Amazing dinner at Stoke Place - 7th of September 2013

I love booking country house hotels for a weekend away now and again.. the English countryside is so beautiful and there are so many tempting hotels around England with easy access from London.
One of my favorites is Stoke Place in Stoke Pogues which is a leisurely 45 min drive from central London.. perfect for a weekend away.

We have been coming here once a year for the last 3 years, i always snap up the offers they have when i can.. and this time it was a 1 night stay that included a room upgrade, a bottle of champagne, 3 course dinner, breakfast and late check out - all this for a great rate!

One of my favorite things about Stoke Place is the food at dinner.. AMAZING. I actually can't believe that they haven't been awarded a michelin star as yet.. it is definately on par if not better than many of the awarded restaurants in London.

In our offer we had a 3 course meal from the a la carte included.. this is what i had.

Amuse bouche 1: A beautiful Tomato gazpacho foam with a red pepper crisp - lovely and light

Amuse bouche 2:Apple and Fennel salad with star anise and apple sorbet and a dill crisp. This was absolutely amazing - sweet but savoury and the same time - perfect palate cleanser.

Starter: Seared scallops, scallop tartare, charred cauliflower and peanut puree, mooli, wasabi sphere.
Beautifully seared scallops that went so well with the puree and got a kick from the wasabi. The tartare was fresh and beautiful - left me wanting more :-) The presentation itself was a work of art!

Main: Wild Sea bass, vanilla and corn puree, crayfish, samphire, purple potato

Again, lovely flavours.. i was sceptical about the vanilla in the puree but it was just a hint of vanilla which worked really well. The fish was beautiful and moist and i loved the samphire with it. The only thing that was a bit tasteless was the purple potato - they looked amazing but the flavor was a bit hard and floury.

 

 

Pre-dessert: Compressed watermelon, verjus sorbet, lychee and chili cloud.

Great little pre-dessert with refreshing watermelon and the verjus sorbet was tart and fruity.

 

Dessert: Dark chocolate and olive oil tart, brandy cherries, pistachio ice cream and cherry jelly

The cherries were replaced by berries since they were out of season (shame - i LOVE cherries) but nevermind - the chocolate was smooth and dark and the ice cream creamy and lovely and the little candied pistachios crunchy and sweet.

 

I can't recommend this restaurant enough.. i would happily come back every month if i could :-)