese, but well-matched with mustard leaves from the garden (‘0 miles’). While there’s always a vegetarian option along with the occasional fish dish, local meat dominates the main courses. And very good it is too, judging by a serving of succulent chicken poached with wild mushrooms, which came with a pot of deeply savoury and nutty ‘heritage grains’ cooked in chicken stock. Likewise, pork belly was expertly roasted (juicy flesh, crisp crackling), its fattiness countered by a tangy apple sauce and piquant savoy cabbage preserved in apple vinegar. Indulgent desserts provide further evidence that ‘locality’ does not equate with ‘worthiness’. Our aromatic hay custard with caramelised milk crumble and honey/buttermilk ice cream engendered lots of smiles – as did the friendly, prompt service and a well-spread wine list with almost everything available by the glass.
Location
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