Coworth Park

The Coworth Park dining room looks out over the extensive grounds of the property, which dates back to 1776, becoming a hotel in 2010. Tables in the dining room are well spaced and the room is attractively decorated, and will get a further facelift in July 2022. Head chef Adam Smith won the Roux Scholarship in 2012 and spent nine years at The Ritz before gaining a Michelin star for the Devonshire Arms prior to moving here in 2016. The menu was priced at £110.

The meal began with a light dish of tomato and scallop with elderflower vinaigrette and tomato consommé. The tomatoes were from Brittany and had very good flavour, and the scallop was pleasantly sweet (16/20). Caviar tart used golden oscietra caviar from sturgeon raised in Belgium and supplied by Kings Caviar. The pastry was delicate and the caviar was served on a base of white crab meat with cultured cream and yuzu and the overall effect very enjoyable with the natural salinity of the caviar contrasting with the sweetness of the crab, the yuzu cutting through the richness. This dish had better balance than I recall from a previous meal here; it is always nice to see a kitchen that evolves and improves dishes rather than resting on their laurels (16/20).

English asparagus came with Cotswold white chicken, almonds and lovage. The chicken was carefully cooked and tender, going well with the good quality asparagus (15/20). Hen of the woods mushroom came with kohlrabi, society garlic (a relative of onion native to South Africa) and smoked cheddar. This was a very pleasant dish, the mushroom firm and earthy, the society garlic having a gently pepper taste (15/20).

Fillet of turbot was from a huge 9kg fish (with turbot bigger is better in terms of flavour), accompanied by courgette flower stuffed with lobster mousse and a lovely butter sauce. The fish was precisely cooked and the lobster mousse in particular, scented with truffle, was gorgeous (18/20). Fillet of beef from Longhorn cattle came with onions, morels and celery. The beef was nicely cooked and the morels in particular had very good flavour (15/20). 

Vanilla crème fraiche with oabika caramel and truffle ice cream, decorated with a chocolate tuile. This was a pretty dish, the caramel made from the white pulp that protects beans in the cocoa pod. I was not personally convinced by the truffle ice cream, though this is just a personal thing, and it was certainly well made (15/20).

Coffee was the gorgeous Panama Gesha ("Gori Gesha" is the Ethiopian forest where the coffee tree was first grown) from Difference Coffee. Service was excellent throughout, and the bill came to £144 per person. If you shared a modest bottle of wine from the list then a typical cost per person might be around £140 or so. Coworth Park is a thoroughly civilised restaurant, serving appealing dishes in a lovely setting, the kitchen showing considerable skill and using good ingredients.

Further reviews: 29th Apr 2023 | 24th Jul 2021 | 27th Jul 2019 | 16th Nov 2016 | 31st Aug 2013 | 12th Nov 2011