Towards the end of 2012, Tim treated us to a night away at Pennyhill Park. Pennyhill Park is a beautiful 5 star hotel and spa in Bagshot, Surrey, about an hour from Central London by train.
After spending the afternoon being pampered in the spa, we were booked in for dinner at The Latymer, Pennyhill Park’s Two Michelin starred restaurant. The Head Chef is Michael Wignall, who was awarded his first Michelin star 14 years ago.
He describes his cooking as ‘complex and carefully crafted’, which I couldn’t agree with more… if only I could remember exactly what we had as part of the Tasting Menu that we tried. Funnily enough, Tim and I both say that this was our favourite Tasting Menu to date (and we’ve tried quite a few!), but we can’t for the life of us tell you exactly what we had. I think this is largely due to the intricacy of each of the courses – they are visually stunning and the complex combination of flavours and textures is a taste to behold!
What also really frustrates me is that I didn’t take a single photo while I was in the restaurant. As I explained in my previous Throwback Thursday posts, this was before the days of having a decent camera phone and it really wasn’t fitting to start flashing away with a camera in the middle of the restaurant. But here’s a photo of us before we went in for dinner (when my hair was significantly blonder), along with a photo of the door to our bedroom, complete with teddy bear, which I thought was adorable.
Fortunately, Pennyhill Park’s own website has some lovely photos, as you would expect. The restaurant is sumptuously decorated, but comfortable, cosy and romantic. Especially as we were visiting in Autumn and it was dark by the time we were seated for dinner, the room was already beautifully candle-lit.
I thought I’d post the restaurant’s current 10 Course Tasting Menu here (taken from their website), to give you an idea of the variety and culinary skills at play here (prepare to be impressed):
Tuna: Yellowfin tuna, dashi jelly, pickled mushrooms, wakame, nori crisp, warm seaweed tea, soy emulsion
Squab: Warm Anjou squab pastrami, onion gel, duck tongue chargrilled spring onion, spiced shallots, Jerez reduction, nigella seeds
Asparagus: Chargrilled white asparagus, asparagus velouté pickled morels, confit Burford brown hens yolk
Lemon Sole: Cornish lemon sole, poached oyster, St George mushroom and wild garlic, wild sea kale, roasted fennel, summer truffle, sauce Bercy
Cassoulet of Clams: Cassoulet of razor clams and cockles, cuttlefish gnocchi and wafer, poached quail egg
Lamb: Milk fed lamb, oyster root puree, white and red chicory, braised chard, roasted ceps
Savoury: Saint Eadburgha organic cheese, honey from our hives, pickled pear, white beetroot, salted popcorn
Rhubarb: Yorkshire rhubarb, caramelized white chocolate, nitro ginger, buerre noisette crumble
Salsify: Liquorice scented salsify, bulgur wheat puffed and creamed, liquorice meringue, polenta crumb
Strawberry: Gariguette strawberries, matcha tea meringue and cake, yoghurt and strawberry egg, verbena
The 10 course Tasting Menu is £110.00 per person, but there are other dining options available. You can find out more information on their website.
It really was stunning – I’d love to return to try one of their latest menus. I can’t recommend it enough for a special occasion.
_____________
Photos taken from Pennyhill Park’s website.
