The Dining Room can be found located inside the beautiful Chewton Glen. This is the hotel’s fine dining restaurant, headed up by Executive Head Chef Luke Matthews. This restaurant really is a celebration of British cuisine, served in the most sophisticated of surroundings; and what is truly special about this place is that most of the ingredients used in their dishes have travelled less than 100 yards from their own kitchen garden.
When we arrived, we were greeted and shown to our table. To begin our evening, we chose to sample a glass each of the Taittinger Reserve Rosé whilst browsing the menu. It provided the perfect aperitif in this wonderful setting, and we could not wait for our food to arrive.
To start our meal, I chose the Chesil Smokery oak-smoked salmon served with crème fraiche and chives. The smoked salmon was so delicate and the texture was just to dine for. My partner chose the pressing of duck liver served with golden raisins, walnuts and apple. The presentation of this dish can only be described as a work of art, the flavours were outstanding.
“What is truly special about this place is that most of the ingredients used in their dishes have travelled less than 100 yards from their own kitchen garden.”
For our main courses, we decided to share the chateaubriand for two. The beef is sourced from Donald Russel and is dry aged for a minimum of 28 days, making it extremely flavoursome. It came served with fresh kale, which was an absolute delight and complemented the meat perfectly. We also opted for the green peppercorn sauce which was as rich, creamy and peppery as we had imagined, and also a side of the mashed bintje potatoes, which come highly recommended by us.
After much deliberation, for our desserts I decided upon the roast pear sable Breton, served with New Forest cider sorbet, and my partner opted for the selection of ice cream, which included clotted cream, bitter caramel and Tahitian vanilla. The desserts were every bit as indulgent as we could have hoped for, and rounded off our evening delightfully.
On looking at the wine list, we knew immediately which wine we would choose to accompany our meal. Having visited this wine producer some years ago, we thought we ought to order a bottle of their 2011 Conti di San Bonifacio, Monteregio di Massa Marittima, Tuscany, Italy - which certainly didn’t disappoint.
We had a fantastic evening at The Dining Room. This restaurant comes highly recommended by us as a fantastic fine dining option in Hampshire.
The Bill: £64 per head
