Somerset Life – Eating Out November 2004
Oliver Draycott dines in the lap of luxury at Wincanton
I have only two regrets about visiting Holbrook House Hotel. One is that I never saw it in daylight because the grounds, I am told, are something else a legacy of the days when the Hotel was a gentleman’s residence. The second regret is that my wife and I never actually got to stay there because, based on a whistle-stop visit simply to sample the cuisine, I suspect that it could be quite some experience. Over the years it has been run as a hotel and spa, Holbrook House has built up an enviable reputation. Now, under an almost completely new management team appointed within the last six months, it has set itself the unenviable task of improving that reputation even further: perfection seems to be just a building block to this new team, with three AA rosettes for the hotel and Cedars Restaurant being just the first goal according to Head Chef, Ben Streak - although having already achieved that at other restaurants it seems just a matter of time. But then, operating a hotel and restaurant at this level requires that sort of commitment from all its’ staff and it is evident from the attention you receive that everyone believes wholeheartedly in what they are out to achieve here.
If you are not used to being cosseted, you might find it cloying but cloying is not a word I would use here. Waiters materialise when they are needed, glasses are refilled as if by magic – all the diner has to do is sit back and anticipate dish after dish of Ben Streak’s superb cuisine which is as exquisitely prepared as it is tastefully presented - even down to plates that complement the overall shape of the meal being served: the attention to detail is that precise. Ben’s cooking style is Modern English with, I suspect, Continental overtones. Ben, although born in England, is South African by upbringing but returned to England to further his culinary career.
We had a full three-course meal which, in fact, turned out to be five-courses with the addition of a complimentary amuse bouch� of fetta cheese souffl� (which set the scene for what was to come) and a palate-cleansing passion fruit and pineapple mousse. Starters of red mullet tempura in cider apple batter, and crisp salt-cod beignets set on a chilled watercress velout�, and desserts of dark chocolate and pear tartlet with chocolate and hazelnut biscotti and a chilli-vodka sorbet, and a selection of the most unusual cheeses I have ever come across, served with quince preserve and warm fig loaf, bracketed what was a quite superb meal, served with style and grace in a gorgeous setting.
You might expect from this that there is an ‘exclusive’ tag attached, but that is certainly not the case. Although it is certainly expensive to do the full evening menu, Ben has so structured it that diners have a great deal of choice: main course and dessert can cost as little as �24 and the two-course luncheon menu runs out at �16.95. There is also a tantalising range of inexpensive sandwiches and salads available between 11am and 5pm, with champagne – and less exotic - afternoon teas and cream teas served between 3pm and 5pm which makes the Holbrook House Hotel somewhere quite special to just drop in and relax from the rigours of shopping or sight-seeing around the beautiful Somerset countryside. A cream tea for �5.50 in the lap of luxury can’t be bad.