WOVEN by ADAM SMITH 1* MICHELIN

COWORTH PARK HOTEL

ASCOT

LUNCH £335.80 inc drinks

Coworth Park sits in 240 acres of Berkshire countryside which is worth god knows how many tens of millions and is owned by the Dorchester Hotel collection which is actually owned by the Brunei Investment agency or another foreign state owning another chunk of England. The main house is Georgian built around 1776 for an East India merchant and being involved in that outfit probably made a shed load of cash from slavery, opium trading, making rural poverty and famine worse on top of stealing everything they could from India plus any other form of oppression that they could probably think up and are still the baddest multi corporation that have existed on earth until the Indian uprising in the mid 1850’s, I think that was the date, but look up the company on the web for actual accuracy. Being fairly close to us we thought let’s give it a shot and not for the possibility of seeing some famous whoever which is about as interesting as paint to me or one of the Royal family which might pop down the road from Windsor for a bite. So with its location being in hooray Henry merchant banker zone the hotel not only has equestrian facilities but a polo field as well but I have no idea what the admission fee is and I also guess that like rowing at Henley most of the people watching have about as much idea as I do about the rules or game of polo.

On first view of the hotel it’s not exactly an impressive building for its time but the grounds are amazing and makes cutting the grass before going for a pint on a Sunday lunch time a once a year occasion, as for the hotel I’ve got no idea on prices, rooms or anything else as we would never stay there as it’s a quick train journey or even a taxi ride away so really no point in looking but you can find it at http://www.dorchestercollection.com

Fairly plain for its time. Golf buggies take you to various estate buildings which are now rooms.

Many years ago we had eaten in the Barn which is more like a casual bistro but this was first time in the hotel and it’s very impressive and the restaurant was just through past reception but still tucked away. The dining room was very impressive and you enter passing a wine cave area and past the cheese room which we really liked. We were seated at a small banquet which the blond loved as you could see the entire room and decor. Unlike most Michelin starred places it wasn’t full of people whispering to each other but then again it wasn’t noisy just very relaxing and comfortable until I had a gander at the wine list. Wow and I mean wow the prices are unbelievable as I saw many wine s that we have bought ok some time ago but Jesus I’m sitting on a fortune and it very quickly became obvious that we were not going to have a bottle of anything which left me thinking shit why did I come here.

Some amazing wines in here

Ditto

Perfectly stored cheese

Both of us very nearly made complete twats of ourselves as the menu started with a heading From the Pantry which to us looked like starters but they turned out to be the freebie appetisers and From the Larder was the actual starters which luckily we both chose from so avoiding the staff having a good laugh at us behind the scenes. The appetisers kicked off with a smoked piece of Mackerel in a green pepper sauce and was amazing as an opener, not so keen on the take of Coronation Chicken as would have liked a bit more seasoning. The third taster was truly brilliant finely chopped pieces of eel encased in a fine jelly which when the sauce was poured over slowly melted and all sat on a chive base which you slowly swirled around in the cup before drinking, this was pure genius in execution and flavour and I could of had a bucket load. The puréed ball of avocado with quinoa basil and a few dots of caviar could have been up there with the eel but was a little overpowered by the Yuzu. Surprisingly there was a small bread course with a smoked butter and an amazing dipping oil made of lobster and sour cherry, just bottle this and we’d buy it along with a couple of other spreads for the sourdough as well as a kind of brioche and a cheese

type of croissant. Onto actual starters and Helen headed straight for the Cornish Crab with Lemon Verbena and a Thai Green Dressing and the whole thing married perfectly and the dressing of the plate was beautiful as well, mine was Truffled Custard which sat beneath a selection of finely sliced mushrooms with onion and a goats cheese foam which somehow managed to stay the whole course and I admit that’s a first anywhere. The balance was great as the truffle wasn’t overpowering and that’s with some fresh truffle flakes on top. With this we decided on a couple of glasses of Veuve Clicquot which has improved from some years ago and a couple of glasses of Pinot from New Zealand and one from Faiveley in Burgundy at £14 and £16 each.

Loved the dining room

From the mains H chose Line Caught Sea Bass on a bed of incredibly fine slices of courgette with small blobs of smoked Anchovies circling the whole dish. I only got to mop up a little of the sauce as try this wasn’t forthcoming but it was fab with a little bit of Lemon Thyme cutting through the saltiness of the anchovy. After my starter I was having meat with drawl symptoms so obviously it was the Lamb which was described as with pine nuts, mint and Kholrabi but was much more than its description. I had three different cuts of Lamb perfectly cooked and the mint was actually in the stock which was poured over the Lamb and was amazing and I had to ask for an extra piece of bread to mop it all up. Why in gods name more people don’t do this is beyond me as if the kitchen are going to spend hours reducing and refining a sauce why in gods name are you going to leave it, this the chef mentioned when he came out to meet us, why us I have no idea maybe it was the commoner in the corner mopping up his plate that he had to see to believe. What ever came next just had to be a cheese course and we went into the cheese room to choose what we wanted and they were all great and as I said earlier perfect not semi frozen just out of a fridge I mean what makes cheese ? , bugs and milk and not some half frozen processed gloop. We shared a desert a Signature Chocolate or what some chefs we know in London called suburban chocolate but it was again fabulous just pure chocolate with some sea salt and Crème Fraiche but presented amazingly and not at all sweet as why ruin good chocolate.

This was an outstanding meal and 1 star Michelin is always the one to go for as it’s awarded pretty much solely on the cooking and boy this is worth it and some. We are returning here as we had the last of this seasons menu as it’s changing this week and after talking to the sommelier we can bring our own wine and pay corckage as long as I let him try them as well so all happy about that.

Bar area

Small private dining

Dining room