To my pleasant surprise the meal started with canapés which were two crusades with smoked potato, parmesan and sage.  These were a very welcome sight and the combination were always going to be fine and held good parmesan flavour, but sadly the crusades themselves were not as crisp as can be and were thicker and more chewy than when at their best.

The menu also offers a range of snacks / nibbles for £6.50 each which is also another pleasant addition to have whilst awaiting the a la carte orders.  I chose the fish and chips option (a form of brandade with caviar on top) and mushroom parcel with chive as a toasted snack and were both enjoyable bites.   Another nice surprise was an amuse bouche of tomato consommé, crème fraiche sea herbs which was a light and refreshing introduction course.  Complimentary milk bread with herb butter was another nice touch. 

The starters chosen were salmon and spinach tortellini.  The Potted Loch Duart Salmon was from salt rivers and served with caper relish, lemon and fennel pollen and was well presented.  My spinach tortellini was showered in winter truffle shavings and served with walnut, ricotta and lemon.  The latter was very good, with nicely done pasta and an extremely powerful winter truffle from Italy that frankly blew the aroma off various truffles I have come across in some top restaurants, so I was delighted with how soon after being picked this one was.

The mains consisted of pork and cod.  The pork was braised pork collar, served with potato rosti, watercress and onion chutney and my dining companion reported tender pork with its supporting elements working with the pork well.  My Skrei Cod, was served with a parsley mash and English asparagus.  Whilst the asparagus may have been a touch early in the season and a tad bland as a result, the fish was cooked very well and the sauce was well judged to accompany.  The sides of chips came with a smoked rapeseed mayonnaise and I like the addition of onion fries on top of the creamed spinach and garlic.

Full stomachs at the end of a very full meal meant that dessert wasn’t necessary, but the white chocolate truffles and citrus jelly petit fours were just the ticket for something sweet to accompany the splendid Difference coffee that was on offer – and chosen (double espresso of the entry level Yellow Bourbon, which is still leagues ahead of most coffees for a slight increase of average consumer price).

I very much enjoyed this lunch in the charming, homely feel that it was, ably delivered by our restaurant manager host.  I would definitely recommend a visit in to here if you are headed to Beaconsfield and I predict that even the set menu here will be a fulsome lunch with good options to choose from, with very welcome add ons included for your time there.

Food Grade: 67%

Solstice opened in 2021, rebranded from its former incarnation of being ‘Kenny’s cafe’ on the decision of Kenny Atkinson to make it a continuum and next chapter of House of Tides. By all accounts this was a serious menu and the details of my menu experienced are as follows:  

SMOKED EEL – this was a brandade, with crème fraiche, smoked eel, compressed granny apple and N25 hybrid caviar, served chicken skin crackers. This had a beautiful balance of the salt from the eel and caviar combined with the softening creme fraiche and acidity of the gel.   

BEETROOT – a crusade with chewy beetroot cooked in salt crust for 4-5 hours and seasoned with diced, dehydrated beetroot (having cooked in beef fat), cumin, elderberry pickled from last year, horseradish creme fraiche, carroway, and lightly pickled beetroot. This was good, with a chewy, salty texture and lovely crunch of the crustade. 

DUCK – chicken liver parfait with Pedro Ximanez sherry, pain d’epiese, fermented plum, dill and fresh flowers served in a spring roll pastry, parcel.  This was frankly outstanding – the perfect texture of the parfait also had real liver depth and was balanced with the supporting plum and dill gave the sweet and lightness it needed, all combined in the beautifully brittle pastry for texture – wonderfully enjoyable.

PORK – this course consisted of two elements, a dumpling and a broth.  The dumpling, pork shoulder, was made with dashi, cooked in pork fat, black bean paste, ginger,  pickled daicon, yuzu ponzu and trout roe – a lot of elements and a nice result with a very light batter and softened pork flavour.  The broth of pork collar was made with shiitake mushrooms, ceps, ginger seasoned with ponzu and miso oil. This was a very dark broth and quite salty.

