Love is... fine dining (From Swindon Advertiser)

Love is... fine dining

12:36pm Thursday 29th July 2010 in

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IT was the night of the World Cup Final and everyone else on earth was guzzling beer in front of a TV screen.

My husband, however, gallantly agreed to forgo the football to have dinner with his wife. Well . . . to have dinner in a Michelin-starred restaurant with his wife. I’m not sure I would have been a big enough distraction on my own.

After all, it’s not every night you get the chance to eat in one of the finest restaurants the country has to offer, one of just 26 to win a star in the latest edition of the Michelin Guide.

Evidently, plenty of other people felt the same. The restaurant at The Lords of the Manor hotel is fairly intimate, but on a Sunday night, with such a big game on TV, I fully expected us to be one of the only couples eating there.

In fact, the restaurant gradually filled up during the evening, until virtually every table was taken. It seems that executive chef Matt Weedon was a bigger draw than Villa or Van Persie.

We chose to spoil ourselves and indulge in the seven-course tasting menu, each course matched with its ideal wine.

Our concerns that the restaurant would be stuffy were quickly dispelled when the sommelier introduced himself and announced that, in honour of the World Cup, our wines for the night would go head-to-head in a European battle. “One of your will ’ave ze French wine, and one will ’ave ze Italian,” he said in his thick French accent. “I’m sorry, but it was impossible for me to find anything from ze Netherlands....”

What followed was one exquisite dish after another, complimented by exquisite wines. Particular highlights for my husband were the wood pigeon starter with beetroot sorbet, which he is still talking about now, and the roast chicken with sage and onion he chose for his main course.

I loved the fish course of Cornish turbot and Scottish langoustine sitting on its mushroom risotto, but for me the best came last in a dessert of kalamansi (lime) souffle with lime tea mousse and pina colada ice cream.

The sommelier paraded bottle after bottle of wine in front of us (we only had a small glass of each, honest!), and while I am no wine connoisseur, I can vouch for his matching skills. The Kir Royal Hibiscus – champagne with hibiscus cordial – which we drank through a straw, was a masterstroke. Five courses in, it was the perfect pick-me-up to have with our pre-dessert in preparation for the sweet feast that was to come.

This is a place you’d go to as a real treat. Our seven-course menu was £69 a head without wine, while the three-course a la carte menu costs £59 a head. An intermediate cheese course can be added for £9 a head and petits fours and coffee are £4.75.

But if it’s good enough to drag my husband away from the football, it’s pretty good indeed . . . even if he did discreetly ask our waitress to find out the final score.