Brooklands Brasserie, Surrey Review

Brooklands Brasserie is set inside the impressive 4-star Brooklands Hotel in Surrey. The hotel itself is a chic, modern building that looks as good inside as it does outside.

The furnishings and design of the Brooklands Brasserie tries hard to reflect the character of the hotel, but have not quite managed to follow through. Despite best efforts, there is a feeling of “corporate” about it. That’s fine for when you’re entertaining clients, just not really conducive to dining as a couple or group.

The brasserie it Italian, staffed by Italians, which makes a nice change. It’s refreshing to hear the menu recited without that laboured pronunciation. It makes the whole experience that little bit more authentic.

Our dinner began with a dish of freshly baked bread which were very enjoyable. It wasn’t just white or brown, but a nice selection of olive bread and onion bread served lukewarm.

For starter, we ate Brooklands Caprese di bufala, which was buffalo mozzarella with avodacdo tomatoes and Italian dressing. We also had risotto con funghi di bosco e dragoncello, which was a firled mushroom ristotto with tarragon.

Both starters were light and well dressed. The mozzarella was light and very fresh. The risotto had that comforting earthy taste that only mushrooms can provide, and was perfectly cooked.

"Brooklands Brasserie, staffed by Italians serving great, authentic food."

Our main course consisted of petto di pollo farcito at Taleggio e prosciutto di Parma, which is chickren breast filled with Taleggio cheese and Parma ham. We also had tagliata di manzo con rucola e scaglie di Parmagiano, which was beef fillet served with balsamic vinegar, rocket and parmesan shavings. We also had sides of sautéed potatoes and spinach.

The chicken was moist and well-seasoned and went really well with the cheese and ham. What could have been a pub-grub main course was lifted by the Italian attention to detail. The beef fillet was again, perfectly cooked, the right shade of pink in the middle. It was juicy, rich and went well with the vinegar.

The food was very enjoyable overall, the only fault was the side of spinach and Mediterranean vegetables were covered in sea salt which spoiled the dish somewhat. Other than that, the experience was spot on.