Adults only – sampling southern England COMPLETED About This Page:

[Cam22]

Hungerford is such a lovely town. So neat that it has endured since 1296. Unfortunately, tragedy will now always be associated with it due to one person's evil actions. We have too many places like that now here in the US. Sounds like your government responded quickly.



I love these coral bells. In fact, so much that we have them down the side of garage and in our front landscaping.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Cam22

Hungerford is such a lovely town. So neat that it has endured since 1296. Unfortunately, tragedy will now always be associated with it due to one person's evil actions. We have too many places like that now here in the US. Sounds like your government responded quickly.



I love these coral bells. In fact, so much that we have them down the side of garage and in our front landscaping.

Coral bells - what a beautiful name! I only know them as heuchera, but that's a much better name!

[chezp]

Thursday 8 May – part three: enjoying afternoon tea

We browsed a couple of shops, including this one, which was lovely inside. I might have lingered and bought something in here, had it not been for the smell of incense everywhere.



We popped into the bakers’ next door and I got an Australian crunch, which was apparently a blend of cornflakes, golden syrup, and coconut with a milk chocolate topping. I was too lazy to photograph the one I bought before eating it, so I photographed the stock in the shop. The girls serving in there thought I was crazy doing this!



Mark got the lardy cake, a sweet bun with lawyers of caramelised “goo” (seriously, that’s what the label said! ) and currants.



Mine was very nice and just what I needed. We made our way back to the car, quickening our pace again. All the time we’d been out, it had been dry, but now that annoying drizzle was starting again.

We headed back towards the hotel, but made a detour through the nearby village of Chilton Foliat, which was very picturesque.



Then we were on the road heading back to the hotel…



As we drove in, we found this guy…



Those were the best shots I could manage of him as he fled away from us. We weren’t quite sure if he was a grouse or a pheasant.

As we made our way back down the driveway, Mark asked whether this was a real deer or not, so I zoomed in and quickly got the answer for him..



We managed to secure a parking space right by the room and headed back to our room. The weather was all over the place. One minute, there was a light drizzle, then it would get heavier, then it would stop altogether. Unfortunately, it stopped at around 2:10pm, which was a bit before our archery was due to take place at 2:30pm. It stayed that way for maybe 15 minutes, and I got my hopes up that we might actually be able to do it. However, you really couldn’t make it up, just as we left the room, it started to drizzle again, and as we emerged outside, it was suddenly a lot heavier. I guess no archery for us either then…

I was a bit miserable at that, so Mark suggested we head back to the room and pick up some things to take with us, and we’d head over to the historic house to get afternoon tea. I must admit I was expecting the place to be heaving with people, given the weather outside, but I can only assume that a lot of people were out on today’s excursion, which I think was to the Cotswolds, as it was quite quiet. There were a couple of groups in the Great Hall, but only one couple in the Chinese Room, which was my favourite.


Some history about this room…


We settled ourselves down by the window, and there was so much light that I was able to sit and do my cross stitch. I honestly can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this before, but those of you who’ve read the trip report from our Norfolk Broads boating trip will remember that I was finishing off a cross stitch from my teenage years then. Well, it’s the same story again, only the one I’m trying to finish now was once supposed to be a Winnie the Pooh advent calendar. I did all the stitching, bar the snow on the ground, then stopped. Again, I was most of the way through it, so what I was thinking, I don’t know.

Anyway, since I picked it back up again a couple of weeks ago, the snow on the ground is now complete, and all that needs doing is the outlining, which is taking forever! I sat there working on it, and the other couple, when they got up to leave, came over to have a look and to ask what I was doing. They were both admiring how much I’d completed, which did inspire me, as being a perfectionist, when I look at it, all I see is what I haven’t done..

Once they left, we were on our own, which was perfect. Our afternoon tea was brought out to us….



Mark got the fruit scone to go with it, and ended up with all this…



… so I had to pitch in and help him. Call it my good dead for the day! I also got a passion fruit cake, which was very nice, although very sweet. I think I should’ve gone for the fruit scone as well.



The whole lot cost us £9.10 (c. $15), which we thought was good value, considering that really we’re a captive audience, and they can charge what they like.

