Hartwell House Hotel, Restaurant & Spa

During his exile from the French throne, King Louis XVIII was lucky enough to call Hartwell House 'chez moi' for 5 years from 1809. Make no mistake, this stately Jacobean and Georgian pile is the real deal, bedecked with decorative ceilings and oak panelling and liberally strewn with antiques and paintings throughout. It is, perhaps, no wonder that ownership of the property passed to the National Trust in 2008. But that's not to say that dining here is a stuffy exercise in formality: service is friendly and pleasantly free of solemnity, while the high-ceilinged, neo-classical restaurant makes an elegant backdrop for the talented kitchen's elaborate creations. Technically brilliant cooking goes hand in hand with diligently-sourced seasonal and local ingredients here - some as local as Hartwell's own gardens and orchards. Duck parfait combined with pan-fried duck liver, rhubarb purée and ginger brioche is a typical starter, followed by sea bass and langoustine ravioli with a fennel shellfish sauce and tarragon crushed new potatoes. Dessert might Tango you with orange in three guises - a light-as-air soufflé, orange tiramisù and ice cream.

2m SW of Aylesbury on A418 (Oxford road)
Nearest station: Aylesbury

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