As ever, there’s little and very mixed feedback on the fine dining room at this incredible palazzo, with fans hailing its “old-fashioned glamour and outstanding food” and critics just dismissing it as “really poor”; as at other Von Essen properties, we’ve left it un-rated as the dust settles on the group’s fortunes.
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Chris Horridge, new chef at this famous country house hotel, “is a pioneering force of ‘three-dimensional’ cuisine – where flavour, presentation and nutrition are equally important”, we read. And to make things difficult for himself he offers his cuisine both in a standard haute-luxe format, and also in a healthier style. Both are pretty thrilling, and dinner ends up “intensely enriching but not overpowering: it “matters not a jot that the room has no view”.
Matthew Fort (10th August 2009)
The “more interesting” restaurant at this Berkshire hotel has “three menus” that reveal head chef Chris Horridge’s “superlative” cooking. The critic is served “exquisite, thoughtful, brilliantly enjoyable food” by “charming and enthusiastic” staff. Unfortunately, the “distractingly syrupy” piped Muzak and “sober” décor detract from the experience, and he concludes that “the food deserves a more suitable showcase.”
Lisa Markwell (16th November 2009)
Matthew Fort (10th August 2009)
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