We spent the weekend here The Old Rectory in Torver Nr Coniston staying with Elizabeth & Mitchell the best hosts in the whole world....we had an amazing weekend. There was 16 in our party and the first night we had dinner in the Old Rectory. On Saturday night we ate at a restaurant in near by Cartmell...but more about that another time.

The menu on Friday night was absolute perfect...now I'm a fussy diner, things that other diners wouldn't even notice puts me off the whole experience!!! But everything was amazing!!

The starter was a wonderful spinach and watercress soup, served piping hot. A1

The main course was a very tender braised lamb served with celeriac souffle (the absolute best!) and a trio of green vegetables which consisted of the greenest spring cabbage with just the right amount of crunch, buttered leeks that melted in the mouth and baked baby courgettes with thyme. We scoffed the lot deee-lish-us!! Portions were perfect!

I didn't really want a dessert, as I was so full up. I opted for a small taste of the rhubarb & Mascarpone dessert, it was very tasty with poached fruit topped with a mascarpone cream and sprinkled with crystallized ginger. It was a refreshing dessert but unfortunately it didn't go with my red wine, which by the way, was just the house red but a brilliant bottle of wine! so I opted to finish the wine instead of the dessert (now there's a first!!!) The cheese LOOKED amazing...3 pieces of very good quality cheese with celery sticks. It was the talk of the meal as over half of the diners had chosen this...that's what I'm having next time!!!

A choice of coffees and squares of dark dark chocolate were served in the lounge...I couldn't fault anything...the staff were lovely, dinning room was comfortable, everything was just right!

Elizabeth & Paul Mitchell are very special hosts, if you are looking for somewhere to stay in the lakes, I'd defiantly recommend staying with them, nothing was too much trouble.

The New Inn for Lunch

The New Inn

The New Inn is situated in the heart of the city of Gloucester and has been welcoming travellers since 1455. It is Britain’s oldest galleried inn. The Inn was originally built as a Pilgrims Inn to house visitors to the shrine of King Edward II in St Peters Abbey. After falling into disrepair The Inn was re-built by Abbot John Twining in 1455 (hence the title “The New Inn”)In 1539 the inn was known to be the largest hostelry in the county and an impressive collection of Knights, Lords & Yeomen lodged at the inn. Chapman Hotels bought the New Inn in 2000 and set about a sympathetic restoration & refurbishment of the New Inn. Today they provided me with my lunch!
We were very early diners; it was a toss up between cake and coffee for a very late eleven-zies or a midday lunch…we opted for the latter. It was FIL’s choice; he and MIL used to go there regularly in the late 80’s early 90’s. We were first in the dining room and they were so pleased that it was just the same as it has always been. It was clean and well decorated in the style it had always been in an old coach house sort of way. I bet the tourists love it!!!

The Food: I had a Prawn and king prawn salad with new potatoes a round of bread and Thousad Island dressing and a glass of sparkling mineral water. My in-laws had scampi and chips with a vodka and tonic; we finished with latte coffees
The Good: Attentive friendly staff & the atmosphere, even though it only had a couple of tables occupied.

The Bad: There wasn’t one…the bill was a reasonable £36

The Ugly: The glass light shades which weren’t in keeping with the décor…but hey they were at the side of the dinning room and it didn’t spoil our meal!

I bet this place is great at night when full of diners. With the décor and the history I bet it feels like it did all those years ago…filled with noise and food. I’m going back soon!

Saturday Night at the Hatton Court Hotel

Here again! Hatton court hotel

This time to celebrate with our friends. Their 40th birthday, 15th Wedding Anniversary and our special Christmas gift.

The Good – as usual the atmosphere, the quality of the food, the elegant dining room

The Bad – The waiter who tried to hurry us off to the lounge to have our coffees, when asked if he wanted the table his reply was “Yes I want to reset it for breakfast…it was only 10:30pm!!!

The ugly – we had to come back and sit at our dirty table as there was no room in the lounge!!!!
The table for two at the side of us was VERY close, but as the couple didn’t speak to each other AT ALL and were only there for a maximum of 30 minutes it didn’t really matter in the end!

We ate
ø Confit of Belly Pork with a Black Pudding Salad
ø Traditional Smoked Salmon, Capers, Shallot and Lemon
ø Warm Goats Cheese Salad with Baby Beets and Crostini
ø Tomato and Mozzarella Tart with a Basil Dressing

ø Duck breast on a rosti with Savoy cabbage and bacon
ø Sirloin Steak with a green peppercorn sauce, fondant potatoes and seasonal vegetables
ø Lamb shanks with roast vegetables and a white wine jus

ø Pear and Almond tart with Crème Anglaise
ø Mulled berry crème brulee
ø Chocolate Brownie served with raspberry couli

We drank
ø VERAMONTE SAUVIGNON BLANC 2004. CHILE
ø VERAMONTE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2001, MAIPO VALLEY. CHILE

A sad occasion - Hotel De La Bere

Hotel de la Bere

Today I had a buffet lunch at the De la Bere hotel in Prestbury. It was after the funeral of an old family friend and sad occasion aside, the hotel was a marvel of old stone, carved panelling and heraldic stained glass windows. We were in the great hall; the history of the place is amazing. It is a 15th Century Tudor manor house which stands in its own wonderful grounds. It was a dark, dreary and drizzly day [funerals usually are] so the views were seriously compromised but I’m sure they would be spectacular on a mid summers day.
The staff were all courteous, professional and well turned out. The buffet lunch was of a high standard and well presented. The ambiance of the room helped to ease the mourners into a cosy comfortable gathering.

A family Sunday Lunch for 26 at Hatton Court Hotel

Hatton Court

On the 9th December we all gathered in the bar of this eminently comfortable hotel. We had booked a private dining room to celebrate my father-in-laws 80th Birthday.
The hotel is tucked away on the edge of the Cotswolds and is slowly becoming a favourite in our house. I have been here on several occasions, and just pulling up in the car park brings back so many wonderful memories.
On this occasion I chose:-

Deep Fried Tomato Risotto Balls, Rocket and Balsamic Mayonnaise
Chicken Saltimbocca with Parmentiere Potatoes and Braised Red Cabbage *
Warm Chocolate Brownie with Raspberry Sauce *
Tiramisu
Coffee and Mints


The dinning room is elegant warm with friendly and efficient staff. One of them was obviously under 18 as he was unable to serve us with alcohol but was polite and helpful at all times. The food as always was prepared with care and the menu choices were more than sufficient for the 26 people who were invited.
My choices were tasty, of good size and thoroughly enjoyable…except that is, for the dessert. I had originally ordered the tiramisu which turned out to be all I thought it would be…yum...unfortunately my youngest daughter had ordered the brownies which unbeknown to her had walnuts in….which she is allergic to…guess who ended up with the brownies? They were over cooked, dry and pretty tasteless unless you smothered them with the raspberry sauce they came with but I didn’t complain as everything else was spot on.
We all had a fantastic time and will defiantly go there again for our large family gatherings, they coped with the large number wonderfully…most other places struggle to seat us on one table and serve us all together (the stories I could tell you). All this for £14.95 per person plus £95 for the private room hire, it was worth every penny.

The wines we chose were
MERLOT CABERNET DEL VENETO2003, ITALY at £14.25

SAUVIGNON BLANC 2002. RAOUL JOHNSON, BORDEAUX at £16.50

A big thank you goes out to Debbie Green who worked closely with me to organise the occassion with as little fuss as possible.