This great restaurant (one Michelin star and a 4 AA rosette award) has just 4 rooms. We stayed on the second floor with a front facing room. Good size room, wonderful bathroom and everything you could need.
The welcome was fabulous, very warm and welcoming. We had flown up from London on a Friday night so were tired and just went to bed – but it was clear that we could have had anything. The restaurant shares the same front door with the hotel.
Breakfast the next morning in the first floor breakfast room over looking the steep garden at the back, which leads on to Carlton Hill, is en famille. Not a problem as there are only 4 rooms and therefore a maximum of 6 other people. Interesting breakfast and a hint at what the restaurant offers in the evening. Smoked Salmon more like Sashimi – was great – eggs and salami (not tried) and on Sunday a beautiful piece of smoked haddock. Service was perfect – see my Parrot Cay review on being asked about coffee – here it was just remembered on Sunday what we had liked on Saturday – not a big deal but some places just can’t manage that level of personal service – 21212 can! Next to the breakfast room is a sitting room – which is for guests only. Great to have pre and post dinner drinks.
Outside the front door on day one, setting off on foot to take in the sights, we dithered for a minute or two looking at maps etc – and out came one of the staff full of helpful suggestions!
The meal was just great – as you would expect, although some might say there were too many ingredients on the plate. But the point of this food is the flavour that is created by combinations. A small and intimate restaurant – the staff were lovely and the kitchen open and the man himself (Paul Kitching) was there cooking – not something all chef-named restaurants have – later he was running around replenishing toilet rolls in the rooms!
A slight hiccup at checkout – brilliantly made good by Maeve. As this is a restaurant with rooms, the whole place is closed from 2pm on Sunday until it re-opens on Tuesday. As we were travelling back to London on an evening flight on the Sunday we asked if they could store our luggage – initially the answer was no – use the left luggage facility at the station – but after a little persuasion – Maeve kindly agreed to come back to the hotel and open up so we could get our bags on the way to the airport. Now that is personal service!
Room Tip: Rooms at the front are not noisy and you can see the sea!
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