We sat there for some time, with me doing more cross stitch and a bit of work on my trip report, and Mark reading, and at one point falling asleep! He assured me it had nothing to do with the book, as it was a good read…

I got some photos of the view from the window. The first is nice and dry… the second not so much!



After a while, some opera music started up in the Orangery next door, which wasn’t bad in itself, although it was louder than I’d have liked, and I was none too impressed when someone started singing along to it.

Next: sampling Littlecote’s own signature restaurant!

[disney_duke]

So far I'm enjoying your snacking for the day. A stop at the bakery, and then afternoon tea scones and cake. Another cute little village too!
Glad you had some quiet time in the Chinese room, it's very light and airy! Odd about the opera though.....

[cubfancolleen]

Too bad the weather continued to disturb your plans. But I love the idea of curling up on such a rainy day with tea, scones, and a book or some needlework.

[lauriep]

I'm with Colleen. A forced relaxation day due to rain can be very welcome on a vacation! You had lovely surroundings to spend it in. The Chinese wallpapers that are in so many Victorian-era rooms are so beautiful.

[KMB733]

Sorry the rain was still messing with your plans. But I have to agree with the others about the nice relaxing afternoon with tea!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by cubfancolleen

Too bad the weather continued to disturb your plans. But I love the idea of curling up on such a rainy day with tea, scones, and a book or some needlework.

Well we tried to make the best of it...

[SuperDave]

Looked like a great dinner at the hotel! The smoked salmon (I'm a big fan of this) and your fish entree looked so good!

Too bad the weather wasn't too cooperative for you, but at least you made the best of it!

What a lovely room to have afternoon tea. The scones look quite appetizing!

Like the title of your next post as you certainly have my attention!

[Cam22]

Some very delicious sweets this day! I think cross stitching and tea in the Chinese Drawing Room sounds lovely.

[lfredsbo]

Sorry you had so much rain, but it does sound like a relaxing day with some delicious treats!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by SuperDave

Looked like a great dinner at the hotel! The smoked salmon (I'm a big fan of this) and your fish entree looked so good!

Too bad the weather wasn't too cooperative for you, but at least you made the best of it!

What a lovely room to have afternoon tea. The scones look quite appetizing!

Like the title of your next post as you certainly have my attention!

Full details coming right up!

[chezp]

Thursday 8 May – part four: sampling Littlecote’s own signature restaurant!

We headed back to the room, and I got changed, and headed straight down to the leisure centre. I was expecting the place to be absolutely packed. It wasn’t really. There were three swimmers when I arrived, and the bubbling pool was empty, so I headed in there first. I was soon joined by a couple, and we got chatting. There seems to be a general theme amongst guests that this place needs to do a bit more when the weather turns bad. They were saying they’d stayed at a number of other Warner Leisure Break places, and with some of them, there are considerably more indoor activities. If we do this again, and there’s no reason why not one day, it’s certainly something I’ll ask about before booking.

After a while, the pool emptied out, so I headed in there and swam my 20 lengths, at one point having it all to myself, which was very nice! Then I spent a couple of minutes in the steam room (I really cannot do more than that in there ) and then in the sauna, before getting changed and heading back to the room, where we watched the second episode of 24 that we hadn’t been able to enjoy last night…

Just before 6:30pm, we headed over to the historic house for dinner here…



This is a two rosette restaurant, according to the AA (Automobile Association), so I was expecting quite a lot from it. Think California Grill, Flying Fish Café etc. and that’s the sort of level we’re talking here…

It was deserted when we walked in, with only one other couple seated….



As the evening wore on, another two couple arrived and a group of four. One of the couples were the ones who had chatted to me earlier about my cross stitch.

We presented our voucher for our half bottle of wine each, and although I thought there might be an issue with it at first, as the server didn’t seem to know what to do with it, it turned out fine, and we got it. However, the water was a bit tacky for a restaurant of this nature. They had two bottles of water on the table, one still and the other sparkling, with this on it – “drink me £2.90.” Now while I appreciate that they need to tell people it’s not included in their pre-payment for this meal, it just felt a bit tacky. Mark decided to decorate himself with it at one point!



