If you want to do something really romantic for your wife or girlfriend there is no better place to achieve her maximum goodwill towards you than Cadbury House Hotel.  Although set in the peaceful countryside just outside Bristol, it is only twenty minutes away from the newly developed and highly acclaimed shopping centre, Cabot Circus, bristling with all those lovely designer shops previously only accessible by a trip to London.    After a hard afternoon at the coal face of fashion, you trailing behind to proffer the credit card and carry the bags, and she dreamily wondering if the wardrobe will accommodate just one more pair of shoes, you can look forward to soothing rest and relaxation for the evening and a marvellous dinner at Cadbury House Hotel’s two AA Rosette restaurant. 

We arrived at the hotel in the late afternoon, ordering coffee to be sent up to our room, amusingly room 101 with all its Orwellian connotations.  However, room 101 proved to be quite something, the epitome of luxury even at first glance.  Decorated in soft muted browns it was spacious with an empire size double bed, large squashy sofa made for reclining on, and a LCD flat screen TV on the wall.  The most avant-garde thing of all, though, was the bathroom; open plan to the room, the shower was glass fronted with a shower head the size of a dinner plate and the bath as deep as a swimming pool.  This was definitely for lovers (and not for the modest!); it also had mood lighting that changed colour in phases.  When we arrived in the room a beautiful beribboned plate of fresh fruits welcomed us, along with a small box of chocolates.  The room had a glorious view over the countryside and there was just enough light to see the thatched cabin on the terrace below where you can take cocktails on a fine summer’s evening, and to decide whether or not the black and white cow in the field beyond was real (it wasn’t).  Cows are the resident mascot of Cadbury House, there being at least one picture of a bovine Daisy in each room and you can also buy a very squeezable toy version as a memento for younger visitors, although I confess I rather wanted one myself!

I thought I had plenty of time to relax and put on my face before dinner but in fact we had such fun playing with the fixtures and fittings, we were a little bit late going down.  None of this mattered as Cadbury House is one of the few remaining places where the customer is king and we were warmly welcomed by the restaurant manager and were able to have a few words with Head Chef, Mark Veale.  Mark has achieved a great deal since he came to Cadbury House creating an exciting and unusual range of menus, all where possible sourced from local produce and of course the getting and keeping of the two AA rosettes.  His boundless enthusiasm extends to wanting to keep their own pigs and cows and as a start the hotel has two chickens, Benedict and Florentine by name, who allegedly are trying hard to produce the hotel quota of 400 eggs per day.  Actually this isn’t true, they are pets but the idea is there! 

We were delighted to try a tasting menu (these are £45.00 per head for six courses, including) and headed into the restaurant.  First, there was a generous choice of different home-made rolls; we took mixed olives with Parmesan, delightfully crisp outside, soft and fluffy within truly, extravagant with butter.  The wine list is good and if you want to push the boat out for a special occasion there are some fine wines and champagnes to be had, Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque, to name but one.  However, I’d already been treated enough and we settled on an excellent and reasonably priced bottle of house Merlot-Cabernet.

The dinner began with a robust chicken consommé neatly served in a shot glass to whet our appetites, followed by rabbit cannelloni with slow roasted tomatoes in a red wine reduction sauce; a great combination.  I was especially looking forward to the fish course as previously here we had enjoyed a beautiful sea bass dish and I wasn’t disappointed.  Pan-fried skate wing served with small cubes of roasted beetroot and Parmesan and beurre noisette, dotted with a few capers to add piquancy, presented attractively on an oval glass dish.  We knew the fish comes everyday from Brixham and the skate was proof of this.  

Next, to cleanse our palates, a champagne sorbet was served topped with a wafer thin slice of pineapple.  It was exquisitely cold and refreshing and really did taste of champagne.  It was the perfect precursor to the rich dish that followed; roasted loin of venison layered up with truffle boulangère potato, spinach, red cabbage and topped by crispy strips of salsify, in Madeira jus.  The venison was tender, perfectly cooked and we enjoyed every mouthful. 

If I tell you we had rhubarb soup next you won’t believe me, but we did!  Served in a shot glass the classic tartness of rhubarb was just the thing to offset the rich venison dish.  Despite fading somewhat we knew we couldn’t refuse a dessert.  So, I had trio of chocolate being one fondant, a white chocolate sorbet, and chocolate marquise.  When spiked with a spoon the fondant gave up its secret of gloriously hot sticky chocolate sauce (how do they make them?), balanced by the icy white chocolate sorbet and rich creamy marquise.  My husband had sticky toffee pudding with a coconut sorbet accompaniment both of which were outstanding.  I’m afraid to say that at this point we opted to totter back up to our room, having the petit fours and coffee sent up. 

All in all we had a wonderful time, dinner was memorably first class and even breakfast (which so many hotels get woefully wrong) was worthy of mention, a great choice of fresh fruit, cereals, tempting pastries and croissants, together with a hot menu.  We had fluffy scrambled eggs with good dry cure crispy bacon, what better start to the day?  Regrettably time didn’t permit a visit to the spa, Cadbury’s health and fitness club which has a myriad of facilities, including swimming pool and beauty treatments of all types.  Maybe next time……….

Jacquie Vowles