We’d wanted to go to Le Manoir for a long time; I periodically check the website but tables are never available. I was therefore delighted a couple of weeks ago to see one open up for the following Friday so we went for it. It...seemed like the perfect way to celebrate the end of 2020. But would Le Manoir live up to the reputation? Can anywhere live up to that level of reputation?
Yes it could. A truly brilliant meal. We’ve eaten in a fair few Michelin one star restaurants, where the food it terribly pretty and tastes lovely but sometimes you feel it’s been prepared to be looked at rather than eaten, and that the customer not still being hungry at the end is not one of the priorities.
This however, is proper food in terms of both an extraordinary quality of ingredients amazingly prepared, but there’s also a robustness and variety of flavours and textures that you don’t always get in starred restaurants. You certainly don’t crave a burger on the way home!
Highlights are too many to list, but the slow cooked hens egg with Parmesan and black truffle, the Rhug estate venison with chestnut and gingerbread, and the chocolate crumble with salted caramel ice cream and yuzu will stay with us in particular for a long time.
The service was utterly immaculate, friendly but professional, the staff had clearly been brilliantly trained but without having their smiles or personalities drilled out of them. Covid related issues were dealt with efficiently and unobtrusively without spoiling the experience at all.
Yes it is awesomely expensive, but the absolute commitment to excellence in every part of the operation is such the pricing doesn’t feel unreasonable. If we want places like Le Manoir to exist in the restaurant ecosystem then they need to be supported, and to be able to keep innovating and developing new ideas then these prices are probably what they need to charge. As an experience don’t compare it to lunch at a gastropub, compare it to good seats for a West End show and dinner, or a weekend break on the Eurostar (if those are ever allowed again) and the pricing makes much more sense. Thats the intensity of experience and memory making that LeManoir represents, and we feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity.More