Hartwell House

[Pam Brunning]

Has anyone eaten at Hartwell House recently. I have heard their young chef Daniel Richardson is good. Any comments?

[Pam Brunning]

Has anyone eaten at Hartwell House recently. I have heard their young chef Daniel Richardson is good. Any comments?

←

Well thanks to all those that looked at this post. All 200 of you!!

I can now report that despite no other interest in the place we have now been.

I did ring with the idea of booking on Monday evening but the young lady on reception said they had very few booking for lunch next day so I decided not to bother.

I don’t like booking on a first visit, it makes life easer if we don’t like the look of the menu or the place and decide to walk out!

Arriving at 12 o’clock at this palatial pile in the Buckinghamshire countryside the maitre d apologised profusely and explained that they were full. He then suggested we go and sit in the library and study the menu and they would set up another table for us. I had visions of a dark corner but no, there are no dark corners in this beautiful restaurant. The other half decided to go for Head Chef Daniel Richardson's special seasonal 3 -course set lunch with coffee & Hartwell fudge for £19.95 per person including service. I decided to go for a selection from the standard lunch menu - 2 courses at £22.95, 3 courses at £29.95 including coffee & Hartwell fudge and service.

We were glad we stayed. Canapés were a very thin roll of chorizo filled with a cream cheese and small squares of ham galantine. My lunch was excellent, my galantine of rabbit set with what tasted like a Sauterne jelly was a good balance of flavours. Rump of lamb was cooked just as requested medium rare and served with a red wine jus and very good roasted vegetables - they even managed to get the aubergine right, it still had some bite and was not soggy with fat. My chocolate dome was superb, a dark rich chocolate case under which was a rich soft, melt in the mouth consistency, mousse matched well with a lightly flavoured mint ice cream. Strong coffee and Hartwell fudge was good. The bread was also good.

My other half was not so lucky with the spring set lunch. His courgette flower stuffed with salmon mousse looked a picture but he thought the mouse was rather dry and the sauce was too acidic with lemon despite the accompanying finely diced carrot. His main course was his best, a moist, flavoursome chicken breast with fondant potatoes and baby vegetables and plenty of good sauce. Why must they all do it? Chef hasn’t learnt that Tarte Titan is best made with a short pastry that stays crisp and caramelises around the edges with the fruit juices. In this one the plumbs in it were sour and the puff pastry was soggy and tough.

We drank a bottle of New Zealand Crossroads Gewürztraminer 2005 - the best Gewurzt I have had from outside Alsace.

Obviously it is worth paying that bit extra for the main menu. At least you can see what you are paying for in a place like this. A stunning, well maintained house and park with a beautifully appointed dining room and extremely attentive staff. It was pleasing to see so many men fittingly dressed for such gracious surroundings. There were only two scruffy ones lacking jacket and tie despite their partners being smartly dressed.

You could pay a lot more in one of the grotty gastropubs for the pleasure of eating off the table with no cloth or side plates. Bring back elegant dining!

[nikkib]

slightly flabbergatsed they have a vegetarian dish with QUORN in it on the menu for £19.50 - i'm not even veggie but WOW is that lazy!

[Harters]

It was pleasing to see so many men fittingly dressed for such gracious surroundings. There were only two scruffy ones lacking jacket and tie despite their partners being smartly dressed.

Priceless. Thanks for one of the best chuckles I've had whilst a member here.

John