Lambourn Road
Woodspeen
Newbury RG20 8BN
One Star Michelin
£180.40 per couple inc 3 bottles wine + £209 Canapés for 6 people and 1 bottle Ruinart Blanc de Blanc.
This was our first evening meal out since Christmas Eve and we were all hoping for a dry night as it was obviously outside and we had been warned that it could be called off as weather reports were a bit iffy. We have been quite a few times here and it has always been pretty good but have never eaten outside even in the summer. The terrace had been covered completely so unless we had a howling gale it looked as though we could all stay dry. We were seated right next to a patio heater of which there were only two, both at opposite ends of the terrace so people in the centre had no warmth at all. Neither did we for that matter and we were sat right next to one, I guess the problem was that it was more for the aesthetics as they were the posh looking ones with the glass tube showing the flame, honestly thought it was just a red piece of tissue paper flapping around as we couldn’t feel even the remotest degree of heat.
Still while the sun was still up (6.45pm) a jumper and sweatshirt was enough. Onto the QR code menu and attention was straight onto the scallops and pork belly as a starter and then a fixation on the loin of pork, so pork on pork.
Service was quick and efficient and all starters appeared promptly and as usual I can only comment on what I ate. Three scallops were excellently cooked and was I thought a generous portion as normally one is all you get in a Michelin establishment, the belly pork cubes were crispy outside and soft inside with the fat rendered down perfectly. No complaints here at all. The main was not as good. The pork loin though was well cooked and not dried out which many places find difficult, but the disappointment was the piece of belly pork as it didn’t exactly look the part. It looked like it had been run over by a steam roller and was like two thin sliced rectangles bearing no resemblance to said offering at all. In fact the whole dish was pretty boring with a bit of extra charge broccoli not exactly beefing up expectations this was backed up by my respective other half who had the same. After the starters it was a big let down and we would have been better off with two starters.
The sun had now disappeared and it was now turning into al fresco dining at the ice hotel or something akin to the series Terror minus the polar bear, what idiot ordered cheese and a desert. It really is no fault of the restaurant as the weather is what it is but the bloody patio heaters were failing completely and the table on the other side of us were there shivering and they arrived after us and hadn’t yet eaten. Our Burgundy was also beginning to get slightly chilled and there was no need for the water to be kept chilled artificially.
To cap it all the staff are great, starters were excellent and main course poor. If this was our first time here I’m not sure I would be back, but after what every restaurant has been through and the effort they put in to make us as comfortable as possible plus you’ve got no idea if the full kitchen is back to a full compliment or not we were just happy to be there.
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