insideKENT Magazine Issue 83 - February 2019 | Page 110

GETAWAYS
DOWN HALL HOTEL
CONT.
we were called by our friendly therapists, to one of
only three single (along with one perfect for couples
double) treatment rooms, for a much-deserved ESPA
back and shoulder massage.
Floating out of the spa, we ambled around just some
of the pristine grounds staring in wonder at the
architecture of the Tardis-like buildings, whilst also
building a hearty appetite for dinner.
The Grill Room Restaurant at Down Hall offers
contemporary British cuisine utilising locally sourced
ingredients, including some from the hotel’s very
own vegetable garden, in a relaxed and informal
dining space.
Flooded with natural light during breakfast sittings
and the summer months, the dining room instead
offers an ambient, cosy space in the winter months,
perfect for the seasonal winter warmer menu. Dining
late on a Sunday evening meant we’d missed the
Sunday Lunch crowds, and instead were able to take
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an intimate dark wood table for two at the far end
of the Italian dark-wood floored restaurant.
We devoured the moorish (and huge) sourdough
loaf with caramelised shallot butter, before being
presented with our starters: hearty, warming bowls
of roasted butternut squash soup, with pumpkin
seeds and walnut oil.
For our mains, my guest chose the rosemary gnocchi
– the dish proffered large cylindrical gnocchi with
wild mushrooms, sorrel and a pine nut dressing;
whilst I opted – although momentarily swayed by
the aged English beef of the grill menu – for the
pork, receiving a large slice of perfectly cooked
belly with beer-braised cheek and crackling puffs,
atop a bed of cavolo nero with a cheeky side of
dauphinoise potatoes.
butternut and passionfruit sorbet; and the toffee
apple, which was in fact an apple brulée with caramel
jelly and apple tuile.
A perfect sweet end to a relaxed and cosy stay.
Down Hall Hotel and Spa
Matching Road
Hatfield Heath
Essex
CM22 7AS
01279 731 441
www.downhall.co.uk
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downhallhotel
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Not one to let the dessert team down, we completed
our meal with the salted caramel delice – a heady,
bitter ganache offset with passion fruit cremeux and