Welsh rare bit

[ean.craigie]

As part of my Christmas/anniversary present we spent 2 days at the Marriot run St Pierre Golf course and leisure club near Chepstow in Monmouthshire in the UK. The complex lies in St Pierre Park just over the old Severn Bridge. While I went for the golf I definitely would go back for the food.

I should apologize at this point for the lack of photos and more detailed notes but the Cusine took both my wife and myself by surprise. The hotel is an 14th century manor house preceded by a small church, which is still in use. Surrounded by the two golf courses the hotel is set in a park setting with accommodation in the form of rooms in the original courtyard, in a more modern extension and in chalet buildings facing onto the original park lake, frozen as it turned out. The accommodation was fair, our room facing onto the lake, was very cold when we arrived, but comfortable although with curiously small beds.

The hotel boasts two restaurants, Morgans, which is the fine dining and breakfast room and Zest which is a curious though successful blend of bar, coffee shop and restaurant.

Morgans, run by Chef Matt Carr who I had not heard of before, is approached through the older part of the building. We had sherry, it was that cold, by the fire in one of the reception rooms, the other was a dark but comfortable wood paneled study lounge, Amontillado not the requested Oloroso, but warming none the less, not a night for Champagne. The menus are bought for consideration by an attentive staff.

The restaurant has a comfortable ambiance, Sue was distracted by the carpet, overlooking the 18th hole of one course and a mature copse which is well lit in the evening. The tables are slightly small, not enough to bother, but noticeable and well enough separated that one can talk to the next table but not be bothered by the conversations around. Service was good, following Marriots standard practice the servers were all from one of their Mumbai properties on exchange for an unclear period. While willing and not intrusive they lacked the experience expected, more on this later. Silver and glass had been hand cleaned, something good to see.

The menu, to see the full menu go to http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/hotel-inf...d-country-club/, was an interesting blend of local Welsh dishes and more conventional international fare, I selected the Welsh Cawl followed by Morgans Seafood Pie while Sue selected the Wild Mushroom Ravioli to be followed by the Roast Pork Fillet with Sage. For wine I selected an Australian Chardonnay Pinot Gris blend, did not note the vineyard sorry, mainly as I had never seen it before but do trust Pinot Gris. Both starters were well presented although Sue felt the ravioli could have been served more promptly, while ravioli can be wet this was well cooked although as noted slightly under temperature and presentation was not quite there. The Cawl is a lamb and vegetable soup and was beautifully done, the risk is always that the lamb will overpower the vegetable and produce a fatty taste, none of that here, the pastry cover was superb and the dish delightful.

The mains were interesting, I am not a great lover of lavabread as it can overpower, not in this case. There could have been more seafood in the dish but what there was was full of flavor, the individual components could be easily tasted but in particular the shellfish was prepared perfectly. Roast pork is in our opinion the true test of a chef, all to easily under or over cooked this was spot on. Lastly the vegetables, I could go on forever listing meals that have been let down by the vegetables over or under cooked, with the pie the carrot and mange tout were perfectly cooked while the pork potatoes and string beans where again spot on.

None of your Novelle Cuisine here while the presentation on all dishes was with the exception noted above good the portions were of a size that enables one to actually enjoy the meal instead of planning how to be able to taste the wine and yet have some food left.

All of the dishes showed a Chef that understood his ingredients, was using a maximum of local fresh produce and was running an efficient kitchen with some flair and heart. It was a pity we would not get through to the waiter that we wished to speak to the Chef.

The wine lasted well through what was a complex meal, Sue felt that later in the meal it seemed sweet, for me it just held both nose and palate all the way on through.

Desert was interesting. Sue had the cheese and was well satisfied, the choice was regional and well presented with good sized portions, The bread and butter pudding that was my choice was a mixed bag, the custard was excellent the pudding itself good but the topping ice cream had been added at the last moment and was to hard to enjoy with the pudding when I could not get my spoon through it.

The lack of desert wine was also troubling, my first two choices were not in stock, and we will draw a veil over my attempts to get a glass of port, as I said to Sue so close to a really great meal only to be let down at the last hurdle, sorry but to be answered what year the port is by Bristol Cream is not a good thing.

Coffee and petit fours by the fire in the company of four other diners ended what was a good evening that could have been great.

Breakfast next morning was buffet in Morgans, a good spread of traditional English and Welsh with rabbit food for those who feel this way, problem was the usual with breakfast buffets nothing is really hot enough.

Lunch and dinner were in Zest.

Nothing to be said about lunch, I had just played 18 holes of golf and been snowed and sleeted on and to be told that the first two choices were not available said that at least the food is freshly prepared but no burgers says the Sous Chef did not really care.

Dinner was better, we had tried the crab cakes the previous afternoon in the room, well served as we were some distance from the kitchen at it was really cold outside but the dishes arrived at a good temperature.

In the evening I had the wild mushrooms on Toast followed by the Spit Roasted Pork Loin while Sue had the better of it with Hot Smoked Salmon followed by Haddock the wine was a run of the mill Italian Pinot Grio, yes I do seem to go to the Pinot a lot but it works well with just about anything and if I cannot see anything interesting at a reasonable price its my fall back. Sues Salmon was excellent although why we had to order bread as a side dish was not clear. The salmon was thick cut wild and gorgeous, while my wild mushrooms on toast suffered from the usual problem I have with this dish there is never never enough.

The pork was as Sue had the night before on a bed of vegetables that were probable to much in content but again well prepared. The haddock was excellent. The service was possible better here only to be put off by the sight of the Sous Chef coming and going between orders at least six time walking through the restaurant.

I would recommend the entire experience having gone for the golf and stayed for the food which was a pleasant surprise. As noted above I had not heard of the Chef before more probable my ignorance more than his fame but I would predict a great future for him if this was anything to go by. I would recommend staying Friday and Saturday nights rather than the Saturday and Sunday we stayed simple to be able to eat at Morgans both nights. Oh and have the carte breakfast as we did on the last day, then the temperature problems are resolved.

Next time I will go for the food and the golf will be an amusing aside.