Newly awarded Michelin starred restaurant (2018 guide) within a Dorchester owned hotel outside Ascot

Coworth Park is a grand-looking hotel and and an obviously good choice to stay, particularly if you need lodgings either side of the races at Ascot. As a superb bonus, the main dining room has now been awarded with a Michelin star and adds to the collection of the newbies for 2018. Chef Adam Smith has certainly got a stylishly good looking series of dishes on his menu and the bottom line is that these were also executed very well and packed a very good balance of flavour. The £75 for the three course a la carte is quite a bit above the average, but I would rather pay this and get the guarantee of the quality than a lower stakes gamble. I look forward to the excuse of coming back to do the full works with wine next time as this is a marker in the sand for future reference.

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Bread here was home made sour dough and to a good standard. The amuse bouche included a black pillow with goats cheese and a roe mousse which were light and punchy at same time. Potato with caviar was superb – perfect saltiness, and the truffle potato was likewise delightful (including a dash of dash underneath). This was a commanding start and a very good sign of what was to come.

A taste of caviar tart with beautifully soft creme fraiche and perfect melon balls was a luxurious tart if ever there was one and with pastry served cold to not affect the crab. There was no doubt about this signature sample being something worthy of being show-cased. Duck liver parfait had a good crunch on skin, with the inner not too loose and held together by a delicate crisp with ginger, almond purée and muscat gel. This was perfectly luxurious and I doubt anyone would be unhappy with this.

Lobster with champagne and lobster sauce was very good and the artichoke purée was superb. The only aspect of this that I didn’t enjoy was the sheer toughness of the artichoke crisp. Texture was necessary, but I question whether this has to be almost as per the toughness of a concrete slab.

Vanilla and toast ice cream had, toasted flakes on caramel with orange mousse. This had great originality and was quite sweet at the same time and was an awesome take on breakfast. Thankfully the bergamot was toned down which to me was a blessing as it is not my most favourite of flavours. The hazelnut and malt ice cream was superb with slimy smooth chocolate, a good base and malt ice cream in caramel cigar that was frankly superb. This dessert was among the best I have had with such carefully balanced sweetened flavours and I would say this wouldn’t be out of place in any 2 Michelin starred restaurant (and some with three!).

This really was a beautifully done meal – not only was the presentation elegant, the command of flavours was on the money the whole way through. I’m very pleased this has been added to the Michelin starred family and if it has been like this for a while, one could question why the hell it wasn’t added before.

Food Grade: 86%