Hambleton Hall
Hambleton, Rutland
CONTINUE READING
Already a member? Log in here
Subscribe to our newsletter to gain access to limited free articles, reviews, news and our weekly newsletter.
The Good Food Guide Membership: Save £100s at Britain's best restaurants - try for free for 30 days
To its many returnees, Hambleton Hall is the very definition of country-house dining: a late Victorian pile on a peninsula jutting into Rutland Water, with beautifully tended landscaped gardens and a brigade of front-of-house staff attuned to the gentilities, but without a trace of obsequiousness. Aaron Patterson has been cooking here for well over 20 years, but the menus still feel fresh and enticing, built on seasonal produce and with an emphasis on lightness. Early summer might see San Marzano tomatoes featuring in a starter with elements of gazpacho, including a little basil ice cream, ahead of jointed quail on seasonal greens with spinach tortellini and a fried quail's egg. An alternative route might begin with a Cornish crab tartlet aromatised with lemongrass and ginger, ahead of roast guinea fowl with butternut squash and sage risotto, garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds. The house take on tiramisu found one reporter discovering the limits of their tolerance for deconstruction, but a simple blackcurrant soufflé was an emphatic, featherlight triumph. When it comes to wine, Hambleton doesn't rest on its laurels, complete with an extensive line-up of high-toned classics, 'wines of the moment' and Coravin glass selections.
