Hambleton Hall

Michelin star rated country England.

Food

I don’t know if it was because we arrived so early, but we actually got some canapés while we were waiting in the sitting room. Not outstanding, they included goats cheese puff ball, shrimp toast, salmon sandwich, but not bad for while we were waiting.

We decided on the £65 set menu. Our meal proper started with an amuse bouche of Tarragon foam, which really told me what the rest of the meal was going to be like. Each course was presented like art on a plate, and the taste did not disappoint either, although there was a fondness for that trend of making everything into foam. It was all very fussy and structured.

The meal proper consisted of:

• Assiette of Tomato - had tomato foam, tomato terrain with olive and basil, tomato soup with dried tomato, and tomato tart with goats cheese. My favourite was the tart. Great pastry and goats cheese!!
• Mosaic of Chicken, Foie Gras & Veal Sweetbreads with Apple & Blackberry Compote - definitely the highlight. It looked spectacular, and the foie gras really tied this dish together.
• Pan-Fried Fish with Dried Tomato Sauce - ok seafood, superb sauce
• Beef with Potato and Tomato Cubes - nice and succulent
• Assiette of Hambleton’s Desserts - we had passionfruit soufflé (quite nice), toffee with raspberry sorbet and brandy cream (creamy), chocolate tuile with mango sorbet (very sinful), apple slice with apple sorbet (very tart but refreshing), Custard Tart (can't remember!), Champagne jelly (extremely alcoholic, good quality champagne), orange mousse with popping lollies (really really fun, it keeps popping in your mouth, and tasty too!)
• Coffee & Tea - The only disappointment for the night really. A "cappuccino" is white coffee with foam on top, and lemon ginger tea turned out to be water infused with a piece of ginger. Needless to say, both were better left alone.
• Petits Fours - Pistachio macaroon, white chocolate with raspberry, chocolate truffle, passionfruit macaroon, liquorice chocolate, white chocolate and dark chocolate, all very nicely executed, if a bit sweet.

Rating - 8

Atmosphere

Hambleton Hall is an exclusive estate, set on …. You certainly feel special and exclusive, although we were no way dressed up for it, in our travel clothes and muddy shoes. We arrived much earlier than anticipated, as the traffic was good and Slokky was speeding the whole way. We were able to come and shelter from the cold in a very inviting room with a real fireplace and lots of reading material. We enjoyed a drink and relaxed on the comfy chairs while we waited for our table. We actually ordered in the comfort of this room, and were presented with some canapés (which I don’t think anyone else got).

After they were ready, we were called into a small salon room – decked out in gold and red motif, with only 4 tables. White tablecloth, fine china, silver trays for everything, and plush red chairs were standard. Everything is of the hush hush English stiff upper lip variety, so we really felt like we didn’t belong. In fact, every time I laughed I felt I was being rude.

Rating - 3

Service

For a long time we had 2 waiters all to ourselves, so one waiter each to deliver our dishes at the same time. The waiters have obviously been trained to the highest level, and they cater to all your needs, like one of the people sitting behind us actually wanted his steak cooked well instead of medium as advised (I still don’t understand why people come to Michelin starred restaurant and want their steaks murdered…but that’s another story).

The head waiter was extremely efficient and friendly, and the sommelier pretty good too, but I chose not to have any wine on this occasion as I was nursing a cold. There was a lot of wait staff for the number of diners.

Rating - 5

C-factor

Yes, it is expensive, but you are paying for the experience. For the amount of wait staff that served us, the effort that went into the execution, and the prices of the UK, the price is right on. And service charge is already factored into the price and not an added extra, so you don’t get any surprises at the end. They actually charge you a reasonable price for water too!

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 17

Info

Hambleton Hall
Hambleton, Oakham
LE15 8TH
Phone +44 (0) 1572 756 991
Website