After we made our orders, I wandered outside to get some photos of the Oliver’s Bistro Lounge area, while it was nice and quiet. Try as I might, somehow the clock in here always appears slightly blurred. I guess it’s just the way it’s made, but Mark did try to tell me it was one of the ghosts…



We browsed the menu, and eventually made our choices. For appetiser, we both went for the handpicked Devon crab, guacamole, caviar and ginger tuile. I really enjoyed the presentation of this, and it was certainly very tasty, although sadly I felt that they’d overdone the seasoning a little, which it didn’t need, and that detracted from the dish, which was a great shame.



For entrée, I went for the seared sea bass with prawn and crayfish ravioli, spinach and teriyaki butter sauce. The smell was absolutely divine as soon as this arrived on our table, and I knew I was in for a treat. This was one of those rare dishes, where it was just completely perfect and every mouthful was absolute heaven. I really can’t rave about this enough. The flavours all went together perfectly and I could’ve easily eaten this again, it was that good.



Mark had the wild mushroom stuffed British lamb cutlet braised shoulder, confit garlic, dauphinoise potato, and pea puree. He seemed just as enchanted with his as I was with mine.



For dessert, this is where the menu became a little too way out for me. I’m a real traditionalist when it comes to my puddings. I don’t like anything savoury with them for starters, and some of the choices her paired some odd things up together, while others just sounded downright odd to begin with. Try some of these… pomegranate mousse cake with limoncello sorbet, lime crème meringue, pine nut sable, baby coriander and lemon syrup…

Mark decided to get the chocolate fondant with peanut ice cream and peanut brittle. I had considered it, but being a traditionalist, I just couldn’t bear the idea of the peanut ice cream. We were told it would take 10 minutes to cook, which was a good sign, as it would be freshly done, and hopefully perfect. When it came out, it was certainly oozing chocolate… :



I went for the Oliver’s cheeseboard with homemade chutney, after checking what the chutney was. It turned out to be tomato, and that was absolutely divine, and went perfectly with two of the cheeses, although I’m getting ahead of myself. What were the cheeses first? They were Quickes cheddar, a 12 month mature cheddar with a unique and complex flavour, Mrs. Bells Blue, blue ewe’s milk cheese, slightly salty, and with a creamy texture, and Waterloo, fantastic taste, unpasteurised Guernsey cow’s milk cheese (all according to the menu). They were all beautiful cheeses, and the one that the chutney didn’t go with was the Mrs. Bells Blue, as that had enough flavour to stand on its own. All in all, this was another superb choice.



The food was absolutely excellent here, and I really couldn’t fault it. Considering we’d only paid £18 (c. $30) per person for it, I thought that was superb value, as that was the price of the entrees alone on the menu. However, as has been the case for much of the holiday, the service was lacking. They were both very pleasant, but one admitted she didn’t know the menu very well when we came to order, as it had only changed today, and that’s a bad admission to make, and we had to refill our own wine, as we just didn’t see them often enough. At least it was poured for us. It’s a shame that the service keeps letting down what seems to be consistently good food here.

Oliver’s Bistro:

Appetiser 9 10
Entrée 10 9½
Dessert 9½ 9½
Service 7 8
Atmosphere 9 9
Value for money 10 10

Average score: 9.21

We came out of there about 8:15pm, which seemed like a reasonable amount of time to spend on a fine dining meal, and headed back to the room.

The weather today was a mixture of light and heavy rain and cloud, with temperatures in the mid 50s.
The best thing today was dinner at Oliver’s Bistro.
The worst thing today was the weather.
The funniest thing today was Mark with the “drink me” label…
Today we tried visiting Hungerford
And the result was it’s a nice town, with plenty of independent shops to browse.
The most magical moment today was being able to enjoy afternoon tea in the Chinese room.

Next: are we ever going to find somewhere to park?

[lauriep]

What a wonderful meal! It's a real shame they don't address the service issues, as it would cost them nothing-- just proper training-- to make the whole experience worthy of the food.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by lauriep

What a wonderful meal! It's a real shame they don't address the service issues, as it would cost them nothing-- just proper training-- to make the whole experience worthy of the food.

Well said.