20th January 2012 I went there for the first time the other night to celebrate my wife's birthday. From the moment we arrived I could see this was a fine dining restaurant with a difference - a large 'Tudor' style house converted-restaurant nested amongst beautiful surroundings, overlooking the Avon river. From the moment we walked in we were greeted and seated practically straight away. The restaurant is beautifully laid out. The service was exceptional. Our waiter was pleasant and very helpful. The food is pricey, but somewhat expected given the formal surroundings and the high quality chefs they employ - there were a number of fine dining awards proudly hung on the wall. The restaurant's signature dishes are the beef and lamb, so I decided to order a 3 course meal with Canterbury Beef medium-rare for the main. The beef was cooked nicely, although cooked a little longer than I preferred (more like medium than medium-rare). Also, it wasn't as nicely seared on the outside as I had hoped. And the amount of food on the plates throughout the courses were smaller than expected - no doubt with an intentional emphasis on quality and plating finesse (typical of fine dining) rather than just mere quantity. However, even after completing a 3 course meal I was still surprised to feel a little hungry. While the quality of food was good, I have to admit that I've had even better from a restaurant of similar calibre, thus I've deducted a star. But the restaurant and food is definitely good enough to warrant many more visits in the near future.
20th January 2012 I went there for the first time the other night to celebrate my wife's birthday. From the moment we arrived I could see this was a fine dining restaurant with a difference - a large 'Tudor' style house converted-restaurant nested amongst beautiful surroundings, overlooking the Avon river. From the moment we walked in we were greeted and seated practically straight away. The restaurant is beautifully laid out. The service was exceptional. Our waiter was pleasant and very helpful. The food is pricey, but somewhat expected given the formal surroundings and the high quality chefs they employ - there were a number of fine dining awards proudly hung on the wall. The restaurant's signature dishes are the beef and lamb, so I decided to order a 3 course meal with Canterbury Beef medium-rare for the main. The beef was cooked nicely, although cooked a little longer than I preferred (more like medium than medium-rare). Also, it wasn't as nicely seared on the outside as I had hoped. And the amount of food on the plates throughout the courses were smaller than expected - no doubt with an intentional emphasis on quality and plating finesse (typical of fine dining) rather than just mere quantity. However, even after completing a 3 course meal I was still surprised to feel a little hungry. While the quality of food was good, I have to admit that I've had even better from a restaurant of similar calibre, thus I've deducted a star. But the restaurant and food is definitely good enough to warrant many more visits in the near future.
I went there for the first time the other night to celebrate my wife's birthday. From the moment we arrived I could see this was a fine dining restaurant with a difference - a large 'Tudor' style house converted-restaurant nested amongst beautiful surroundings, overlooking the Avon river. From the moment we walked in we were greeted and seated practically straight away. The restaurant is beautifully laid out. The service was exceptional. Our waiter was pleasant and very helpful. The food is pricey, but somewhat expected given the formal surroundings and the high quality chefs they employ - there were a number of fine dining awards proudly hung on the wall. The restaurant's signature dishes are the beef and lamb, so I decided to order a 3 course meal with Canterbury Beef medium-rare for the main. The beef was cooked nicely, although cooked a little longer than I preferred (more like medium than medium-rare). Also, it wasn't as nicely seared on the outside as I had hoped. And the amount of food on the plates throughout the courses were smaller than expected - no doubt with an intentional emphasis on quality and plating finesse (typical of fine dining) rather than just mere quantity. However, even after completing a 3 course meal I was still surprised to feel a little hungry. While the quality of food was good, I have to admit that I've had even better from a restaurant of similar calibre, thus I've deducted a star. But the restaurant and food is definitely good enough to warrant many more visits in the near future.