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Lewtrenchard Manor Tel 01566 783222
I have to say that the weather was totally
against us when we went off the much longed for outing to Lewtrenchard
Manor, and I
think that this may have clouded my opinion of it. Apart from a couple of
minutes when we parked the car, and I quickly snatched the
chance to take a picture, the weather was grey and uninspiring.....
and I wasn't at all surprised when I got home to see that the photos do
not
do it justice. For the Jacobean manor house is quite
staggeringly wonderful. The grounds, the building with it's
wonderful ceilings, the gallery
on the first floor, leaded windows, mullions and giant settees in the
entrance hall all bump up the wow factor in spades.
Disappointing then to be met with only a lukewarm greeting from a young
girl, dressed for the part, but without any enthusiasm.
She would do well to step through the doors of Gidleigh Park Hotel to see
how it should be done. After taking our drinks order, Rob, June,
Kenneth
and I were treated to a small handful of home made yummy paper thin crisps with spicy
olives, and then the girl came back with a
pad to take our
order.
The menu did not specify what the meat in the cassoulet was, so I asked her
if it might be chicken ?
She did not know, and said that
she would
have to go and ask chef...... ...... Then she carried on looking at
me as though I could still let her
know my choice... so I suggested
very
sweetly, that she could perhaps go
and ask the chef then.... Cassoulet can be made from a range of
meats, in
fact Delia makes a poor man's cassoulet
with just sausages, and Rick
Stein's recipe is for belly pork and sausages..... anyway,
she came back
and told us that it was with duck which is
not my favourite, so I opted
for
cod as my mains, with a terrine of venison for starters...
Not long
to wait before we were asked to come to the dining room.
What a gloomy room on this dark day.
I imagine that in the Summer guests
are only too glad to face the cool of the inner courtyard, but
today the only thing that added colour was a giant tin of 'Wessex'
vegetable oil standing outside of the kitchen door and staring me in the
face.
The gracious arches on the opposite side were boarded up
with terracotta painted sheets. The wooden panels in the dining room
are truly beautiful
but on such a winter's day, the room felt gloomy indeed. 2 ladies
were our only luncheon companions. Sadly we had chosen the wrong
day.
As soon as we were seated we were offered some wonderful home made bread rolls,
multi-seed, tomato, and I think that the third was plain...
very tasty
indeed and gone by the time that the starters had arrived, which is a
shame because the terrine of venison was absolutely heavenly. Gamey
and
just the right texture. A generous chunk, it was served surrounded by
lettuce leaves, but no thin toast or crackers, which would
have been nice.
No lemon either...am I being too fussy ?
Three of us had chosen the venison, and we all gave it 10 out of 10 ....
Kenneth and June enjoyed their guinea fowl on a risotto as their main
course, and Rob was happy with his Sea Bass, but my cod in batter
was
decidedly uninspiring with some second rate bits of broccolli on top of it
and a cold whipped pea puree, more grey than green on the plate.
June and I chose not to take a dessert course, but Kenneth raved about the
almond tart with (I think)apple sorbet. I had a spoonful to taste,
and yes it was delicious Robert had a good selection of cheeses, good
crackers and red grapes on his giant cheese plate, so June and I both
had
a crackerful to finish off our meals, but we all took exception to one cheese on
the plate ...."Little Stinky" should be rechristened
"Much Stinky" It absolutely reeked.
But the other 5 samples were eaten with relish.
Our coffee was served to us back in the superb hall by a toasty log fire. The menu
proclaimed Coffee and petit fours £2.50 per head, and
as the girl
served it I pointed out that just 6 petit fours meant that we would be
squabbling as to who should go without.
She looked at me to check if
I was being serious, and at £10 for one pot of coffee with one small
jugful of cold milk...
I'm afraid I asked her to fetch another couple so
that we could have 2 each. They were well worth the fuss... home made
goodies...
especially the fudge. We poured our own coffees and June told us that she thought that the Manor
was still in possession of a piano that
her family had asked the Manor to have on extended loan. Thinking
that it might still be housed in the upstairs gallery, we asked the girl
who was sitting at the desk and who took our payment. Yes, we would
be most welcome to have a look up in the gallery, she told us that there
were 2
there, 'by all means do go up'. This girl and her lovely
manners saved the day. Kenneth had a play on the piano when it was
discovered, and
on coming downstairs she said that she had heard Kenneth playing, and gave
flattering comments.
When June enquired about the bedrooms, she, her name we learnt was Sharon,
happily obliged us with a quick look around several of the
bedrooms, making sure that we knew all there was to know about any breaks
on offer. She it was, who apologised for the building work
that was underway, inviting us to come again on a Summer's day, looking
out on the website for likely dates when a jazz band will be playing.
She also told us that the chef/patron was not at home today .......
..... I really think, we had better give it another try... the building is
stunning and I suspect that it is capable of a better report.
You might like to know that the hotel offers Winter Warmer Afternoon
Teas until the end of December at what it says is
fantastic value - £20
per couple.
Perhaps if we're quick we might give it a go. Oh hang on a
minute... the offer for a 'fabulous
afternoon tea' in January is
£12.50 per couple.
Maybe we will wait a couple of weeks or so.... I'll let you know if
we tried it !!
The lunch menu offers 2 courses at £15 per head and 3 courses for £18 |