The Bybrook at the Manor

Expectations may be raised sky high by the approach along a sweeping drive through 365 acres of grounds, but rest assured: the Manor House doesn't disappoint. The creeper-curtained 14th-century stone mansion has evolved over the centuries into the exemplary country-house hotel with obligatory championship golf course that we see today. A rich feast of period features plushly furnished with clubby chesterfields and tapestries awaits inside, but this is no starchy, mind-the-antiques sort of place: there are plenty of contemporary touches to leaven the mix, and charming professional staff who strike the right balance of warm attentiveness and professional politeness. Soaring windows in the Bybrook restaurant look over enchanting Italian gardens, but it is what arrives on the plate that demands your attention. Richard Davies has been in the kitchen for a few years now and has certainly stamped his mark on a menu that shines with its high gloss and creativity. Top-level technical skills can be taken as read in stylish dishes that tread a fine-tuned line between classicism and contemporary verve. A starter of richly-truffled, textbook risotto is partnered with a chicken oyster beignet and taken to a different level by a lush parsley purée. Mains show what can be done with a spectacular piece of turbot, which is pan-fried and set atop a fricassée of ceps, celeriac and crispy pancetta; a meaty alternative might offer herb-crusted cannon and confit belly of lamb with tomato and rosemary terrine, shallot purée, roast salsify and rosemary jus. Dessert ends the show with a dazzling baked apple terrine with an apple doughnut and date ice cream.