Cerise Restaurant at The Forbury Hotel

The hotel frontage is a stolid porticoed affair that does nothing to prepare you for the dramatic ambience of the basement Cerise restaurant. High side-windows let in plenty of natural light, avoiding the gloomy air that can afflict subterranean dining-rooms. Indeed, the restaurant lives up to its name with cherry-red the prevailing tone, while mock-crocodile banquette seating and tub chairs at smartly set tables look the part. Expect a lively menu of pop brasserie food, cooked to order, with sharply delineated flavours and attention to often surprisingly classical detail. A pair of fat croquettes of haddock and mussel arrive on a bed of dill-sauced leeks for a bravura opener, which may be followed by something gamey such as sautéed breast of partridge with a little pie of the confit leg, honey-glazed spicy parsnips, sweet potato and a deeply rich and satisfying game jus. Pastry-work for desserts is top-notch, crisp and brittle for a glazed prune and Armagnac filling, served alongside candied kumquats and a mild-mannered but impressive milk sorbet.