Monday, 28 October 2013
Pennyhill’s premier fine dining experience
You may have guessed my now that I love my food, you could even argue that I am every so slightly obsessed in fact. No weekend would be complete without being able to indulge in my favourite pastime.
You can imagine our excitement when we learned that Pennyhill Hotel and Spa has two award-winning restaurants under one roof. If you haven't read my earlier post about the wonderful hotel and spa then you can find it here.
Choice however sometimes is not always a good thing especially not for someone so indecisive. We opt to try the Latymer, Pennyhill’s premier fine dining restaurant run by Michael Wignall.
For someone who is a food enthusiast and enjoys nothing more than tucking into some fine grub, I had very high expectations especially given the restaurants has recently retained its two Michelin stars.
The restaurant itself has been designed to draw from its countryside location with vibrant green upholstery, orange pillows and glass screens offering dinners a more intimate dining experience.
We are warmly greeted and seated in the corner of the restaurant where we have wonderful views of both the goings on in the restaurant and the outside landscaped lawns.
The restaurant has a wide variety of menus on offer with the choice of à la carte, a seven course tasting menu (£72) or a ten course tasting menu (£92). We both choose the ten course tasting menu which has a good mixture of fish, meat and vegetable. Four of the ten courses being desserts is my idea of heaven. The menu is seasonal so are updated regularly.
The menu of ten offers two things that I am ever so slightly dreading, there is nothing worse in a restaurant, especially one awarded two Michelin stars, in taking a mouthful of food and having the desperate urge to spit it out. Luckily, this wasn’t the case.
I personally am looking forward to the Smoked eel and feuille de brick cigar, poached chicken and curry potatoes, spiced aubergine, yogurt and coriander. Also the slow cooked Lancashire suckling piglet, roasted veal sweetbread, Jerusalem artichoke pureé and crisp swede in pork crackling.
At the Latymer, considerable thought has gone into pairing wines with the menu and the food being served. If you are unsure of what wine to pick you are in good hands with the knowledgeable sommelier.
We start our meal with some homemade bread that has been lovingly baked onsite. We try hard not to eat it all giving us the best chance of eating all ten courses.
I need to state upfront here that whatever I write within this review simply cannot do justice to the technical skill that Michael has, his food is seriously carefully crafted and the presentation is beautiful.
The first taster is seared tuna, cannelloni with ponzu, broccoli salad, soy emulsion, nunu with kecap manis and miso couscous.
The soy emulsion offers the tuna a rich, meaty flavour, with the ponzu offering a citrus tartness which is delicious.
The smoked eel and feuille de brick cigar, poached chicken was for me the most amazing of all Michael’s offerings.
The pastry on feuille de brick cigar and creamed smoked eel is simply divine. Within the dish I cannot see in sight or taste any curried spiced potatoes or spiced aubergine. I think it has been omitted but the dish is still perfect anyway.
I personally love pork so the Lanacshire suckling piglet despite high expectations was a real disappoint. I simply felt that it didn’t bring anything to the otherwise fantastic menu. The Jerusalem artichoke puree visually reminded me of beef dripping and for that reason put me off.
Blue, Roquefort and Goats cheese begins the desserts which I find a little odd and would have preferred to have had them at the end to complete the meal. The hazelnut powder however is a wonderful addition.
The highlight of the whole meal for me and my partner had to be the desserts. The exotic mango egg which bursts on eating, with coconut and cinnamon “pain perdu” was both visually pleasing and tasted divine. I would have happily had seconds and possibly even thirds.
Service throughout the meal was impeccable, attentive without being intrusive. We will most definitely be back to sample lunch.
Address:
London Road
Bagshot
Surrey
GU19 5EU
+44 (0) 1276471774
Website:
www.pennyhillpark.co.ukEmail:
enquiries@pennyhillpark.co.uk
Twitter:
@PennyhillPark
*Photography's with kind permission of Pennyhill Park, an Exclusive Hotel
Pennyhill Park Hotel and Spa - Surrey
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I have often wondered what it would be like to live in a stately home, in plush surroundings, embracing my inner goddess and having someone catering to my every whim. Unfortunately I wasn’t born into Royalty, I am not a celebrity and given the odds of winning the Lottery it was highly unlikely that I would ever realise this dream.
That was until I stayed at Pennyhill Park a luxury Hotel and Spa in leafy Surrey for a weekend of pure pampering, relaxation and indulgence. Leaving behind the hustle and bustle of London life and a busy working week, within 45 minutes we had arrived at our destination.
Hidden away in 120 acres of delightful Surrey parkland the main hotel is set in a beautiful sprawling ivy clad 19th century mansion that plays centre stage to housing The Latymer, The Brasserie restaurant and The Ascot Bar. I should point out that the Latymer restaurant by Michael Wignall has recently been re-awarded two Michelin stars.
The remaining buildings added in the last ten years house additional accommodation and the huge onsite adult only Spa facilities with eight indoor and outdoor heated pools and bubbling hot tubs.
...First impressions...
On arrival I see instantly what sets this hotel apart with the reception area light, grand and housing a stone fire place that I can imagine once hosted a huge roasting pig. It epitomises luxury. I am delighted to say that we were not met by the normally grumpy receptionist that we have come to know and ever so slightly dread when booking into hotels. The receptionist has a genuine warmness and enthusiasm, welcoming us to the hotel and engaging us in conversation asking about our drive and sharing information about the hotel. I am looking forward to swimming in the ballroom sized pool with underwater music and sampling some of the 34 soothing treatments on offer.
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The concierge shares the same friendliness, warmth and interest showing us to our suite, “Cactus”, housed on the first floor in the newer building. Our room is vast, tastefully decorated with large inviting armchairs and a super king size bed. The bathroom houses double sinks, a massive tiled walk in shower with massage jets, bath, bidet and toilet. If I had the luxury of space in my house this is what the bathroom would look like.
…what a treat…
I was keen to check out the spa facilities, only a short walk from our room. Walking through the grounds to the spa you can see first hand all the wonderful offerings that the outside spa has to offer with an outdoor swimming pool, hydrotherapy pools, hot tubs, drinks and barbecue area. Unlike many spas I have visited before there are ample loungers that guests can while away a few hours reading a good book.
It houses everything that you would expect from a luxury top class hotel. I really enjoyed relaxing in the sensory lounge which was so comfortable it became for me the nodding off room. The herbal steam rooms also cannot be missed, followed by a swift dip into the freezing plunge pool, there can’t be any self-doubt or hesitation here if you do, you are seriously likely to lose a couple of toes to frost bite.
There is an extensive list of treatments on offer. Facials, massages, nail bar and beauty treatments. I pick for my first treatment, the signature aromatherapy massage (£95) which manages to melt away some serious tension to ensure deep relaxation.
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The food at Pennyhill is so wonderful I have dedicated a separate blog post just to the Brasserie and Latymer.
Overall our stay at Pennyhill has been truly wonderful. With so much to do on site and such excellent cuisine, there really is no reason to leave the comforts and luxury of the grounds. I was only sad that I couldn’t stay longer. Only 45 minutes from central London, Pennyhill Park Hotel and Spa could seriously be just what everybody needs in their lives.
It is my new home away from home.
Address:
London Road
Bagshot
Surrey
GU19 5EU
+44 (0) 1276471774
Website:
www.pennyhillpark.co.ukEmail:
enquiries@pennyhillpark.co.uk
Twitter:
@PennyhillPark
*Photography's with kind permission of Pennyhill Park, an Exclusive Hotel
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