Gazpacho Gazpacho

A refreshing cold soup with ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions, olive oil, and vinegar, perfect for a light summer appetizer.

The Swan At Chapel Down

The Swan At Chapel Down

Chapel Down Winery, Small Hythe Road, TN30 7NG, Ashford, United Kingdom

Soup • Cafés • British • European


"It's difficult to beat The Swan for setting in amongst the vines of Chapel Down in a very picturesque part of the Kent countryside. The room has a great vibe trendy but not overly so, great background music. The food is very good not a great selection for Sunday lunch 3 courses for £25.50) but good enough. Starters were tiny , mains very good, puddings ok. Decent wine line with some great whites from Chapel Down to choose from. What let it down for us was the service. I arrived 5 mins before our booking time to check to see if we could be seated a slightly grumpy youthful waitress ignored me twice until I asked if we could be seated. Once seated we were asked if we wanted water for the table. We did. The waitress disappeared and re appeared about 10 minutes later with the water and took off again before we could order drinks. More waiting until I waved over another waitress and asked if we could order drinks. Once ordered, another 10 minutes or so for the drinks to be brought and again the waitress disappeared so when we were ready to order food there was much looking for and finally beckoning someone to come and take the food order. We had booked a late sitting for lunch 2pm and the room was less than half full, so it wasn't as if they were run off their feet. A good 15 minute wait for the food to arrive no problems with that; food has to be assembled in the kitchen. A 12.5% service charge was added to our bill in our case, about £15.00 which seemed excessive for the lack of speed and care. We will be back to The Swan and hopefully the service will have improved ."

Worton Organic Garden

Worton Organic Garden

Worton, Near Cassington, Cherwell, United Kingdom

Vegan • Coffee • Ice Cream • Vegetarian


"What a unique and wonderful sensory experience, a hidden gem! Fabulous garden, fresh 3 course late lunch for two on Friday 2nd August. The passion and love for their ingredients was self evident but to be clear this place is big on “character” and “slow food”, the antithesis of modern chain restaurants and more authentic and in stark contrast to the more formulaic and manicured “farmshop garden centre” restaurants typical of the area. It’s like eating in someone’s private kitchen garden or giant allotment. Talk about field to plate provenance, ingredients don’t get fresher than this! We were fortunate to visit on a warm summer afternoon and our table for two, shaded by parasol and fruit trees, was alfresco rambling kitchen garden summer perfection. Other tables for 2, 4 and 6 are spaced so far apart around the restaurant sheds and out into the abundant gardens that we didn’t notice half of them until we explored later. For seating at other times of year there appeared to be rustic tables in two parts of the shed and one high ceilinged greenhouse. The menu is short and, as advertised, seasonal. To start we shared decadent pork crackling with a mirabelle chutney and beautifully sweet tomatoes in a caprese like salad. For our mains we chose the house mezze principally homemade babaganoush (fabulous), hummus, tomatillo salad with crusty white house baked ciabatta style bread and then whole mackerel (bbq chard) and beetroot. It was a crime not to try more than one of the three fabulous looking puddings something chocolate, an amazing sounding cheesecake and a mixed fruit frangipane. We had the latter a taste sensation. We made the most of the suggestion to explore the gardens and there appeared to be no limitations to this. There are a number of huge greenhouses bursting with tomato plants, vines and other veg. These are interspersed with combined vegetable and flower beds and fruit trees. We found chickens, geese and turkeys but must have missed the pigs. On our way we came across friendly gardeners and Stacey Gledhill, the artist in residence for the summer. To be clear these are not manicured gardens, they are beautifully wild and at this time of year watering and harvesting takes priority over weeding or meticulous tidying up. Since our visit I’ve read back through reviews on the usual platforms and have noticed occasionally severe criticism of this establishment when it comes to service, speed of service and pricing. We have no such complaints but it is possible to imagine how they might occasionally arise. Staff are surely not drilled to corporate style rulebooks; some tables are hidden and further from the hub; for this quality, prices are understandably at the high end of gastropub levels; and this is a working kitchen garden. In the end it’s a matter of taste, preferences and expectations. For us this was genuinely a five star exceeded expectations experience in all respects."

21212

21212

3 Royal Terrace, EH7 5AB, Edinburgh, City of, United Kingdom

Wine • Soup • French • Drinks


"On our first night in Edinburgh we decided to try 21212. The service was outstanding, but unfortunately most of the meal left us underwhelmed. We were greeted by two very friendly and hospitable hostesses, and the service throughout the night was equally friendly and hospitable. There seemed to be some confusion over where we were to be seated, but it was cleared up quickly and we were seated at a table in the dining room. The dining room is well appointed, and the tables are not too crowded. However, if you are shy about having the table next to yours being able to hear your conversation, this might not be the place for you, as the setting is very intimate, and several tables share a common bench as one side of the seating. The dinner menu was straightforward, and we were informed that the menu changes weekly, which impressed us both. The wine list was good, and, although I wouldn 't describe it as extensive, they offered a variety of bottles, as well as a pairing for each course. The sommelier however did not offer any suggestions to us, which was a bit surprising, considering this is advertised as a haven for wine lovers on the restaurants website. I would have expected the sommelier to approach us and offer a suggestion, or, at the very least, speak to us, but he did neither. The amuse bouche was creative, but the texture was not appealing. For our first courses, my husband and I each tried a different dish, but neither of us were impressed. The textures for both dishes were off (both dishes included a foam type element that was very sour, and one dish included raw onion, which wrecked our palates). Our second course, a spring vegetable soup, was also not what we hoped for. My husband described the soup course as very foamy and acidic. For the third course, we both opted for the steak dish. My husband 's was modified to exclude shellfish, but the portion size was equal to mine. Although we were not given any option as to how our steak was cooked, it was tasty. The fourth course was a delicious cheese plate, but we commented that the cheese itself was probably not made in the restaurant, so we weren 't really eating the chef 's creation. The fact that we were most impressed with the cheese plate was unfortunate, considering it most likely wasn 't the chef 's creation, and we believe the price of the meal warranted more in terms of flavor. Dessert, the fifth course, was tasty, but didn 't blow us away. For a restaurant with a Michelin star, we expected more. All in all, the service was excellent, and we enjoyed our third, fourth and fifth courses. The first two courses though were not at all what we expected, and we were disappointed. We would not go back, but we would not discourage others from trying the restaurant. It is advertised as being unique, and that is certainly what you get."

