What could be better after a day wandering around Cheltenham Travel Review: Wonderful Spa Break – Part 2 – Enjoy Life’s Imperfections, than to get dressed up for an evening of ‘fine dining’… and much to hubbies disgust, I had to take some ‘blog’ photo’s before we could ‘tuck in’!
Well… is it just me or does ‘fine dining’ leave something to be desired? The restaurant area at the hotel is lovely and the food is ‘award winning’. The staff were very attentive and listening to the other diners ‘ooo’s and ahh’s’ when there food arrived, how could there possibly be a problem?
However…… this is where the ‘traditional Mancunian’ comes out… Although I grew up with ‘fancy food’ as my mum was an amazing and very adventurous cook, I somehow never got the ‘foody adventurous spirit’ .. particularly when it comes to fish and ‘game’. I’m sure you’ll understand therefore that when I saw the menu, my heart sank…. Fish, fish, fish, Venison or Wood pigeon!
The food arrived and did look ‘very fancy’ and judging by the response of fellow diners around the restaurant, the food at The Greenway is ‘award winning’ however…. for me it fell slightly short – not because of the way it was cooked or presented but because it simply wasn’t to my ‘best taste’… It dawned on me that ‘fine dining’ doesn’t quite float my boat!
What’s your taste?
Hubby opted for the Asparagus Soup and Venison (he’s ‘mentally allergic’ to fish!)
Hubby loved the soup and the Venison was cooked perfectly…
I opted for the ham hock tagine for starter followed by the wood pigeon (which was a ‘virgin’ expedition into the unknown).
The ham hock was lovely and very substantial which was just as well because the ‘virgin wood pigeon expedition’ never got off the starting line!
The staff were very concerned that my plate was returned with both pigeon breasts pretty well ‘in tact’ (sorry little pigeon.. ) and later, I found I hadn’t been charged for my meal. Brilliant Result in terms of Customer Service if not so good for the little pigeon! (Why is it I can eat meat from pigs, chickens, lambs without too much question… but when it comes to pigeon – I felt BAD!)
On our second evening of our Spa Break at The Greenway, we opted for the Brasserie Menu, which wowed and definitely ‘hit the spot’ when it comes to flavour and presentation! I opted for one of my favourites… GOATS CHEESE… Foody Friday: Focus on Goat’s Cheese and it didn’t disappoint… it was delicious!
Hubby is concerned as he thinks I’ve become an ‘addict’! He’s right… apart from ‘bacon’ I think I could become a ‘Goatarian’ and live on goats cheese! Infact crispy bacon and goats cheese salad sounds perfect – I’m going to try it…
Sorry no pics for the Brasserie Meal… I was banned by hubby from taking my camera on our second night which I can understand as he’d had to put up with being snapped semi naked in the sauna and the showers…haha – watch out for Part 4 if I can ever work out how to get Movie Maker on my new Windows 10 laptop… from what I can gather off youtube this is an issue! – does anybody have any suggestions for getting around it?)
Being the best and most virtuous ‘healthy eater’, I opted for coffee and no desert on both nights – which wasn’t easy as the deserts did look amazing! Indeed I was ‘so good’ as I watched hubby devour bread and butter pudding on the second night and it did look divine.. he said it was the best he’d ever had!
So, for the purpose of adding something ‘sweet’, I’ve added some photo’s from our earlier ‘Afternoon Tea’ which I couldn’t retrieve on my new laptop when I wrote ‘part 1’ of this review…. Oh NO….
You thought I was being virtuous not having the pudding didn’t you…. Well this proves I wasn’t! Just don’t tell my Doctor! The not so perfect and VERY WICKED Wendy strikes again…
The ‘Ambience’ of a Country House Hotel Lounge is so ‘in keeping’ with a traditional ‘English Afternoon Tea’.. it just has to be done and for once (or twice).. blow the healthy eating options….
How do you eat your Scones? For me… jam first and then the clotted cream…. oh my goodness – that chocolate cake was the stickiest, gooiest, deliciousist.. cake ever!!! (yep – I know ‘deliciousist isn’t a real word… but don’t you wish it was?)
And for those of you who want to witness the full ‘Afternoon Tea’ and really start to drool, take a peak at the rest of the photo’s in the slide show below…
Are you a ‘Brasserie’ is best or a Fabulous ‘Fine Diner’? I’d love to know if it’s just me that’s a bit ‘simple’… when it comes to food obviously…
Please leave me a comment below – I’d love to hear from you!
If you are planning a Spa Break in the UK – I’d definitely check into The Greenway Hotel and Spa (no affiliation or freebies received for this recommendation!).. Here’s the link to their website.. http://www.thegreenwayhotelandspa.com/
Who eats pigeon? Those who visit this Spa of course! Your vacation still sounds wonderful and if only I could’ve been to tea… yummo!
That’s not a word either but I wish it was!
-Kim
I know Kim…I visited the spa but seriously.. pigeon is not for me!! We did have a truly lovely time and ‘yummo’ – mmmm it most definitely was.. scrumdidlyumptious! x
I’ve had a bit of fine dining over the years Wendy and some meals I’ve enjoyed but I have to say that on the whole I prefer a more simple meal .. but one with flavor. I love a good steak though, especially cooked over the coals! As for scones, for me it’s always jam first then a thin layer of cream on top, I’m not an overly creamy person.
