How The Other Half Dine (Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons)

Member Name: mattygroves10

Product:	Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons
Date:	02/12/05 (857 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You've never eaten so well

Disadvantages: You've never paid so much to eat so well

or, This is the style to which I'd very much like to become accustomed.

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The Whats, Whys and Wheres
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Sometimes, good things can come from sad events. A few years ago, my in-laws died. It was a sad time for the family, and my sister-in-law in particular found clearing and selling the house difficult, as these things often are.

As well as emotionally difficult, selling the house took some time, for a variety of reasons that are unimportant now. However, once the house was sold, we felt a celebration was in order.

Phone calls were made (back in January), and a reservation was procured (for April 20) at Ramond Blanc's famous hotel and restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, in Great Milton, Oxfordshire. We also turned this into a celebration of my brother-in-law's successful completion of the London Marathon in 4 hours and 37 minutes (good on him!)

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Yes, I know...
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...that Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons is a hotel. However, the restaurant is promoted for non-residents, and is rightly renowned for its food and ambience. You do not need to be a guest in the hotel to dine there (which is just as well. Otherwise, you may as well sell all your belongings now).
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OK?!
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My sister-in-law had booked a package which included a tour of the gardens, a glass of Kir, a three course meal, coffee and petit fours. We set off from Shepperton at around 8.45 in the morning (as my in-laws like to take scenic routes - they avoid motorways when they can), and arrived in Great Milton (with a side trip through Bray just to have a look) at around 10.30. We were early, so we decided to have tea. Tea at Le Manoir isn't just a cup of the old PG tips!

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The Experience
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We were served tea and delicious home made biscuits in one of the lounges (and yes, we did pay extra for the tea, it was not part of the package) - we sat by a bay window. There are three or four rooms (maybe even five) that serve as lounges - some are smoking, some are non-smoking, but they all have fire places, comfortable sofas and chairs, Bang and Olfson sound systems (you can see them dotted about - I believe Le Manoir has a deal with them.

The tea was...well...tea - nice. The biscuits were heavenly - none of the cautiously flavourful English Rich Tea or digestives here - whilst I didn't ask what kind exactly we had, they were sweet (though not cloying), buttery and very light in texture. Yummy!

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A Wee Aside
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After all that tea, a trip to the loo was in order. I know that sounds like way too much information, but trust me, it's worth it. The room is HUGE, and traditionally decorated, with old fashioned taps, mirrors and chairs. As well as the facial tissues you might expect dotted about, there were also cotton wool balls and cotton pads (for make up touching up). In a discreet padded box, there were also...shall I say...women's items - wrapped and colour co-ordinated. Again I know that doesn't sound impressive, but really, it can be (though if you're not nosy as I am, I don't know how you'd know they are there...). Needless to say, the toilets and the room were both immaculate.

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Back to the Main Event - The Tour
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After finishing our tea, the official part of the day began with a tour of the grounds and gardens. The assistant head gardener (a very nice young man called Luke) took a group of around 19 of us (there were supposed to be 19, but I think around two were no-shows). Although it is still early in the Spring, the tour was still worthwhile (even if my feet did get cold). The vegetable garden was fairly barren (both because of the time of year and because much of the gardeners' efforts are going towards the Chelsea Flower Show), but the herb garden was lovely, and the Japanese Garden sublime. Luke was very knowledgeable both about the gardens and plants themselves (as you'd expect) but also about Raymond Blanc's likes and dislikes (apparently, he loves purple but isn't so keen on yellow - so there are far more purple flowers in the grounds than yellow ones!) There are no off-limits areas in the gardens, so you could even visit the poly-tunnels where they were cultivating the plants for Chelsea (which we did - they plants were still very young, so not much yet to look at). The garden tour was interesting and enjoyable, even for a non-gardener like me (my brother in law is into gardening in a big way, so he especially enjoyed this section of the day). My feet got cold, but I won't blame Le Manoir for that.

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The Experience - Lunch
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After the tour, we went back into the main building, for a glass of Kir in the lounge (a different bay window this time!), where we ordered from a set menu (there were two choices each for starter, main and desert). Whilst we were waiting, they brought little canapés - there was a half a quail's egg on a sort of biscuit type thing, smoked salmon on an itty bitty pancake, a risotto ball, bitty anchovy pieces on a potato pancake thingy...and more! Again, they were superb - I especially like the anchovy bits on the potato...thing.

We were then taken into the dining room, after ordering lunch and wine (a muscadet, from the lower price end of the wine menu!). Before our 'official' starter came, they brought little esspresso cups in. These contained a very intense soup of foie gras, parsley and crème frésh. It was extraordinarily green, entirely due to the parsley. This too was lovely (though admittedly slightly odd).

I had as a starter the foie Gras (sorry, can't spell French) - I know it's cruel, but hell, the goose is already cooked! The rest of the family had the same, except my sister in law, who had a very sweet looking roasted vegetable risotto (by sweet I mean cute!). The foie gras was very light and almost fluffy. There was also a bit of paté (a compote of some description) and something that I think may have been pickled ginger. This was all serviced with very light toast (not like melba toast at all) and lashings of bread.

For the main course, we had a choice of roast lamb or a fish dish. I chose the fish which was brill served over crushed jersey potatoes and Kamala olives with a smattering of veg (as an aside - I was still recovering from a cold, which had migrated into a cough. I had a coughing fit, and so left the table just after the mains were served. I spent a couple of minutes in the frankly sumptuous ladies room to calm the coughing down. Upon my return, I discover they'd covered my plate with a metal cover, refolded my napkin and replaced my cutlery)! The fish was perfectly cooked. It was neither slimely undercooked, nor dry and overdone. It melted in the mouth - it was buttery, amazingly fresh, and lovely.

What I didn't realise, was the best was yet to come. For dessert, I (in fact, all four of us) had a chocolate heavenly concoction served with coffee bean ice cream. The chocolate was not too sweet, and had a sort of crisp topping (like caramelised sugar) - I can truly say it was the best chocolate desert I have ever had.

We then retired back into the lounge for coffee and petit fours (more heaven) - when we were asked if we wanted after dinner drinks, I asked for a brandy - at which point I was presented with a brandy menu! I let the waiter decide, and whatever it was I had - it was lovely - very smooth.

Having finished our coffees and drinks, we paid the bill. This was the most painful part of the day. For the four of us, including the tea at the beginning, an extra glass of Kir (one came with the package), a bottle of modestly priced wine, two or three bottles of sparkling mineral water, one brandy and a Grand Marnier (my sister-in-law had that), the bill came to around £350. Ouch!

To recover from our wallet attack, we wandered around the gardens a bit more, and had a look inside the poly-tunnels - where they are growing plants to exhibit at the Chelsea flower show.

Then...off home. Back to the real world. My daughter was MOST miffed that she didn't come - on the way home, my husband spoke to darling daughter and offered to pick her up saveloy and chips - Saz agreed, but said "make it an EXPENSIVE" sausage!

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Closing Thoughts
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Wow, but I'd love to stay in the hotel. Clearly, I need to become a lot richer before that happens. I had a look around the website (www.manoir.com) - rooms start at £275 per night, and go up rapidly and astronomically from there (but they are "per room for one or two guests and include Le Manoir's French breakfast, fresh fruit and flowers, Madeira, a daily newspaper and VAT at 17.5%." So that's OK then!).

All in all, I highly recommend it...at least once. And I hope that one day, just once, I can afford to stay the night in the beautiful surroundings of Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons. Just once. Well...maybe twice. It would be nice....

Summary: Superb food. Lovely gardens. Great atmosphere. Take out a second mortgage.