Lane's Mercure Parkside

Lane's Mercure Parkside

Newport Road, Wroughton On The Green, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, MK6 3LR

Full • Mexican • British • European


"My wife and I had Sunday lunch here on a special deal with Amazon Local. We paid £9.95 each for a really lovely meal and some of the best roast beef we have had for a long time. The hotel is located in the rural setting of Woughton on the Green on the edge of Milton Keynes and combines country house charm with traditional furnishings. There is plenty of parking .We ate in Lanes Restaurant (it isn't called Seasons any longer) which was quite busy with only a few tables left. The service from start to finish was professional and friendly. There are three choices on the menu but we had a tomato and pepper soup with croutons that were a little soggy but the soup tasted great. I had smoked salmon and crayfish with a mary rose sauce, again very tasty. For main course we had the traditional roast beef and Yorkshire puddings with roast potatoes and vegetables. The beef was outstanding, cooked medium rare and sliced very generously. The horseradish sauce they served was outstanding with nice pieces of horseradish that made it zesty and flavoursome. This contrasts with the rather wishy washy horseradish you normally get in restaurants. Slightly less impressive were the vegetables as there were only a few shards of limp carrots and parsnips, but the beef more than made up for it. A separate pot of gravy was brought to the table, again a nice touch usually only seen in more expensive restaurants.My wife didn’t have dessert but I had burnt cream or crème brule which was really good. For drinks we asked for a bottle of sparkling water but unfortunately they just poured carbonated chilled filtered tap water from a bottle, which neither of us like, then took the bottle away. I have never been to a restaurant that successfully does this and this one was no exception. The wine was a very acceptable French chardonnay at £25. Generally the wine list caters for all budgets but is a little on the expensive side.We would thoroughly recommend a visit here for Sunday lunch and even better if you can get a great deal as we did."

Hispania

Hispania

74 Lombard Street, London, EC3V9AY, EC3V 9AY, United Kingdom

Tapas • Vegan • Spanish • European


"a few yards from the bank of england is hispania, an ambitious opening that in this phase is a tapas bar and business, but later in 2013 will be a 35-seat fine restaurant. the chef of the future restaurant will be michelin with marcos moran by casa gerardo in asturias,) but this evaluation is the tapas bar.<br/ <br/ the spatial features are very smart, with floor tiles and marble from spanies, bronze light fittings and a high deck. on the ground floor there is a tapas bar and a small deli, on the upper floor a sherry bar and a private dining room. the fine restaurant will be above, beside the open kitchen.<br/ <br/ the short weinlist started at £21 and had choices like cuatro rayas verdejo at £28 for a wein that they can find in the high street for £6, mar de frades sparkles albarino nw to £55 for a wein that sells at around £18, and merto tempranillo to £82. since a wein was 120 pounds, it seems bizarre to me not find any vintages. Certainly Spanish weine do not have the same level of vintage variation as more north wine growing areas, but there is certainly variation, and any interest in wein will want to know the vintage that they are about to order. slightly creamier than a classic gazpacho, had this deep tomate aroma, and exactly the correct amount of olive oil, with enough vinegar to balance the oil 14/20.) each element was made beautiful, and the contrast of textures worked well 14/20).<br <br/ service was friendly, and the waiter in the position to ask about eating without answering to the kitchen. in portions were quite generous, and three tapas would be much for a satisfactory meal. with a modest wein and coffee would come a typical bill to about £50 per head. overall I liked hispania. the cooking felt more authentic Spanish than many of the mainstream tapas bars in london, many of which are operated by non-Spaards.) surely the dishes I tried had more care and attention to them than in many london restaurants. I would come back happy and am intrigued to taste the fine restaurant as and when it opens."

At Bailiffscourt

At Bailiffscourt

Climping Street, Littlehampton BN17 5RN, United Kingdom

British • European • High Tea • Bar-lounge


"I myself and four friends booked a twighlight spa package that includes a two course dinner and glass fizz for Friday afternoon / evening. the spa is beautiful, although the dressing rooms are slightly dense for the room. after our treatment, which was excellent, but sad too short, we then moved to the hearthouse for cocktails and dinners that were wonderful! then we went back to my friend holiday home along the beach that our car in the hotel for the night we had preordered for the pickup the next day. one of the girls realized that they had left their jacket in the hotel after we had picked up the car the next day, so we decided to book Sunday dinner in the restaurant as we were so impressed, but when we arrived for our 12.00 table, it was not finished (our mistake was completely as we were five minutes early) the lady/maitre d was with us huge grumpy and very grumpy to go with us. we never saw the dame again (thanks quality) a beautiful young chap saw us sitting in the lounge and came by with menus, then brought us through our table. the menu was almost the same as the Friday night menu apart from adding a few frying options. our appetizers were excellent, but unfortunately the frying was very disappointing, the gravur was extremely watery and the meal total was bland. the reason why I didn't evaluate a total of five stars was because of our Sunday lunch experience. we will use the spa again!"