Hambleton Hall is located just outside the very beautiful and old town Oakham in the Rutland district of the central midlands of England.
Originally built as a hunting lodge for a wealthy man it went into disrepair over the years and was purchased in the 1970s by the couple who have made it into one of the most beautiful and simple retreats that belong to the Relais et Chateaux group. Chef Aaron Patterson has earned a Michelin star here making this a definitely 1st choice overnight stay for anyone heading from North to South or vice a versa.
You were welcomed into the bar or drawing room before dinner starts and offered a multiple choice of cocktails along with some small hor's d'oevres.
As is typical with English country houses you then get to peruse the menu and order before you were escorted into the dining room; I also consulted with the sommelier, as we were not driving anywhere and could enjoy both a bottle of white and red wine.
There a tasting menus and 3 course and 4 course menus and many options to choose from and the menu changes on a daily basis.
We ordered a Saint Peray 2106 Biousse from Yves Cuilleron, whom I had the pleasure of meeting some 20 years ago and is one of my favorite wine makers in the Rhone Valley. It's a delicious creamy terroir driven 100% Marsanne wine that goes superbly with so many things.
Spelt, Beer, and Brown and White sourdough bread arrived with creamy rich butter as we enjoyed our amuse of Cauliflower with granola which was really a warm puree of Cauliflower glistened with truffle oil and touched with unsweetened granola and puffed wild rice along with pumpkin seeds.
Will and Sam started with the black Winter truffle Risotto which disappeared in seconds, while I savored my multi-faceted Mosaic Terrine of Sweetbreads, Chicken, Foie gras Quince fruit and gelee and puree as well as Blackberries. It was amazing with the Marsanne.
Samuel enjoyed a second course of Spicy Israeli Couscous which came from the full vegetarian tasting menu but was substituted for the fish course on the main menu. Will and I adored the fresh Poached Fillet of Brill Nicoise with Quail's Egg, Sauce Vierge(tomato based), white anchovy and sea asparagus. Many delicious vegetables accompanied the dish, but we could never figure out what was inside the deep fried tempura may be a string bean?
We moved on to our red wine which was a 2007 La Rioja Alta Gran reserva 904 which was in amazing form after aging for 11 years. We've had this wine before but I can't recall drinking one aged so well.
Samuel and I both enjoyed the amazing and unfortunately way too big portion of moist Roast Pheasant with sweetcorn Risotto, Japanese artichokes both sliced and fried as well as a Madeira sauce with a hint of cherry. Puffed rice and grilled corn accompanied the dish as well as what is known is sea rosemary. Will was equally happy with his short rib of beef which had been cooked for 30 hours and served with smoked potato puree and red wine sauce although he asked for them to please keep the horse radish off the plate...how un-English.
While we had seen the cheese tray go by and literally lost our minds over the gorgeous cheeses, we decided that we all needed to share one dessert so Sam chose the Prune and our Armagnac souffle with Prune and Armagnac ice cream which was the perfect finale to art amazing evening here.
Service was top notch from start to finish but extra kudos go to Laura who was an amazing server and so totally kind and friendly. When we found out she was from Barcelona we immediately told her of our favorite restaurant there.
Because we were only here one night we were not really able to enjoy the walking paths and hiking around the beautiful man made Lake which surrounds the entire peninsula that the mansion house is on. I guess this means will have to go back when the weather is better!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
