(no subject)
Aug. 22nd, 2006 06:57 pmPhotos from our trip to Devon can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ukdavew/sets/72157594240568992/
We had an amazing time and I'd thoroughly recommend Coombe House Hotel on many, many levels. I had two wonderful nights' sleep there, which is worth more than diamonds to me right now. (Of course, if anyone was to offer me a diamond or two, I wouldn't complain about that either. I believe that they're traditional after giving birth....) where was I? Ah yes, fabulous food. The menu is deceptive in its simplicity and brevity which left us initially feeling diappointed, but when the food arrived... wow.
Everything was prepared and cooked perfectly. I've eaten a lot of scallops in my time and the ones I had on Tuesday evening were the juciest and sweetest ever. Dave fell in love with his duck and fois gras terrine and luckily for him, I was too busy swooning over my scallops to make puppy-dog eyes at his plate. (I look forward to devouring fois gras, pate, mouldy cheeses, home-made ice-cream etc etc when I'm no longer pregnant. I would kill for some Stilton right now.)
The foodie highlight for me was the Chocolate Mousse with frozen raspberries and hot white chocolate sauce. Aside from the beautiful presentation--how exactly do other food bloggers manage to take photos in restaurants? It would feel so awkward to have a camera on the table--the mousse had the most amazing texture and the hot/cold combination of raspberries and sauce was sublime.
Breakfast was pretty damn good, too. Porridge with thick Devon cream and maple syrup is the way forward. I've never been the sort of Scot who demands porridge cooked with nowt other than a hefty pinch of salt, so I thoroughly approve of any sweet combinations for it. Treacle instead of maple syrup would perhaps have been more British though.
We did some touristy things in Totnes and Dave got very excited over the Arcturus Centre--geeky Simpsons moment, I'm told--before driving around the edge of Dartmoor. Alas, I fell asleep before we got to the really wild bits so I missed out on some great scenery. No matter, I'm sure we'll have plenty more holidays in this area while Speck is growing up :)
I'm sure that I've forgotten loads. I know I haven't talked about the horses but the photos Dave took of them are better than any babbling from me. Or the bees from the hotel beehives. (If anyone knows why bees like to sit on cars then please do let me know. Getting in and out of the car became very scary...)
We had a fantastic time and I'd definitely go back!
We had an amazing time and I'd thoroughly recommend Coombe House Hotel on many, many levels. I had two wonderful nights' sleep there, which is worth more than diamonds to me right now. (Of course, if anyone was to offer me a diamond or two, I wouldn't complain about that either. I believe that they're traditional after giving birth....) where was I? Ah yes, fabulous food. The menu is deceptive in its simplicity and brevity which left us initially feeling diappointed, but when the food arrived... wow.
Everything was prepared and cooked perfectly. I've eaten a lot of scallops in my time and the ones I had on Tuesday evening were the juciest and sweetest ever. Dave fell in love with his duck and fois gras terrine and luckily for him, I was too busy swooning over my scallops to make puppy-dog eyes at his plate. (I look forward to devouring fois gras, pate, mouldy cheeses, home-made ice-cream etc etc when I'm no longer pregnant. I would kill for some Stilton right now.)
The foodie highlight for me was the Chocolate Mousse with frozen raspberries and hot white chocolate sauce. Aside from the beautiful presentation--how exactly do other food bloggers manage to take photos in restaurants? It would feel so awkward to have a camera on the table--the mousse had the most amazing texture and the hot/cold combination of raspberries and sauce was sublime.
Breakfast was pretty damn good, too. Porridge with thick Devon cream and maple syrup is the way forward. I've never been the sort of Scot who demands porridge cooked with nowt other than a hefty pinch of salt, so I thoroughly approve of any sweet combinations for it. Treacle instead of maple syrup would perhaps have been more British though.
We did some touristy things in Totnes and Dave got very excited over the Arcturus Centre--geeky Simpsons moment, I'm told--before driving around the edge of Dartmoor. Alas, I fell asleep before we got to the really wild bits so I missed out on some great scenery. No matter, I'm sure we'll have plenty more holidays in this area while Speck is growing up :)
I'm sure that I've forgotten loads. I know I haven't talked about the horses but the photos Dave took of them are better than any babbling from me. Or the bees from the hotel beehives. (If anyone knows why bees like to sit on cars then please do let me know. Getting in and out of the car became very scary...)
We had a fantastic time and I'd definitely go back!