Willington Hall – A Taste Cheshire Review #Review

Gaile Wundke
15th October 2015

We have been going to Willington Hall on and off for over 30 years. It’s an extraordinary place that everyone should visit, if for no other reason than to see something quintessentially British. It’s fair to say that some of its past has been a little odd but recently, the Begbies, former owners of Rowton Hall, have done everything possible to put this very special Cheshire hotel back on the culinary map and so we decided that now was the time to find out just how that journey was progressing.

We had recently sampled the outstanding Sunday lunch menu and were very much looking forward to a return visit to try the Dinner Menu.

When we arrived, we were asked if we would like to take a seat in the bar whilst we had a drink and perused the menus, but we decided instead to go straight to our table.  Our reservation was for 6.45, so being on the early side, we weren’t too surprised to find that we were amongst the only people dining.  We were seated by the window in the middle of the restaurant, which gave a good view of all the other tables and out of the large windows we could see onto the wonderful grounds, with superb views across to Chester.

Our waiter gave us our menus, took our drinks order and arrived back at the table  very quickly with our drinks and a plate of complimentary Artisan bread, crispy pork skin, apple sauce and an olive oil and balsamic dip.  The breads were delicious, still warm from the oven and perfectly fresh, the pork skins were light and crispy and lacked the off- putting fatty pig taste that you find in the pub variety! It was a great start to the meal.

Having had a good look through the menus, our son was finding it difficult to choose as the dishes were a little bit ‘complicated’ for his taste, so we asked if there was a bar menu and to his delight, there was.  He chose honey and mustard chipolata sausages to start, followed by the 6oz fillet steak, with chips and grill garnish at a very reasonable £15.50.

We both chose from the Dinner Menu, again very reasonably priced at £18.95 for two courses or £24.95 for three.  To start, we opted for the Pigeon, Beetroot & Dressing and the Artichoke, Hen’s Egg & Truffle followed by Chicken and Sweetcorn and Autumn Beef.

The three starters arrived and our son was clearly delighted when a bowl full of piping hot sticky sausages was placed before him and he declared them delicious.

The Artichoke, Hen’s Egg & Truffle was described on the menu as ‘Jerusalem artichoke three ways, with potato wrapped hen’s egg and truffle oil and mushroom’.  The hen’s egg was indeed wrapped in potato with a beautifully runny yolk and sat on a bed of mushrooms, pickled artichoke and truffle oil and was finished at the table with an artichoke velouté.  In terms of presentation, it was perfect, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite hot enough.  I also wasn’t sure what the third artichoke element was supposed to be, but the truffle oil was a perfect addition and worked really well with the mushrooms and velouté.

The pigeon starter of home smoked pigeon, smoked beetroot, beetroot puree, beetroot chutney, olive oil powder and balsamic looked very pretty on the plate with all the vivid tones of crimson.

Our main courses very quickly followed the starters.  The fillet steak, chips and grill garnish looked delicious, the steak was cooked to perfection, the chips thick, hot and crispy and the mushroom was well seasoned and juicy.

The Chicken and Sweetcorn was described on the menu as Sous vide chicken breast, crispy skin, chicken wing lollipop, sweetcorn panacotta, sweetcorn puree and sweetcorn chutney.  The lollipop was hot and crispy, the chutney had the right amount of tang to cut through the other elements on the plate and the puree added a rich creaminess.  However, unfortunately the chicken was dry and tough which seemed odd for something cooked using the sous vide method.  The panacotta was fridge cold and didn’t do a lot for the dish and the crispy skin was quite thick.  That said, it was a dish that used imagination and with a few tweaks, it could be really good.

The Autumn Beef fared much better, described on the menu as rump of beef, salsify, celeriac puree, mini braised beef pudding, horseradish powder and marrow bone gravy.  The rump was, my husband said, the best rump he had been served in a restaurant, the mini beef pudding packed full of meat, the gravy rich and the celeriac puree smooth and creamy.  The accompanying salsify and horseradish powder added a sharpness which complimented the rich flavours in the rest of the dish.  It was a very large, tasty portion and in most restaurants you would pay £18.95 for it on its own, not as part of a two or three course menu. Great taste and great value.

After two generous courses, only my husband had room for dessert and chose the Apple, Brown Sugar and Custard, an apple and vanilla cream slice with caramel sauce, sticky toffee apple, honeycomb, set custard and cinnamon foam.  It was declared delicious and refreshing.

We thought that the meal had ended there, but our waiter presented us with an unexpected complimentary plate of petit fours, which was a lovely and generous touch and for those of us who really were very full, finished off the meal with just the right amount of sweetness.

Willington Hall has a chef who clearly understands food and who is trying to be innovative and he should be encouraged to keep doing this style of cooking. We thoroughly enjoyed our tastes and thought the whole menu great value. I do hope the owners keep improving Willington Hall as it is something very special. I also hope they hang on to their chef who has great ambition and both a palette and the ability to match that ambition.

The restaurant at Willington Hall has so much potential to become a destination restaurant, is great value for money and we really, really hope it succeeds. Cheshire needs more places like this.