I dont know how many of you have gone to the Winepress Restaurant at the Donnington Valley. I visited it before my surprise trip to Morocco and was amazed at how good the quality of the food was and what amazing value. £22 for two courses or £28 for three courses. Seriously when you see the raspberry and chocolate ganache you will go for the three courses. The photos below are not all of what we ate as the light didnt allow for decent ones from me. To start with I had creamed mushrooms on brioche topped with a perfectly runny poached egg (is there anyone out there who doesnt want to break the yolk of a perfectly cooked egg). As an aside I used to get loads of eggs from my friend who has 4 chickens but only one is laying. I have had a long chat with Anne about the facts of life (and death) and the joy of slow cooking older birds (the hens, not her, she makes me laugh too much for that) but all that has happened is that she has muttered about increased security and her ‘pets’.
Back to food. Tony had an amazing Mediterranean fish salad crammed full of large fresh mouthfuls of prawns, mussels and squid and topped beautifully with red mullet. A visual delight
Tony, who was eating very well from the market menu had lamb with fondant potato, parsnip puree, green beans and a bordelaise sauce which was delicious. The beans added just the right amount of crunch and the lamb was slow cooked with a depth of flavour which he loved, as did I because it is my duty to try EVERYTHING. Maybe that is why I eat alone so often, sigh. The picture above is of my main course which was rump of Torre meadow lamb, braised mutton belly, spinach, gratin potatoes and carrot puree. This was a great combination which showed the different ways of cooking lamb in a way that complements rather than repeats.
Look how juicy that chicken is, absolutely brilliant, apparently chicken is a favourite dish for chefs to eat at home and I guess that is because they can cook it well, moist and not dryed out.
Aha! The afore-mentioned raspberry and chocolate ganache with a raspberry sorbet. Look how beautiful it is and how well presented. Almost too lovely to eat. Hah! we battled through that before realising that everyone was looking a little aghast.
There were a lot of people in the very well designed restaurant which means others have found the Winepress before us, also a lot of the diners appeared to be local. The Donnington attracts a lot of golfers and has great offers at the weekend for the spa so they change the Market Menu on Sunday to ensure a wide variety of choice, great idea.
This is definitely a great place to go, if the chef has been here since the beginning and the turnover of staff is low then that is a great sign. Fantastic food, Tony paid for his and we will both be paying next time because there will be a next time.