1861 Restaurant with Rooms

Visited here on a wet Sunday in November, a beautiful old building that's warm inside and offers picturesque views on clearer days. The menu is seasonal, and well curated, and the personal service, made us feel so very welcome. We were a party of 4. There were nibbles on the table as we looked at the menu, some cheese and pepper puffs that melted on the tongue, and some crisp cheese sticks that were a cross between a pretzel stick and the cheesy snack a mini cheddar dreams of being. We ordered three courses, but we're treated to a fantastic amuse bouche of tempura courgette. Following the amuse, was two small loaves of freshly baked bread, utterly delicious and warm from the oven . To start I chose a herbed chicken terrine, with some excepionally crispy toast and a green tomato chutney. My partner chose the same and our companions had the beetroot risotto with parmesan crisps. Both were delicious. Our main courses consisted of a topside of beef, served medium rare, with roasted potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, rainbow chard, Brussel sprouts, carrots and cauliflower cheese. Doused in gravy this was perfectly cooked, tender and flavoursome. Two of our party had the lamb rump, with beetroot, courgettes, green beans, rosemary jus and a fantastic cube of lamb lasagne. The other member of our party had the trio of pheasant. All beautiful dishes, well portioned and seasoned well. Before dessert we were served a chilled melon and ginger soup to cleanse the pallets, which was delicious and very refreshing. Dessert was a revelation. My partner and I had the pear tarte tatin with the smoothest chocolate I've cream I have ever had. Better than the liquid nitrogen ice cream I've had in other places. The pears were spoon-tender and tasted like pure autumn. Others in our group had the Clementine floating island with plums, and a trio of chocolate desserts, including a chocolate souffle. Following desserts we enjoyed coffee and petit fours in the bar area. This was quite possibly the best meal I have had in recent memory. It wasn't cheap, but it was fantastic value. Brilliant food, amazing service, and I left satisfied, well fed and very very happy. I will definitely be back.