Restaurant Coworth Park * | Ascot (UK)
The delectable food and exceptional service made this an experience to remember.
The assured, technically skilled, cooking displays real depth and finesse!
Coworth Park is a five star luxury country house hotel and spa, which sits next to Virginia Water and Wenworth Golf Club in Ascot (UK). It was opened in 2010 as the new member of The Dorchester Collection, which includes some of the finest luxury hotels in the world, like The Beverly Hills Hotel, Le Meurice in Paris and its namesake, The Dorchester, in London. Set sprawling across 240 acres in Berkshire, Coworth Park is the only hotel in the U.K. to encompass an equestrian centre and polo fields.
Restaurant Coworth Park sits within the Mansion House. The fine dining restaurant offers stunning views through French doors across the rose terrace and croquet lawn, to the meadow and rolling estate grounds beyond. The warm and mellow autumnal design of the restaurant includes acorn and oak leaf plaster reliefs and an impressive sculpted copper oak leaf chandelier. Sofa seats at either end of the main room are set below walls of mirrored copper.
The flagship restaurant was initially named Restaurant John Campbell after the chef recruited to open it (who previously gained two stars at the Vineyard and currently owns The Woodspeen*). When John Cambell’s consultancy contract finished in November 2011, the restaurant was renamed as Restaurant Coworth Park. The restaurant has seen a very high turnover in chefs the first years. This changed when the current Head Chef Adam Smith joined in 2016, bringing stability to the kitchen.
Head Chef Adam Smith had quite a career after his first part-time job as a kitchen porter. Predicted as “one to watch” by Michel Roux Snr. got him the prestigious Roux scholarship, which led to his working with chef Yanick Alleno at Le Meurice in Paris. Adam also worked at The Ritz in London for ten years, where he progressed from second commis to premier sous chef.
The stability and quality of the kitchen was awarded with a Michelin Star in 2017, which they’ve held onto since.
Restaurant Coworth Park is open for dinner on Wednesday to Saturday and for Lunch on Friday to Sunday. The restaurant also opens daily for breakfast. Besides the à la carte menu, the restaurant offer an 8-course Tasting Menu (at £110), a 3-course Best of British Lunch Menu (at £35) on Friday and Saturday and a 3-course Sunday Lunch Menu (at £50).
We enjoyed a lunch on a Sunday, three weeks ago and made our choices from the 3-course Sunday Lunch Menu.
Heavy crusted sourdough bread with Café de Paris and salted butter. Café de Paris is a flavoured butter normally served with grilled meat, containing lots of herbs, tomato, spices and brandy and/or madeira.
No amuse bouche was given here. So we went straight to the first course. Hen of the woods roasted in rosemary, giving the mushroom a charred, smoky taste. Rich cheese sauce with the Jersey royals. Everything comes together in a beautiful marriage of flavours. Love the way the hen of the woods was plated at the table, being served out of a pan, where it rested on a bed of rosemary.
The foie gras not too heavy, with some crispy rice on top. Great texture, especially when eaten together. The cherry and cream lifted the taste up even more. Love how they managed to create such a surprisingly light dish with the foie gras.
After the starters, we received a complementary dish, which is part of the 8-course Tasting Menu. Langoustine with tomato kimchi and a cream of cabbage. A true explosion of flavours, with the langoustine, sweet cabbage cream and slightly bitter kimchi. Very, very good! And thanks for letting us taste it!
Orzo pasta with broccolini and a creamy broccoli sauce. On top, perfectly cooked turbot with some capers and a crispy courgette flower and a few clams to add some saltiness. A lovely and flavoursome bowl of joy!
Rabbit with spinach, rolled in bacon. Utterly delicious! The crayfish added extra dimension and complexity which was brilliant. Green broad beans with the rich creamy sauce. And to top it off some truffle shavings. What a great dish!
Well executed sticky toffee pudding. The slice of sugar on top was a bit thick, so very hard to break. Ice cream was okay. A pretty standard dish, very well executed.
A picture perfect dessert. Raspberry sorbet with a beautiful display of thin shortbreads, delicate raspberry mousse in white chocolate and raspberry chocolate with fresh raspberries, and raspberry sauce. Pretty, delicious, and delicate finesse!
This level of restaurant in these surroundings, needs top notch service, and Jonathan Ellson, director of Restaurant Coworth Park, has it nailed. Leading front of house and setting the right class level of service. Good to see that he has a very hands on approach, working together with his team to deliver that special guest experience.
This restaurant totally deserves it’s Michelin Star. And I can echo the Michelin Guide’s comment on Restaurant Coworth Park: “The assured, technically skilled, cooking is modern, yet respectful of classic combinations and displays real depth and finesse”.
The beautiful setting and atmosphere, the delectable food and exceptional service made this an experience to remember. Can’t wait to come back and try the Tasting Menu!
