Portsmouth Marriott Hotel

The Portsmouth Marriott is a large modern corporate-type hotel with the Sealevel Restaurant occupying about a quarter of the open-plan ground floor. Darkwood tables are simply set, with comfortable chairs grouped around them, plus some half-moon red sofas - the overall impression being cool, clean and contemporary. Well-prepared, accurately cooked dishes are the order of the day. Seafood is a strong suit - crab cakes nicely complemented by a salad of fennel and watercress with citrus dressing, then well-timed monkfish in red wine sauce with sweetcorn and broad beans - or seek out smoked duck rillette with chervil mayonnaise, a steak, or mushroom ravioli with a sage broth and parmesan.