Corse Lawn House Hotel

Set back from the village green behind a large ornamental pond, Corse Lawn is a trim red-brick Queen Anne house owned by the Hine Cognac family. It's run with a sense of elegance and refinement, doing the old-fashioned things well. The dining room is the sort of opulently accoutered setting you'll want to dress for, and boasts in Andrew Poole a proficient exponent of the country-house culinary style. Classic fish soup with garlicky rouille, chicken liver parfait with apple chutney, and mains such as roast partridge with bread sauce and game chips, or a comfortingly rich boeuf en daube with horseradish mash, are all deftly handled. More modern notes are sounded discreetly here and there, as in a starter of chargrilled squid that comes with chilli oil and rocket salad, while desserts return us to the classical likes of a beautifully risen raspberry soufflé, its matching sorbet and coulis full of the expected zing.