Evershot Restaurant Guide

Under the Relais & Châteaux banner, and partly designed by Thomas Hardy no less (an architect before he was an author), this “gem” of a country hotel is “a little out of the way but well worth the effort”. When it comes to its “comfortable fine dining” offer, “no doubt the price reflects the amazing surroundings” but, given that “everything is beautifully done”, only the odd reporter raises any complaint.

This fifteenth-century inn with a skittle alley in picturesque Hardy country was the model for the ‘Sow & Acorn’ in ‘Tess of the d'Urbervilles' and, like the swankier Summer Lodge in the same village, is part of the Red Carnation hotel group. Here you get “similar food, but with simpler presentation” than at its sibling – “an all-round pleasure”.