• Vegans must give prior notice when booking.
• Restaurant.

A gastro pub with an excellent chef and nice atmosphere.

The name is a historical artifact, so don't let it put you off ordering veggie food here. There's an imaginative selection of home made dishes, with at least a couple being veggie (though check the cheese where relevant). They are very happy to make dishes for vegans too, so book in advance to be sure they can when you go. Examples include jerusalem artichoke soup or roasted aubergine and cauliflower casserole on rice. They are low on protein-rich ingredients so you need to encourage them hard with good notice if you want beans, nuts or even tofu included.

Kieren is still the main chef (we all got confused when the BBC took over the place for 8 weeks earlier in the year so we thought it had changed hands). He knows his vegan stuff, so ask for him if you want something special for a group of you. Best to call in the morning if you want to speak to him directly.

If you want vegan food in a Chilterns pub with no notice, you can't beat The Red Lion in Peppard for fantastic choice on the permanent menu.

Christmas Common is in the Chiltern Hills, the designated area of outstanding beauty to the north of Reading. Lovely walking and mountain biking routes are all around (including the Ridgeway and Icknield Way), and it's not far from the M40 for those of you from further afield.

Access facilities: you can access the main dining area of the pub on the level along a paved path from the car park (which is a bit deeply gravelly in places). All toilets including a dedicated disabled toilet are just off the dining area, and there are no steps to negotiate.

Reviews

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Sophie 2007-01-04 10:00:25

We booked well ahead for Boxing Day (they were even open on Christmas Day!) and asked them to do us a vegan meal for 4. We made sure Kiran was the chef on that day. The food was beautifully tasty, and they were happy to add in some braised tofu we brought along. We had 3 courses and were stuffed silly, so took a doggy bag home.

Guest 2005-12-20 13:42:43

We – me, a non vegetarian who doesn't like meat much and my vegetarian partner – had lunch at this Pub yesterday. There was one vegetarian Sandwich option (out of four) and four vegetarian main courses, all of which were very tempting! Service was great, definitely would visit again

Ley Halligan-Davis 2005-11-30 13:54:33

Having the inlaws to stay is never easy, so after a great group trip to the Fox and Hounds we decided to try them out for a family outing where the disapproving inlaws are meat eaters and my daughter and I are vegan. It was fab, I called and booked a table and then confirmed I was Vegan. The options were so great my meat eating husband ate the vegan choices too! He was really disappointed when he went for a dessert that was not vegan, as that was just run of the mill and he kept trying to steal my fab baked apple. Boring you might say, but definitely not! The difference between a cook and a chef really showed up! The staff were friendly and jolly (even with my grumpy toddler…she was hungry when we arrived!!) and the chef was just great. When you book your table, tell them you're diet choices and they will be magnificent. As for the inlaws, who are amazingly difficult to please, they could only say that there was too much food! What can you do?!!!!

Allison Hope 2005-10-19 22:33:51

I must have had bad luck as the day I visited they didn't have anything vegetarian on the menu at all, apart from a few deserts! :)

Seriously though, I'd definately recommend ringing ahead, if you are planning to go there. After I asked them about the cheese in some of their dishes and had explained to them the difference between vegetarian and non vegetarian cheese (the waitress didn't know at first)they were happy to provide me with a dish from the menu without the cheese. This made the meal pretty tasteless though.

In short the staff were very friendly and the service and atmosphere of the place lovely. I just didn't enjoy the food, the waitress did tell me however that the menu changes twice a day. It could have lots of vegetarian or vegan meals on it or none at all. So just ring ahead

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