A surprisingly good lunch.
When my wife booked this for a lunch with friends, I was a little hesitant. Firstly because an association with Daylesford didn't exactly raise my hopes value-wise, and second because eating in an old building in the Cotswolds invokes expectations of cramped wobbly tables, sitting too close to a very hot fire, and a menu that might lurch in the direction of traditional English dishes that I've eaten a zillion times before.
But when I came out I felt differently. Most of the building has been smartly refurbished in a style that you might call "modern country" and the place is in fact rather spacious and comfortable with not a wobbly table in sight. And whilst our three course meal came to £75 a head including wine and service, I came away with a feeling that I'd had decent value for the food I chose and the "extras" that came with it.
My slow-cooked pullet egg in a pumpkin veloute was delicious, these two main ingredients complementing each other very well. But it was a complex dish with a number of ingredients in supporting roles , bacon, herbs and mushrooms that played their part well to make a very satisfying whole. My main course was venison, and this was very well sourced and perfectly cooked. My wife was equally complimentary about her slow-cooked chicken main course. I skipped dessert in favour of a single piece of a soft-ish english cheese whose name I didn't quite catch, accompanied by the widest range of tiny accompaniments that I think I've ever seen. Good breads, and the amuses-bouches didn't let them down either. Service was uniformy pleasant and timely.
The a la carte menu provides a choice of four items for each course, and for me , it might have been better with a little more choice; but I repeat the quality of what I did eat was very good . The wine list is broad , tending towards expensive , though there was a decent choice of bottles in the £30's . Our Gruner Veltliner was a good, flavoursome example of what can be a dull wine. Equally the glaases of Californian red with the main course were tasty and stood alongside the venison well. But I do wish people wouldn't serve espresso coffee in glasses!
Go back- well its a couple of hours from home so the opportunities are limited, but when in the Cotswolds again I'd have no hesitation about returning.