LOBSTER – cooked in its own oil and served with sancho pepper, fresh red currents, yuzu gel, yuzu caramel, yuzu butter cream sauce and lobster head oil on top. Although the lobster piece was only just warm, the small piece had good sweetness and texture and overall lovely combinations of cream and citrus combined.

SASHIMI – a ‘palate cleanser’ which came with sea bass, cured in sake brine, rolled in black radish, blanched, finger lime, dill and ponzu, aged mirin, infused with shiitake and kombu, seasoned with bergamot, zest and toasted sesame oil.  This was aromatic to the last, complex and light. All the aramats worked well together and was good to have some vegetables in the mix for the meal.  

PARMESAN – a cheese mousse from 35 day macadamia nuts, glazed with Lea & Perrin sauce, gold dust, truffle, Parmesan sauce and South of France truffles from truffle company Wiltshire truffles.  This was absolutely delightful. I was grinning as a genuine dopamine moment from the first moment of this course.  Overall it had the perfect seasoning in amongst the aerated cheese with the truffle and  – beautifully done, showing real skill.

CATCH OF THE DAY – Monkfish from Hodgson Fish of Cornwall was dry-aged for texture, served with melody blossom, apple marigold and a smoked creamed sauce using Craster kippers. This was probably one of the best Monkfish I have ever had (they can so often be too chewy, but this was perfectly supple and smokey in flavour with amazing sauces, all washed down with a wonderful Riesling whilst listening to Simply Red For your Babies playing as the restaurant music in the background – I was utterly happy in this moment with everything.

SQUAB PIGEON – from Anjou, near Lyon.  The pigeon breast was served with a cherry glaze, cherry juice, miso, sake, sugar, seasoned with pink peppercorn, salt baked celeriac, topped with puree of celeriac, yeast, black garlic, cherry gel, butterfly sorrel and parsley.  The sauce was made using the carcasses of the pigeon wings and chicken with Madeira wine, chopped truffle, Parker house brioche brushed with chicken fat.  The pigeon was absolutely spot on with a lovely, deep sauce that had a delightful hint of aniseed touch in the sauce.  Beautifully made milk bread was provided to soak up all of the sauce possible and this was used to the maximum level possible. 

PEAR – a picturesque pre-dessert of goats yoghurt and goats milk crémeux came with horseradish jam, mashed pears, pear sorbet and a tuille (from pear pulp) with a final drizzle of pear and sage juice with sage oil. This was refreshing and lovely. Done. 

HONEY – the main dessert was a celebration of honey from the Northumberland Honey Company made from heather honey, parfait bergamot, fresh bee pollen, ice cream from grain.  The honey parfait was delicious with good texture and the ice cream with a pleasantly contrasting (nutty) toasted cereal flavour.  It was in effect an absolute showcase of honey as a dessert and one of the best honey desserts I’ve ever had. 

An array of petit fours was presented with coffee.  A cranberry tart crémeux with cinnamon, orange, cranberry gel, mascarpone; Granny Smith Apple financier creme patissiere  (lovely apple crumble feel to it); Manjeri chocolate with 64% cacao (not overly bitter, and nicely smoked sea salt complement); blood orange pate de fruit (fruit paste), infused blood orange, cardamon, Madagascan pepper (very good mix of spice and sweetness) and finally a tonca bean petit four of single origin Manjari 70% Valrhona chocolate, filled with tamarind gel and chilli ganache with chilli coconut – once again, very good handling of spice, heat and sweetness.

This was a very impressive menu and the consistency I enjoyed that pretty much every single course had a degree of freshness in amongst the sometimes complex mix of elements without confusing the overall result.  The atmosphere of the restaurant was charming with the lovely touch of the kitchen team bringing out and explaining the dishes themselves.  There is real care and pride in the work here and rightly so.  I thought this was Kenny Atkinson at his absolute best and certainly the most intricate and impressive menu I have enjoyed of his yet. I will wager that Solstice is very much the flagship beacon of the brand now, even if it is a more recent addition.

