Back at the end of November we were lucky enough to stay at Ston Easton Park Hotel, near Bath. I told you last year all about the beautiful place – it almost felt like we were at Downton Abbey! Well I neglected then to tell you about the dining experience at Ston Easton, so keep reading to find out whether the food lived up to the surroundings.
The Head Chef at Ston Easton Daniel Moon cooks up a daily changing 5 course menu. Starting with a pre dinner drink in the lounge area we have a peruse of the menus and I really liked the sound of it. We were then bought the Amuse Bouche of Artichoke Veloute with Truflle Cream and Onion Seeds to enjoy before being taken through to the main dining room. It was velvety and smooth and with such a rich but delicate flavor – I could have eaten a whole vat of it.
The main dining room has low lighting, panelled walls with classical white tablecloths, period features and polite formal service to match.
Bread was one of the triumphs of the night, a selection of 4 types all warm fluffy and full of the flavours they were supposed to. nothing worse than getting a piece of flavoured bread and not being able to identify the main ingredient. A short apology here for the slight yellowness qaulity to the photos, we were in a dark corner and I don’t believe in taking my DSLR to such places so these are all iPhone :)
Next up the starter and my favorite course of the evening by far: Sautéed Scallops, Cauliflower Risotto, Samphire, Curry Oil. I don’t think I’ve eaten such a perfectly cooked risotto for a while and the flavours were outstanding. Classical combinations maybe but the preparation and textures involved were fantastic.
A papte cleanser came next before the main course – An Elderflower Sorbet with Lime Sugar. It did exactly as described. I am really loving elderflower flavours at the moment. It’s not something I’ve always liked – in fact as a child I nigh on hated it when it was forced upon me at my grandmothers house but it’s really one of those you ‘grow into’ as my mother always used to tell me. Note here mom if you’re reading, I’ve still not ‘grown into’ mushrooms or coffee!
The main course sounded really interesting on paper – Roast Breast of Creedy Carver Duck, Confit Spring Rolls, Plum, Sesame Seeds. Whilst the duck was cooked really well and the plum flavoured space was fantastic, I wasn’t a huge fan of the spring roll element which felt heavy, and this dish didn’t quite blow my mind as I thought it might, but it was still thoroughly decent cooking.
We were pretty full by this point – portion sizes were very generous but were looking forward to the indulgent sounding dessert of Dark Chocolate Torte, Coffee Ice Cream, Candied Walnuts and Caramel. Lee adored this dessert, particular the ice cream but the sweet toasty walnuts really made it for me.
We then collapsed back in the lounge in front of the fire for coffee, after dinner drinks and few tasty petit fours.
The dining experience at Ston Easton is lovely – we were made to feel valued and special by all the staff. The food was of a high standard, completely living up to the rest of the hotel. So if you want a fine dining experience with all the attention to detail and classical elegance that is associated with this and to feel you really have stepped into a Jane Austen novel – this is the place for you!
