At The Cheerful Soul we have:
A main menu,
an offer menu starting at £11.50 for two courses including a Glass of Wine or Nip of Ale,
often changing specials,
a childrens menu at £5.95 including a drink, meal and ice cream
and a bar snack menu.

Our main Menu:

Starters
Pea, mint and broad bean soup with lemon oil £3.50
Brixham crab and clotted cream tart with horseradish dressing £5.50
Pressed ham hock terrine with cauliflower piccalilli and warm toast £5.25
Fresh and aged Homefield House goats cheese salad with marinated beetroot £6.95
Marinated cherry tomato and shallot tart £6.50
Half pint of shell on Atlantic prawns with homemade mayonnaise £6.50

Main course
Sauteed summer mushrooms, tagliatelle, garlic chives, crème fraiche and pea shoots £10.50
Chargrilled aubergine with garlic, potato dumplings and fresh pistou £10.75
Braised Atlantic sea trout with summer vegetables, white wine and basil £13.50
Warm roast chicken ballotine, fresh garden salad, tarragon dressing £11.25
Braised lamb clod fillet, smoked aubergine, buttered spinach £15.95
Slow cooked belly pork, wilted gem lettuce, peas and spring onions £12.75

From the grill
Line caught Cornish sardines, rosemary sea salt, chips £10.75
Seared Skirt steak (7oz) with shallot and mustard dressing, chips £11.50

Our brilliant butcher Aubrey Allen hangs our steaks to dry mature for at least 28 days for tenderness and flavour. We serve them with hand cut chips, braised field mushroom and roast tomatoes. Please feel free to swap if you would like a different style of potato or salad with your steak.

Sirloin (8oz) £19.50
Whole cut Fore-Rib steak (8oz) £17.50
Fillet (8oz) £23.50

A bit on the side
Hand cut chips £2.50
Mashed potatoes £2.50
Boiled potatoes £2.50
Peas, wilted gem lettuce, spring onion £2.75
Buttered spinach £2.75
Carrots with marjoram £2.75
Green salad £2.95
Garden salad £2.95

The Cheerful Soul OPEN 7th JULY!!!

We are pleased to announce that we will be opening for business from the 7th July 2009!

For our first week we ask that you pre-book your table as there are limited places and we don't want you to be dissapointed. Call The Cheerful Soul on 01628 483343 to book or e-mail hello@thecheerfulsoulrestaurant.co.uk

However you are welcome to visit the bar and enjoy a drink and a bar snack which is open without the need to book.

Pimms is available on tap to enjoy in the sunshine on The Cheerful Patio!

Or enjoy a good old fashioned Ploughmans Lunch and a pint!

We are all looking forward to offering you a big welcome and showing you around the newly renovated Hare and Hounds 17th century country inn now re-named 'The Cheerful Soul'.

The Cheerful Soul in The Hare and Hounds, Henley Road, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, SL7 2DF

Holly english (The Cheerful Artist)

When you visit why not see if you can find the mousehole!?!

Goodbye old sign, Hello new Cheerful sign...

How exciting ...

...the old Hare and Hounds really is changing into

The Cheerful Soul!!!

The Cheerful Garden.

The garden...

With a huge amount of help from 'Mulberry Garden Maintenance' and Anne-Marie (head Gardener at Le Manoir) and her team the Cheerful garden is looking so much better. We have a vegetable patch that is starting to sprout with vegetables and herbs and will eventually end up on the plates in the restaurant.

The Cheerful Soul starts to take shape...

We finally have a home for The Cheerful Soul and as you can see from the picture above we couldn't wait to get stuck in!

Turning the new premises into The Cheerful Soul is proving to be very exciting. We have been planning for a long time but of course there is always the worry that we may have made the wrong decision or our ideas won't work but so far it is great and the place (even though it looks like a building site) is really starting to look good!

This is the Novus detail Team who played a big part in helping us plan the work for the restaurant and are now all hard at work making the transformation from The Hare and Hounds to The Cheerful Soul happen...

LEFT: Bradley & Dan

RIGHT: Simon (Michele's Brother), Gerald***** & William

We will keep you posted!

Yorkshire Pudding...

Wow that inbox is pretty full!
We would like to say a huge thank you to all our American cousins for all the messages of support and congratulations that we have received. The series has just finished showing in the states and even though for us it seems a long time ago now that filming finished, we are still travelling down a pretty tough road and it means a lot to know you guys are rooting for us.
Here is a video of Raymond and I cooking up a Yorkshire pudding which is a traditional food form the county of Yorkshire in the north of England. I don't know if this recipe has made it across the pond. It is basically an egg batter cooked in hot fat, either dripping or now usually just vegetable oil. Over here it is traditionally served on it's own before a meal but it is very versatile and here we have made a stew to serve in it. You could also fill it with sausages, roasted onions and gravy or even try it as a sweet with some fruit compote or jam. I really hope I'm not committing some sacrilege and alienating the whole north east of England with these suggestions!

The recipe is really simple:

For 1 great big pudding or 12 smaller ones:

Pre-heat the oven to 210c (410f) and put in your pudding pan or muffin tin which should be 1/4 full of fat

Break 3 eggs into a measuring jug and make a note of the volume.

In a mixing bowl put plain flour in equal volume to the eggs, add a pinch of salt, whisk in the eggs then stir in milk , again of equal volume. Try not to over mix as this will develop the glutens and make the batter chewy.

Leave to rest at room temperature for about an hour to help swell the starch molecules.

Cook in the hot oven in very hot fat (please take care) until well risen and golden brown, drain on absorbant paper before serving.

We need chefs and front of house staff...

JOBS AT THE CHEERFUL SOUL!! On the Oxfordshire / Buckinghamshire border

CALLING ALL INTREPID SOULS…
…An exciting opportunity awaits! Giving you the chance to be there right at the beginning of a brand new company.

Michele and Russell, winners of BBC2’s “The Restaurant” 2008, in partnership with Raymond Blanc are soon opening their restaurant “The Cheerful Soul”.

We’re offering you the chance to
show some Jazzamatazz and be a key part of our team building our reputation for
serving a delicious, frequently changing Great British menu in a relaxed environment
with an enormous welcome and excellent customer service.

SOUL OF THE PARTY?
Sound like you? We’re looking for an experienced, cheerful Assistant Restaurant Manager who will enjoy being part of developing the success of ‘The Cheerful Soul’.
Day to day you will be Michele’s right hand man and you will act as manager in her absence.

SOUL FOOD
We’re looking for an experienced, adaptable Sous Chef who is excited about creating a great culinary reputation for TCS and helping develop our kitchen team.
You will assist Russell in the day to day running of the kitchen and to be responsible for the smooth running of the kitchen in his absence.

‘The Cheerful Soul’ – Eat, Drink and Be Merry.

Other positions are also available including waiting staff, Kitchen staff, Bar staff cleaner
To apply please email:
jobs@thecheerfulsoulrestaurant.co.uk