I have yet to have a bad meal in any way on any of my visits to Kenny Atkinson’s venues – they have strong consistency and based on this meal, Solstice is highly recommended as a result.

Food Grade: 87%

A series of well-prepared canapés began the meal.  ‘Uncle Juan’s rosti’ came with  sour cream & pickled onions and was a superb start. Next, for the meat eaters, ham, egg & Berkswell crumpet (just the egg for the vegetarian version) which was appealing, followed by an Oxtail & Thyme custard, bone marrow cordyceps and tarragon bite (minus the beef elements for the vegetarian option) – all fine.

The amuse bouche was Umbellifers (flowers) cooked in allium broth with ricotta, thyme and ramson (a form of wild garlic flower); this was deep and beautifully done.  Home made bread and whipped, salted butter were very well done.  Onion, onion, onion, mint was the name of the next course that comprised of onions cooked in dashi and celery, served with ricotta, onion crisp, thyme leaves and oxalis petals.

The first of the mains were corn fed roasted crown of chicken served with a herb rosti, honey glazed alliums, smoked aubergine and a white onion puree.  This included thyme, tarragon, pickled carrot, sour cream and ramson oil for the chicken and the seabass pescatarian version.  The sauces for these had good depth and worked with both dishes with another superb rosti to go with the mains.

The dessert was a delight and reminded me of Norwegian Rødgrød – a sweet composite of plum and damson served with goat’s milk, marigold oil, brown butter/sugar crunch on top.  Some at the table felt this was too sweet, but I thought fine when balanced with the goats milk and loved the texture of the butter and sugar crunch.  There will have one or two calories in this dish for sure, but I thought very good.

Redbank coffee was served with petit fours of buttermilk custard madeleines, sea buckthorn pastiles and chocolate grenache, all of which were good.  It completed a meal that was satisfying, clean cut and well presented.  The next time I am passing I will be delighted to come back in and try a freshly made sausage roll from Kevin Tickle’s team with a beer in their pub area – for around £10, I predict that will be one of the best purchases available.

Food Grade: 81%

Scott Paton moved to Boringdon Hall in 2016 having moved from the Horn of Plenty in Tavistock.  He oversaw the transition in 2018 of Àclèaf taking over the former Gallery restaurant and has thankfully managed to survive the significant turmoil since 2020.  The meal started with three intricate canapes with well crafted home made breads and butters.  The Iberian charcuterie had a deep, smokey flavour with good salt content; the mini celeriac pickle tart held superb pastry and pleasing Japanese pear, hazelnut pickled celeriac and truffle oil and the mini black pudding beignet was warming.  Home made  baguette and brown breads came with salted butter from Normandy and a wonderfully judged goats milk butter with truffle honey on top, proving a very good combination.  Goat’s milk is not to everyone’s palette, but when balanced like this (i.e. made less potent but still with inherent flavour), it shows a high, quality skill level.

Whilst we’re on this, I actually enjoy the canapes and breads probably the most in all my meals as it can very often serve as a very good indicator for the quality line and calibre of the restaurant – if the effort is there to make the ‘smaller’ things wonderful, it shows a very good advertisement to how much care goes in to the main elements and therefore the meal as a whole. As an aside, it was also gratifying to see Gusbourne served by the glass on the wine list as well (one of the more punchy of English Sparkling wines I have enjoyed visiting in Kent).

My starter choice was the chicken liver parfait.  This was gorgeously smooth and had a wonderful touch with the Pedro Ximénez and equally well-done brioche to accompany.  Next was the very pretty crab dish from a large, 2kg Red King crab served with a curry emulsion.  This was fabulous – excellent, sweet white crab with garden herbs,  absolutely fresh, a lovely combination with just the right amount of curry.  I upgraded my main to the Highland wagyu which was another, very good dish.  The Highland beef rump was braised with hen of woods mushroom beef jus, served with celeriac fondant and puree with ox tongue bone marrow.  There was rich intensity here without being too much and was a strong main. 