What a great time you had! Your hub sounds like mine. He’s always telling me to put the camera away. Men! ? xo
Yes me too Miriam.. I have had some really lovely meals but when it comes down to it I’m for flavour rather than ‘game’! Definitely prefer steak on an outdoor barbecue!
I’m with you on the scones except… yikes I Love that cream – it just doesn’t ‘sit well’ on my bum! … or actually truth be known.. it sits too well on it!
Can we really blame our hubbies Miriam… they just want our undivided attention…. oops …. tough! Where’s my camera?
Haha, yes too right, they DO just want our attention, though mine’s just gone off to bed …
haha! poor hubbies.. x
Having the dietary restrictions that we have, I don’t know how to answer your question, although we have had some (bad) surprises with Fine Dining in the past: too little of the very pretty food on the plate. I hate venison. However, your previous photo of the typical English breakfast had my mouth watering.
Pigeons? I once set free all four pigeons that my uncle had painstakingly caught and caged for a future meal… I was about twelve at the time. He was not a happy trooper. Years later, the movie “Babe” almost made me turn vegetarian.
My Significant Other hates it when it’s time for us to eat and I am still taking photos for a potential future recipe post while our food is getting cold… So you can tell yours that things could be worse, he could be married to me! ?
Haha – you’ve got me laughing loudly Joelle – thank you for cheering up my morning! I can just see the look on your Uncle’s face. My dad once caught a mackerel and after he’d bashed it on the head, I was in tears (about 12 too…) However, I could see it was still moving so after stroking it gently for several minutes while dad was busy trying to catch another one for supper, I carefully took the poor fish and threw it back into the water.. Dad never could understand what happened to it and though a seagull must have swooped down and pinched it!
As for being ‘worse’.. I’m not sure hubby would ever agree after some of the torturous moments I’ve put him through over the years bless him.. I have to have something to amuse me and last night was giving him a ‘spa facial’ black mud mask and then taking photo’s which at the time he was unaware of but will form a new ‘blog post’ – yikes I’m a meanie! haha I will tell him though that potentially he could have a ‘worse wife’.. just not sure he’ll believe it haha xx
Hey, why should mud masks be reserved for women? Don’t we deserve good-looking guys too?
Oh so true! We wondered whether he’d wake up with a William Shatner (Startreck) face lift this morning… however, those wrinkles are still well and truly fixed in place… just don’t tell him I said so though! x
It is always disappointing when you can’t eat what you want to eat. No matter how fancy the restaurant may be, when their menu doesn’t have what I have already fixed in my head, it is no good at all. Poor you, Wendy! The afternoon tea looks great though. I haven’t done s proper afternoon tea for ages. I must find some doggie friendly afternoon tea in London soon!?xx
You’re so right and I feel mean on the hotel for not being ‘happy’ because I think for most people they would think it was amazing.. Their Brasserie menu the following night was perfect though and they were so concerned about the returned food.. There customer service at the hotel was absolutely brilliant too.. It certainly couldn’t spoil the break – we thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely return..
Aww – bet Bella will appreciate the ‘afternoon tea’.. I know ‘chubby’ Dolly would! xx
Well, upon seeing the menu, like you, I may have opted for their best PB&J on sourdough. Goes with red wine, right? I do like salmon, and trout, but like you, am not overly adventurous. Those scones look heavenly, though. Fun to have an evening out, though. 🙂
Pictures look amazing. You look gorgeous too!
Aww – that’s a lovely thing to say Lidia – THANK YOU!! Have a brilliant day.. x
As I get older I find I am less enthusiastic about eating meat…my son is vegetarian so we do have a lot of veggie stuff. Lovely place though 🙂 xx
Yep – me too Samantha.. indeed my body ‘struggles’ to eat meat as it gets stuck in my oesophagus.. maybe that’s a sign that more veggie and goats cheese is best! I’ve really changed toward veggies and much less meat over the last year too! It was a lovely hotel.. and it was only 21 bedrooms too so not overly busy.. x
There’s so many preservatives and antibiotics in meat as well now..I am always a little doubtful. I won’t eat crab either…my starsign is Cancer!
Haha LOL… I wouldn’t eat ‘crab’ either! My hubby is Cancer too.. and he can be a bit ‘crabby’ at times.. that’s enough for me! hehehe… good job he doesn’t read this blog! Seriously though.. It is a concern with what they pump into our meat these days.. yep goats cheese has become my ‘saviour’ .. xx
What about stuff like Quorn and tofu? The Quorn products are very good now-their Steak Diane is really nice 🙂
I quite often use Quorn Mince for lasagne etc. but I’ve never tried the Steak Diane – I’ll be looking out for it now though. Thanks Samantha x
Worth a try-also the steak pieces are very good in stir fries too 🙂 x
Thanks Samantha – for the last comment about the steak pieces but as I went to reply I somehow ‘trashed’ it by mistake.. this new laptop seems to have a mind of it’s own! I’ll be paying attention to the Quorn section a bit more closely in future.. xx
I think I am a bit of both Wendy. I like fine dining for birthdays! I love afternoon tea and that bread and butter pudding sounds divine. x
Well Brigid – that’s probably best – variety being the ‘spice of life’… It’s hard to believe that having lived with an amazing cook for the first 19 years of my life that I’m not that keen.. but hey ho! Brasserie and goats cheese it is for me.. Ploughmans over wood pigeon any day! haha xx