Chewton Glen is one of our favourite hotels and has been for many years, and the latest culinary addition is The Kitchen. The Kitchen is in fact a James Martin restaurant and cookery school, it offers a very well-designed, casual restaurant with an intriguing menu on offer.
To begin our experience, we both enjoyed a glass of Taittinger, Brut Reserve, which we sipped whilst we made our menu choices. To start, I chose the Winchester watercress and home-smoked chicken, served with Blue Vinny cheese, asparagus, seven seeds and nuts. The textures of this dish were superb, and the smoked chicken was incredibly flavoursome. My partner chose a starter sized portion of the Thai crab risotto, which was absolutely delicious – the crab was so fresh and its flavour was wonderfully complemented by the subtle spices.
“Chewton Glen have done a wonderful job in opening a restaurant to suit a wide audience, whilst still retaining the elegance that it synonymous with the brand.”
For our main courses, I chose another salad, this time with chargrilled tiger prawns and kohlrabi, celeriac, dulse, ginger and spring onions. The textures again were wonderful and the presentation and colours of this dish were simply divine. My partner opted for the Creedy Carver chicken breast which was served with English feta and Dorset black garlic, served on a sesame bun with pickles, Asian slaw and rustic chips. We also enjoyed a side of their CC Garden courgette fries.
We decided to pass on dessert on this occasion and instead thoroughly enjoyed a couple of their pink gin and tonics, which sees a combination of Pothecary Gin, Peychaud and Elderflower Tonic, garnished with lime. This was an absolutely delicious and surprisingly fruity end to our meal, which provided the ideal finishing touch.
All-in-all we were very impressed with The Kitchen, and would certainly look to return. Chewton Glen have done a wonderful job in opening a restaurant to suit a wide audience, whilst still retaining the elegance that it synonymous with the brand. The staff were fantastic – attentive yet non-intrusive - and this restaurant comes highly recommended by us as a great informal dining option.
The Bill: £54 per head
