There are two restaurants to choose between whilst staying at the Four Seasons Hampshire Hotel; the ‘Seasons’ Restaurant, which offers a fine dining experience or ‘The Bistro’, providing an array of British classics in a more relaxed, informal atmosphere. Arriving at the Hotel in what felt like Baltic weather conditions, there was nothing we wanted more than some good British grub to warm the cockles, so the Bistro suited our needs perfectly.
We were warmly welcomed by the staff and asked whether we would like to eat in the restaurant or in the more relaxed bar area. I think it is always nice to be given this choice, and I expect eating in the bar is a popular choice for business workers that stay during the week and families with young children who would like to dine in a less formal setting.
Within minutes of sitting down, we had been given large flutes of Louis Roederer Champagne and offered a selection of home made breads of which the fresh white roll with olives was my favourite. To start I chose the Caramelised onion and Gold Muddler local ale soup, served with welsh rarebit. The soup was incredibly fresh, with the right level of sweetness and the cheesy rarebit complimented the dish perfectly. Milly opted for the Warm Laverstoke buffalo mozzarella wrapped in pancetta and served with a black olive tapenade and sun dried tomato crostini. We both agreed that this was the winner out of the two, and the dish was demolished between us.
For main course, to satisfy our meat cravings I chose the Laverstoke Park Farm beef burger and Milly went for the Casterbridge sirloin steak. The burger arrived stacked high, layered with bacon, aged cheddar and crisp salad. The meat of the burger was finely ground and full of flavour, however if I was being fussy I would have liked it slightly rarer.The accompanying chunky chips were crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside, just the way I like them and some of the best I have tasted in a long time. Milly’s steak was served medium with a hot peppercorn sauce and skinny fries.The meat was incredibly juicy, tender and intense in flavour and the peppercorn sauce gave a lovely kick to the dish. Now I am not a skinny fries kind of girl, but Milly assured me that these were incredibly good and continued to pick at them despite her repetitive announcements of being ‘so full’. In the end we had to request they were taken away so we could save room to squeeze in dessert.
Dessert was an easy decision as the waitress was passionate about one particular dish – Apple Pie with cinnamon ice-cream and hot caramel sauce. Luckily we had decided to share as the portion was huge and plenty for the two of us. The pie was comforting and wholesome, homemade and delicious, the ideal winter pudding. The cinnamon ice-cream was smooth and creamy and was beautiful served in a thin wafer basket. And the hot caramel sauce… wow… this was so good and disappeared in seconds. The waitress must have noticed and brought us another jug of the hot sticky heavenly stuff, which allowed us to both practically drown the apple pie. A cup of fresh mint tea concluded the meal wonderfully.
I would highly recommend the Bistro restaurant to anyone staying at the Four Seasons. It provides the perfect atmosphere for a relaxed and unpretentious meal, yet still retaining the air of sophistication that you would expect from a hotel in this class.
More information here.
www.fourseasons.com/hampshire/
Written by a Thoroughly Modern Miss, Susie Hemsted.
