Billy Mantle is known as the chef behind SHIO
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14:16, 24 JUL 2026
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A country pub that has been closed for around six months has been taken over by a chef who made a name for himself serving Asian-inspired dishes.
The Reindeer, in Hoveringham, now has Billy Mantle at the helm — a name that may be familiar as the founder of SHIO, an Asian kitchen specialising in small plates and street food.
Fans will be pleased to learn that SHIO lives on and the trailer is now a permanent fixture in the pub garden, serving up rice bowls and Japanese grills.
But that’s only part of the story at the village pub that dates back more than 100 years. A contemporary British menu with an Asian spin here and there is served inside.
And although it’s not compulsory, there’s the option of sharing small plates of hash brown topped with Cornish bluefin tuna and lardo, barbecue lamb cutlets with gochujang (a spicy Korean condiment), and Isle of Wight tomato tart with shiso (a Japanese herb), basil and goat’s curd.
Bigger plates include battered haddock and chips, pea and ricotta agnolotti and Dunwood Farm salt-aged rib eye au poivre with triple-cooked chips. The menu, served Wednesday to Saturday, will change every two months. Roasts will be served on Sundays.
Billy, 28, said: “We’ll still have your pub classics but we’ll also be more creative with some of the dishes as well, something a bit more experimental. There’s always going to be little Asian bits there. That’s my twist on things. I can’t sway completely away from that, that’s just the way I like to cook.”
The Reindeer, first and foremost, though is a pub and drinkers are not neglected. There’s more of a distinction between the bar and dining area than previously.
The pub, in Main Street, overlooks the village cricket ground, and there’s a nod to Billy’s younger cricketing days with a photo of him batting at the age of 12. The decor has also been refreshed for the start of a new chapter in its history while maintaining the traditional rural charm.
Billy admitted to having his eye on the pub for some time. “It’s perfect for me. More than anything it was the setting. It already had a good reputation before for food and drinks and service. Overlooking the cricket club, it’s idyllic really and if you can build on what it had before I think it could be really successful. I know it will be successful.
“It’s a quintessential pub. It’s got the best of everything. In the summer you’ve got this amazing outdoor area and then in winter it’s really nice and cosy inside as well with the log burner.”
The pub relaunched first with SHIO, now the kitchen has fully opened.
Billy, who has moved from town to live in the village with his girlfriend, said: “It’s been quite busy. The locals have been coming in and now we’ve got the food offering, we’re hoping it will bring people from further afield.
His trajectory was heading towards a different career at one point when he began studying music event management at university in Bristol and staging club nights in the city.
But he wasn’t enjoying the course and dropped out. “I loved cooking from a young age. My dad’s a really good cook so I was always around good food and good cooking. From a young age I was baking with my grandma. I know it’s a cliché, everyone says it, but it’s true.”
Back in Nottingham, his first job was washing pots at Botti de Mamma in Heathcoat Street, Hockley, for owner Edin Gondzic, but it wasn’t long before he was helping out in the kitchen. After moving to Sexy Mamma Love Cicchetti, in Carlton Street, he was sous chef within six months.
From there he joined Nottingham’s 2018 MasterChef: The Professionals winner Laurence Henry, travelling around the country, for pop-ups.
What really expanded his horizons was a one-way ticket to Japan. In a ski resort in Hakuba he worked in teppanyaki and sushi restaurants, discovering a love of Asian techniques and flavours.
“I was working in restaurants three days a week and also learning my trade there too, as well as it being a holiday and skiing four days a week,” he said.
Then Covid hit and he returned to the UK in 2020. He found himself doing sell-out dine-at-home boxes during lockdown for Carlton cafe Albie’s.
When hospitality was allowed to reopen he began serving Asian-inspired tapas and small plates, and off the back of that, started to make a name for himself.
It was there that he first met Cameron Spollin, who has joined him as head chef at The Reindeer.
Stints with street food trader Homeboys, the Old Volunteer in Caythorpe, and Cleaver & Wake in Nottingham followed before he branched out with SHIO at upmarket city centre bar, Six Richmond House, in Hurts Yard.
The Reindeer is his first full operation, requiring a grasp on front-of-house operations as well as the kitchen.
“I’m really happy with it all. It’s been a massive change for me. Obviously I’ve been surrounded by it my whole life so I’ve learnt from it. I know what to do right and what not to do from past experience
“As long as you’ve got a good team behind you… Becca, my general manager, was here before, for five years, so she knows the problems inside out and she knows all the locals.
“The reception has been great. Locals are really supporting it. It’s done loads better than we thought it would, considering we’ve not had a real food offering until now. A lot of hard graft gone into it, a lot of late nights, and I’m finally getting somewhere now.”
The pub is open seven days a week, with food served Wednesday to Sunday.
The SHIO trailer is now in the garden, serving Asian street food outside from Thursday to Saturday from 4pm (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)1 of 11ShareComments
The SHIO trailer is now in the garden, serving Asian street food outside from Thursday to Saturday from 4pm
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Spiced Cornish crab, crumpet, confit garlic and lobster bisque (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)2 of 11ShareComments
Spiced Cornish crab, crumpet, confit garlic and lobster bisque
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Isle of Wight tomato tart, shiso, basil and goat’s curd (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)3 of 11ShareComments
Isle of Wight tomato tart, shiso, basil and goat’s curd
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Hash brown, Cornish bluefin tuna and lardo (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)4 of 11ShareComments
Hash brown, Cornish bluefin tuna and lardo
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A selection of dishes at The Reindeer (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)5 of 11ShareComments
A selection of dishes at The Reindeer
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The Reindeer is a pub first and foremost (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)6 of 11ShareComments
The Reindeer is a pub first and foremost
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The dining area (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)7 of 11ShareComments
The dining area
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The tables and chairs are the same but the pub has been redecorated (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)8 of 11ShareComments
The tables and chairs are the same but the pub has been redecorated
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Overlooking the cricket pitch (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)9 of 11ShareComments
Overlooking the cricket pitch
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The beer garden (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)10 of 11ShareComments
The beer garden
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Owner Billy Mantle and head chef Cameron Spollin (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)11 of 11ShareComments
Owner Billy Mantle and head chef Cameron Spollin
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