The Setai Hotel is renowned for it’s pools, bars and restaurants. With a number of dining options outside of the hotel, it’s wonderful to see these points of focus combined to create a unique and innovative experience.
We decided to sample The Restaurants tasting menu with wine pairing. This began with a Japanese inspired dish, egg custard served with asparagus, mushrooms, tofu and yuzu zest. This was also accompanied with a glass of Jummai-ginjo, Huchu Homare, Ibaraki. The dish itself was obviously in keeping with its origins. All ingredients tasted fresh and were combined to create an authentic Japanese style dish.
Our next course was truffle dumplings served with steamed scallops and a cream emulsion. A French inspired dish, this course was very delicate and the subtle flavours were beautifully balanced. The dish was also very well matched with a glass of Sancerre Henri Bougeois, Loire Valley, France, 2011.
The next course was a wonderful combination of both French and Japanese influences. Based around homemade fois gras, the dish was served as a terrine layered with caramelised eel. This dish was very innovative and paired nicely with an El Maestro Sierra from Spain.
“A unique and innovative dining experience.”
The fourth course was a dish of Chinese barbeque pork belly served with carrot ginger mousseline and spiced peaches. The pork belly was particularly enjoyable and cooked until beautifully tender. This dish was served with a glass of Barbera d’Alba, Italy, 2011.
The next course was Miso black cod, served with a daikon consommé with togarashi. This extremely Japanese style dish also featured a French twist and created a refined but innovative light dish between meat courses. This dish was served with a glass of Chardonnat, Hartford Court, California, 2011.
The next meat course was a 10oz portion of grilled Waygu beef served with soy and virgin olive oil gravy and tomatoes stuffed with herbs. This dish also featured a touch of Japanese influence and the beef was very well accompanied by the unusual soy and olive oil gravy. The high quality of the meat was clear through the effective cooking and the paired glass of Cinsault-Carignane, france, 2009.
Following our large number of main dishes we were presented with our first dessert. This was named the nut cap cocktail and featured pecan infused with Bailey’s, almonds and rum foam. Very exotic but creamy, this was a warm and welcome transition from the savoury dishes and was extremely delicious.
The dessert dish was an Appleton baba rum, which included whipped cream and ice cream with Tahitian bourbon vanilla bean, served with a glass of Bual, Rare Wine Co, Madeira, Portugal. Simple but elegant, this dish impressed us through it’s high quality and extremely tasty ingredients. The flavour of the vanilla bean was particularly impressive.
Finally, we indulged in Caribbean chocolate and raspberry sorbet. Extremely full from our large meal, we were pleased to finish with such a light but equally impressive sorbet dish. Each sorbet was full of flavour and perfectly mirrored its inspiration. The perfect way to round off a wonderful meal.
The Bill: £200 per head
