Lime Wood Hotel, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, SO43 7FZ

Limewood Hotel, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, SO43 7FZ
09/05/2           
www.limewoodhotel.co.uk

She said…We had been looking forward to our mid-week break in the New Forest for a while.  The peace and natural beauty was to be the idyllic escape from the daily grind. We picked the Limewood Hotel – a stunning, boutique residence with such exquisite rooms, social spaces, health facilities and service to make you never want to leave. When we arrived, it was soon apparent that the constant rain meant we’d be involved in more indoor activities that we had anticipated so we literally decided to make a feast of it.

In the afternoon we took our lunch in the ‘Scullery’. A casual yet stylish room with a country home feel, the menu offered a good range of British fare and reasonable prices. I was drawn to marmite mushrooms on toast which I accompanied with a goats cheese salad which was delicious. The desert menu was less engaging so we decided to get on some mountain bikes and brave the weather to take tea in a random place several miles away – but that’s a different story. (The following day we went back for lunch and the fish pie was very good although a big serving: satisfying blend of cream and cheese for the sauce and tasty smoked fish with a fluffy potato topping).

In the evening we dined in the main restaurant which was a both classic and contemporary dining room, comfortable and chic. The service was immaculate and everything I ate was beautifully presented and perfectly produced. The Cornish Mackerel starter was a delicious opener but South Coast Gunard and Plaice stole the show and was perfectly roasted and poached with a beautiful pesto and gnocchi (thought I gave most of this to him since I am not a big gnocchi fan). The atmosphere in the Dining Room was sophisticated without being pretentious and is the sort of space you can take your time in. The prices are central London fancy restaurant prices without being silly – and worth it given the outstanding experience.

He said… There is no way that I can be objective about The Dining Room, given that it is at the Limewood Hotel – for my money the best English country hotel right now. It is so good that I really don’t want anyone else to know about it, and go and ruin it. So I will simply say that I had the wild smoked salmon to start, and the  wild garlic and foraged flowers risotto to follow. I know they’re genuinely foraged because the following morning, cooling-off outside after a run, I saw one of the sous-chefs picking herbs and flowers in the garden. I suppose that, compared to the hotel, the restaurant was just really good, as opposed to great. As in most country restaurants the vibe was a little muted, and the waiting staff was too young to match the confidence displayed in spades by the kitchen. The food and room were both excellent, but nothing you haven’t experienced in any number of really good restaurants; the plating, however, was genuinely striking and beautiful. We were there mid-week so we didn’t see many, but this place deserves to be full of appreciative locals.