Pre-dessert was creative.  At the beginning of the meal I was asked to simply nominate my preferences on a cryptic piece of paper showing different shapes and colours – I felt like I was about to enter the eating phase of Squid Game.  What it was actually used for was to decide which type of pre-dessert I had a subconscious bias towards; turns out my opted colours and shapes were aligned most to the sharper based lemon-based optiont.  This was good news for me as the whole point of a pre-dessert is to serve as a palette cleanse from savoury to sweet and lemon handled correctly, does this probably better than anything.  A lemon mousse, lemon posset and lemon curd pre-dessert was nicely balanced (not too sharp), visually pleasing and just the right portion size.

My actual dessert was the duck egg brûlée, the eggs coming from the local Newlands farm.  Duck egg is underused in my opinion and wonderfully rich so careful treatment is required – thankfully this was done yet again. Cinnamon cream, dusted puff pastry, French financiers, cranberry compote with cranberry ice cream all came together beautifully, the cranberry cutting through the rich egg perfectly and this was frankly a stunning dessert. Handmade petit fours were served in the hidden bar for a change of scene to finish and included tonka bean with cherry glaze, Mirabelle plum and single origin chocolate which were all good.

There was virtually nothing I didn’t enjoy about this meal and it is amazing what happens sometimes when one moves further out of London, you can find some lovely gems.  I would definitely say this is one of them.

Food Grade: 85%

The meal started with a series of canapés including crab tacos with mayonnaise and Granny Smith apple and pale ale crustades with a delightful Berkswell cheese and onion ketchup inside.  Whilst the sourdough was more brown breadlike in its boule form, it was a good vehicle for the sensational butter that was subsequently hoovered up very quickly.

The table tried as many dishes as possible.  First up on the starters was Chalk Stream trout, golden beetroot tartare with an elderflower and sour cream on top which was a great, new combination not had before and worked very well.  The Devon smoked eel and tenderstem broccoli had a delightfully light preserved lemon foam around and the eel held a very good balance of saltiness.  

The aged striploin tartare was another very good starter served with red pepper, orange and a glorious pine nut oil with a few pine nuts as well; this was a brilliant version of tartare for flavour combinations and nicely diced.  Monkfish came with cocoa pod glaze, a lovely Jamón butter sauce and maitake mushroom – the Monkfish itself was cooked perfectly with a lovely, crisp exterior.  In short I thought all starters were actually all knock out and a very good intro to the meal.  An interlude course of Sea bass came with a smoked Espelette butter sauce and cocoa bean cassoulet which was very enjoyable, with quite a strong kick of espellette for two of the diners; perhaps if this was toned down even more it may be even more of a delicate dish.

The mains chosen were very tender Iberico pressa, artichoke, king oyster mushroom.  The meat was melt in the mouth and the accompanying jus was deep and rich. Guinea hen, with thin and crispy skin, parsnip, black truffle likewise came with a superb jus that made the dish.  Hereford cote de boeuf for two, came with a Béarnaise sauce, oak leaf and Lollo Rosso salad which was a very welcome bit of veg that was also a lovely salad with dill and garlic cream and dried onion sprinkled on top.  The beef itself didn’t create fireworks in comparison to other cuts enjoyed at other options experienced at places such as Smith and Wollensky or The Cut at 45 Park Lane, but was cooked perfectly and came with a very generous helping of béarnaise.  All was served with boulangère potatoes to share which is always a lovely touch for a table and looked very pretty.  No skimming on the portion size here and the caramelised onions provided much sweetness.  

The desserts were a pleasant mix. Coffee and Manjari delice with macadamia and coffee liqueur was a creative dish with snow-like textures.  I thought the miso and brown sugar brulee was sensational made with mandarin and excellent gingerbread pieces.  The custard was beautifully set with delicate sugar roof and a wonderful flavour combination with the miso and the lightly gingered bread pieces.  The Colston Bassett, Pink Lady apple tarte tatin with lemon verbena was a fun dish to combine blue cheese with a dessert albeit being a little out of kilter.  Cheese will always be good with a selection of sweet chutneys, fruit or sauterne jelly, so no issues with the two being together, but it was a little unclear whether they were to be combined fully or had separately (the blue cheese being quite overpowering for the available sweet) however, it was a fun and new dish. 

