Decided to give the H&H another go when told our first choice, the castle, had their Greek night. It was an anniversary dinner, we wanted a quiet setting, not smashing plates and dancing….
We were seated in the newer barn part of the restaurant, on a tiny table next to the external doors to the patio, adjacent to a table laid out for 30+ diners. Midway through our starter, 30+ teenagers were seated at their table, so much for a quiet anniversary dinner.
Ordered a bottle of gavi di gavi, which was lovely and perfectly chilled. I also ordered a mojito, also lovely with a slight coconut taste to it.
Starters - we both ordered the prawn salad, which was explained as a ‘deconstructed prawn cocktail’, but spicy.
It wasn’t spicy, at all. It was 6 prawns, some crisp lettuce and a couple of pieces of avocado in a pretty lame Marie Rose sauce. Also present, oddly, segments of orange, which really didn’t belong and didn’t work at all.
Mains - my wife ordered the risotto, which she said was lovely, but a small portion.
I had what was meant to be a ribeye, but given how thin it was, wondered if I had been given the steak frites by mistake.
Skin-on-fries lovely and plentiful, but the thinnest ribeye I have ever had, and at £31.50, very poor value for money. The flat iron (hanger) steak I have every week in Shoreditch, London, is thicker, and £14.
It was perfectly edible, but because it was so thin, medium rare, not what I asked for.
Sticky toffee pudding and ice cream was lovely, no better / worse than any other place I order it at.
So a mixed review on the food, nothing horrendous, but nothing to get excited about either.
But to top off a disappointing evening, every couple of minutes a couple of the large group of teenagers would be going out the doors next to us to light up, then back in again, with cold air coming in every time. We should have been seated in one of the other vacant tables the other side of the restaurant, avoiding the tag team in / out disturbance we encountered all evening.
Had a large whisky in the bar waiting for the taxi, all the windows were wide open, making the bar cold. Why? And why not light the wood burner to make it warm, cosy and appealing. We couldn’t wait to go home, the most disappointing £130 we’ve spent eating out I can remember.
Should have played it safe and gone to Côte.
The staff were friendly and polite, so they’re at least getting that right.
GB