Foodie Focus: The Old Courthouse

In the very heart of Cheltenham, set-back from the High Street so you just might miss it, is the former Magistrate Court building, built in 1869. This hidden heritage heart, in which many of the court features remain preserved, will be recognised as the former site of the Jamie's Italian restaurant, but which is now in fact run by Brunning and Price as a gorgeous, sympathetically refurbished gastropub. 

The recent conversion by Brunning and Price has really brought the building to life, whilst retaining a lot of the wonderful historic parts. It's light and airy, stylish and frankly stunning, without detracting from the beauty of the building itself. You are greeted on entry with a sign which directs you to the bar, and for your four-legged friend, a bowl of water too. The staff are friendly and immediately attentive and while you wait to be seated, you have prime view of the bar and the extensive array of local cask ales, ciders and artisan spirits.

Booking is recommended but not essential and on this rather balmy Wednesday night, there was no wait for a table. That said, it certainly wasn't quiet and whenever we have visited, there's always been a busy, bustling pub vibe to the place, with plenty popping in every day of the week. Taking in our surroundings, your eyes are enticed by the big comfy armchairs, while food is served at a range of different size and shape tables, as well as on high stools at the bar. A favourite feature of mine is that the walls are covered in lots of old photos which are lovely to look at – the only disappointment is that they don’t seem to be relevant to the building, the town or the pub group.

The waiting staff are knowledgeable and do a great job of letting you know the best bits about The Old Courthouse. For example, there are regular events where you can Meet the Brewer and these are a great hit with customers and staff alike! Meanwhile if you need to work up an appetite first, we were directed to the iFootpath app which includes a three mile circular walk around the Old Courthouse to show you the best of the centre of Cheltenham - if you download the route not only does it take you on a leisureley stroll, but it also has a lot of history and information of things along the route.

So now to the food – The Old Courthouse is a really great gastropub, so there's plenty of old reliables with a gastronomic twist. The menu tempts you to a cocktail whilst making your decision and the Rhubarb Bellini was a great hit with me, although my other half could not be tempted away from the pint he was loving.

There were too many starters to pick from, so we agreed to share two and now it was decision time. Smoked salmon cheesecake with a cucumber and caper salad; seasonal asparagus presented with pickled mushrooms; or how about a selection of  smaller sized starters dubbed 'nibbles'? There are also sharing plates of either Charcuterie or Baked Camembert, but in the end we chose a couple of the nibbles – black pudding fritters with apple sauce, and crispy baby squid with mango and chilli sauce – delicious, well cooked and well presented. 

For those in a hurry, or popping out for lunch, the menu offers a whole side of light bites and sandwiches, but we of course were there for dinner so bigger portions were required. It's always a promising sign when it takes a long time to make up our minds, but we finally made our selections. I chose the salmon and smoked haddock fishcake, which came on a fennel and cucumber salad, with a spicy tomato dressing topped with a perfect poached egg. My other half succumbed to his personal fave - steak and ale pie. Both plates arrived at the same time, the food was piping hot and so very tasty. We of course had a little try of each others' and I can attest the pastry was excellent and the pie was packed to the top with really yummy steak.

Sadly, despite sounding incredibly tempting, we'd failed to leave room for dessert! The menu offers both a full-sized dessert, or the option of a coffee or tea with a small pudding – brilliant.  The cheese selection is all British and again you can share, choose three for yourself or have a ‘nose’ of cheese with a glass of port. Watching the room, the dessert plates looked gorgeous and every one went back to the kitchen empty - an encouraging sign!

Despite a fabulous meal, we're already planning ahead to our next visit. There are so many things we want to try - be it the crab linguine; the pan fried scallops with cauliflower puree; black pudding fritters and apple dressing; the beetroot hummus with toasted flat bread; the Applebys Cheshire cheese, potato and onion pie; or the Slow cooked beef feather ‘Bourguignon’ with horseradish mash and roasted carrots. I will also try (and possibly fail) to leave room for pudding as the crème brulee looked great, as did the apple and rhubarb crumble and the triple chocolate brownie. Oh and don’t forget the cheese...

If you are looking for a pub atmosphere with great beers and a really good gastro pub style menu then look no further as The Old Courthouse which should definitely be on the top of your list.