Glamour And Gastronomy At The Grove And The Glasshouse

Sitting next to that is another addition to the refurbed Glasshouse, the fresh pasta station.

Here you can choose from a few different varieties and other bits to go with it such as mushrooms, chopped tomato, prawns and chicken pieces.

As there is only one chef preparing each bespoke dish, you do have to queue on a Saturday night, and as they use rapeseed oil to heat up the pasta, followed by another dose of olive oil to finish things off, the result of my tagliatelle with a lightly flavoured pesto was quite a greasy dish, so this is something to bear in mind if you’re a fan of Italian cuisine like me. At the far end, the chefs will conjure up a fresh Asian noodle soup, and there’s also a Tandoori station hosting Indian delicacies, as well as sides of naan bread, mint chutney and raita.

After sampling a variety of the different gastronomic delights on offer, and pausing for a short break to digest and discuss what we had both eaten, the moment had come to walk back downstairs, to select a dessert. For the more health conscious, there’s an ample display of fruit, before your eyes wander up the cabinet to the pastries, tapioca and crème brûlée. That’s not all, as there are slices of cake and vegan brownie to tuck into too plus ice cream and mango sorbet which my wife opted for.

The strawberries and a helping of whipped cream equally proved difficult to resist, and to add even more calories to your plate, there’s a constantly flowing tap of liquid chocolate to dowse whatever you have placed in your bowl, as well as mini meringue and chocolate ball toppings.

Having satisfied our sweet tooth, we were truly defeated and finished off the evening with a pot of Moroccan mint tea before calling it a night. Although The Glasshouse is a very busy venue for dinner, with people literally coming and going all the time, the service provided by the staff was attentive throughout, and they did everything to ensure that our experience was as memorable as possible, and for the right reasons. This approach was in fact echoed across the hotel.

After a decent night’s sleep, breakfast, which costs £28 per head if not included in the room rate, is served back at The Glasshouse from 07:00 at the weekend, and is purely for the reserve of hotel residents only on a Saturday and Sunday. The dinner stations are magically transformed to ensure that guests get the very best start to the day.

There are of course the vital ingredients for a hearty English, several types of fresh bread and cheese, a cold meat platter and a range of juices. Having eaten well the night before, it was a challenge to take full advantage of what was laid before us, but we nevertheless managed to enjoy a freshly-made cheese, mushroom and onion omelette, and dairy-free pancakes. Both were excellent.