Petit fours included passion fruit and misu macron along with hazelnut and chocolate chocolates.  Such is the family orientated homeliness of Hampton Manor, we were ushered to having these by the fire in the main Manor drawing room which is also where we enjoyed a lovely welcome glass of sparkling wine when we arrived for staying over.  This is such a simple and effective touch.  Smoke is a short walk away from the Manor House, as is Grace and Favour, the latter having its own accommodation.

All in all, Smoke is a lovely and originally rustic restaurant with some quality dishes.  I would recommend staying over at Hampton Manor if you are driving a distance to get to the restaurant as this is likewise a lovely place to stay as well – a spot of electric charging wouldn’t go a miss for a 5 star hotel, but then again I would say this driving one! I will be very happy to come back and try Smoke again in a different season.

Food Grade: 74%

The liver parfait had good liver flavour and held together well, but slightly course to what I was expecting and not quite the silky smooth liver parfait that can be seen at The Fordwich Arms or The Bridge Arms by Daniel Smith.  The Prawn cocktail had Marie Rose sauce that was a little too thin and watery for my preference and I do believe could have been heightened with some more imagination and perhaps better prawns as well.

The Pasta meatballs were flavoured well with good spice content, but the pasta arrived a little cold which was noticed by the younger diners who also gave a resounding thumbs up to the Chicken salad in its refreshingly different way to have in breadcrumb form with nicely, tender chicken and superb, freshly made sour dough croutons. Ultimately it was a good Caesar dish with restrained levels of the dressing.  The steak was a welcome dish, nice and tender and with a superb peppercorn sauce that was not too wildly peppery and watery as it can be at so many venues.

The dessert of Apple & Raspberry Crumble was ok, but sadly the crumble was quite dry and powdery and did not have the glory of the buttery, cooked crumble that is its whole point.  The filling was quite tart as well so personally I would try and soften that however possible, but all was aided by the vanilla ice cream melting in to it to assist with the filling. The custard was pleasing, but a little generic and ‘out of the packet’ perhaps.  The Ice creams were not the greatest in general, but the strawberry was reportedly very good.

Breakfast included a lovely sour dough, avocado, egg and bacon choice with lovely mustard dressing drizzle. The pancakes were also very good.  Continental offerings were provided to the other guests and presented outside their room in bags as the other option. I would strongly recommend dropping by and / or staying here if visiting Gusbourne Vineyard but also popping in if nearby even if not staying, at the very least for a drink on the marvellous terrace area outside.  If the kitchen had a little more polish on the areas mentioned above (which will be fairly straightforward to bolster), this will be one of the nicest gems in Kent.

Food Grade: 59%

The meal started with sweet and sour pickled summer vegetables to nibble on which arrived with the starters (it would have been better to chomp on whilst waiting), but made for good snacks. The first starter was house cured duck bresaola, with tempura oyster mushrooms, puffed glass noodles, gooseberry and ginger chutney which was a well-constructed dish and reportedly very good by my dining companion. I opted for the recommended pan roasted Norfolk pigeon with beetroot, braised buckwheat, salted blackberries, pear and walnuts.  Sadly the pigeon itself was overcooked, slightly tough and dry which was a shame as even in its overdone state it had inherent flavour, so served more pink I’m sure this would have been very good. I felt the dish would have also benefitted from slightly less buckwheat, but the pear and berries gave it the acidic relief it needed.

For my main I opted for the also recommended pan-roasted Pollock with saffron confit potatoes, smoked fennel, lemon feta, courgettes and herb sauce which was genuinely good. The feta worked very well with the butter sauce with good, natural seasoning for the wonderfully cooked pollock.  The other main opted for was the 80z Rump steak, Portobello mushroom shwarma. Greek herb salted beef dripping hand cut chips, rosemary and lemon aioli smoked cherry tomatoes which proved to be likewise pleasing in quality.

I would definitely recommend popping in to this pub if in north Norfolk as the setting inside and outside is a picturesque gem at the very least. I was pleasantly surprised at the menu and offerings as a relatively unknown area and pub location.

Food Grade: 66%

First up, the interior is a converted pub in tasteful and very homely decor.  On entering, my group felt right at home, the feel was utterly unpretentious and I was delighted to discover it is a husband and wife team (Tim in the kitchen literally on his own with Kitchen Porter assistant) and his wife on front of house and in the restaurant.  Amazingly, they were able to accommodate my group of 8 guests after the British Open being held in Liverpool for 2023.

The set lunch meal was a staggering £45 per head for this special, no choice menu for this size of group, but the normal menu is still an incredible £42.50 for 3 courses.  This is frankly outstanding value for money when having food of the quality.  When I return (which I am already planning), I will definitely be staying over somewhere so that I/we can enjoy the full tasting menu at £95.

Our meal started with some of the best focaccia I have ever had in my life and dare I say, I think it even may be a fraction better than the beloved Sportsman, in its outstanding lightness and crust appeal made with its own butter.  Next came a construction of tomatoes with tomato consommé with yuzu sourdough, Parmesan and Iberica ham.  The consommé was utterly transparent, light, with good flavour to compliment the  sumptuous, peeled tomatoes and the lightly cooked sour dough had the perfect crunch (not too oily) with befitting parmesan and ham to accompany all.  Cornish cod was next which came with aerated eel dashi, horseradish, a lovely, smoked Pike roe and nori seaweed.  This all came together beautifully, the roe not too salty, the dish again light in feel and went down extremely quickly.

The meat here comes from the nearby Butcher Fowl Emporium and the meat dish was a maple toffee pork with English peas, truffle ‘snow’ and puffed potatoes.  Delicate is not the word.  The whole table was again blown away how the wonderful pork had been cooked and balanced with the maple sweetness which was not too sticky or sweet as can very often be the case, but at the perfect level.  My group of Singaporean dining companions are somewhat used to meat with an Asian twist, to the extent that anything less than excellent is immediately picked up on – the entire table gave this dish a resounding thumbs up on its handling and wonderful flavour (as did I, especially the sublime texture of the pork) which is probably the biggest compliment to gain from the tough dining crowd.

Cumbrian Duck came with fermented cherries, Scottish girolles, green pepper and sweetcorn.  I was initially concerned about the use of sweetcorn as can sometimes be almost too sweet when combined with other sweet aspects, but again, the fermented cherry had toned this down and the portion size of sweetcorn and all to accompany the superb duck was just right.  Another, carefully conceived and executed dish, gaining empty plates across the board.

The dessert was a triumph.  Lemken Strawberries were served with a vanilla ‘fresher’, garden lemon verbena and meringue shards that resembled the delicacy of my dessert at 3 Michelin starred Zen in Singapore.  This was perfectly light, sweet, refreshing and gorgeous in one.  In a final twist, as the chef knew that we had been enjoying the golf at the British open, the lemon verbena soft cream sphere was presented as a golf ball in a lovely touch for the group. A stunning dessert.

If that wasn’t enough, I was delighted to see that coffee was sourced from Difference coffee, one of the finest coffee producers in the world that only supply their coffee to chosen venues (the Yellow Bourbon being wonderfully full in body but lightly citrusy at the same time) and was the perfect finish with chocolate truffles that were pure velvet inside.  The conclusion was that everyone was sated yet not bloated and frankly, there was nothing that everyone did not enjoy – a huge hit rate.

As mentioned, I cannot speak more highly of this venue and for all the reasons above it is my firm recommendation that you try this venue if you are passing through anywhere near Liverpool or the surrounding counties.  This was the best meal from Tim Allen I have had to date, is easily one of the strongest 1 Michelin starred venues I have enjoyed.  I am frankly excited for the potential of where this could go.

Food Grade: 86%