Visit: 21 November 2024
Award: 1 Michelin Star
Price: ***
Website: https://www.thesamlinghotel.co.uk/featuresnew/restaurant/
The Review:
The hotel sits 350 feet above the eastern shores of Windermere in 67 acres of gardens and pasture, with woodland behind and superb views of the lake and fells beyond. The house was turned into a 12 bedroom hotel in 2002, with outbuildings providing additional bedrooms, and a slate and glass-walled dining room and terrace with stunning views across Lake Windermere.
The tasting menu, and vegetarian tasting menu, cost £150 per person with an optional Wine Tasting at £130, £350 or £950 per person. The menu was emailed to me a few days prior to our visit to check that I was happy with the courses, which was unusual and a very nice touch. They have a remarkable selection of 600 wines, including over 40 champagnes and an assortment of English sparkling wines.
We chose a Sir Peter Michael ‘L’Après-Midi’ which is a Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon blend from his Les Pavots Vineyard, in Knights Valley, Sonoma County. We used to drink a lot of this on our visits to his hotel, The Vineyard at Stockcross. The wine is whole-cluster-pressed and then naturally fermented in a barrel, forgoing a second malolactic fermentation to preserve the fruity and zesty character of the Sauvignon Blanc. It is predominantly made from Sauvignon Blanc, with just a touch of Sémillon. A beautiful wine.
Executive Head Chef Robby Jenks joined The Samling in 2019, moving on from The Vineyard at Stockcross. The restaurant at The Samling regained its one Michelin Star in 2023. The team at the Samling, including Robby and the kitchen brigade, Rebecca Galland the Food & Beverage Manager, Nigel Williamson the Restaurant Manager, and the rest of the staff, made our stay at the hotel and our dining experience truly memorable.
Our first canape was a nitro frozen mojito cocktail with mint, lime and rum served on a spoon. This was very refreshing, melting in your mouth. The next canape was a tartlet of fresh crab with a bergamot foam, and fennel, which was very tasty. Then there was a croustade filled with pickled beetroot from the garden, and topped with a Templegall cheese custard. Templegall cheese is an Alpine style cheese, made in Ireland by Hegarty’s Cheese in Cork from raw cows’ milk, with a nutty and creamy taste, similar to Comte or Gruyere. Both of these snacks were very good.
Two breads were served. A sourdough bread with pumpkin seeds, served with a pumpkin butter, and a white olive loaf served, with a salted butter.
Our first starter course had a Jerusalem artichoke velouté at the bottom with Iberico ham in the middle, topped with an Iberico sauce and Jerusalem artichoke crisps. This was very good, with great flavours.
Our next course was langoustine, served with small dollops of caviar, with langoustine mayonnaise, a langoustine jelly, and wood sorrel. The natural sweetness of the langoustines, the saltiness of the caviar, and the slight sourness of the wood sorrel was a perfect flavour combination.
Our next course was Alba white truffle, with celeriac and egg yolk. On the bottom was a red onion marmalade that was topped with a smoked potato mousse, then a slow cooked egg yolk with Italian Alba white truffle grated over, topped with an Alba white truffle tuille, and a celeriac puree, pickled celeriac, and nasturtium leaves. The much prized Alba white truffles have a unique flavour that is difficult to describe. They have a complex earthy flavour, like a combination of garlic, cheese, and mushroom, with a bit of pepper, pairing perfectly with the egg yolk and the smoked potato mousse. This was a very good dish with an exceptional flavour profile.
The fish course was monkfish, with saffron and dill. The monkfish was rolled with shellfish, topped with a dill mayonnaise, textures of heritage carrot, and served with an intense saffron sauce. The fish was precisely cooked with good flavour.
Our main course was duck, with hen of the woods mushrooms, and tarragon. The duck was served under a cloche with smoke. It was topped with honey and lemon thyme, with textures of mushrooms, a tarragon mayonnaise, and a rich, silky duck jus. This was served with a separate bowl of the pan fried duck liver, with smoked hen of the woods mushroom mousse and a tuille on top. The duck was well presented and had very good flavour, and the side dish of offal and mushrooms was very tasty.
The first dessert was quince, with pear and cinnamon. This was a cinnamon basket, containing Nashi pear and a Nashi pear and quince sorbet, sitting on a quince jelly. Nashi are Japanese pears that are large, round, juicy and crisp, with textures similar to an apple, but a distinctly pear taste. This worked very well with the quince which had flavours of pear, apple, and citrus. A very refreshing combination.
The main dessert was chocolate, with coffee and cardamon. A chocolate cake had been dipped into a rich chocolate fondant flavoured with cardamom. A hole in the middle was filled with espresso coffee ice cream. The cake was topped with piped caramel cream, a dark chocolate tuille, and a chocolate with a Samling motif.
There was an optional cheese trolley, at a £20 supplement, which we couldn’t manage.
Finally there was a selection of petit fours served from a model of the main house at The Samling. There was a white chocolate with apple from their orchard, with toffee, another with honey, from their bee hive, that was made into a caramel, and one made with locally foraged blackberries. These were all beautifully presented and had good flavours.
The meal was excellent, with high quality, well cooked food and very good service. The Samling is a lovely destination and we look forward to returning next year.
The Menu:
The Food:
The People:
Executive Head Chef Robby Jenks began his hospitality career at the age of 16 and has worked for a number of luxury restaurants and hotels, including five and a half years at Gidleigh Park with Michael Caines, at Whatley Manor under two Michelin starred chef Martin Burge, and as head chef at Amberley Castle.
He joined The Vineyard at Stockcross in 2016 as head chef. Three years later he left to take up the Executive Head Chef position at The Samling Hotel.
He joined The Samling alongside his partner Rebecca Galland, who was the Restaurant Manager at The Vineyard, before being appointed Food & Beverage Manager at The Samling.
The Samling had lost it’s one Michelin star in 2017, and Robby alongside Head Chef Carl Wild helped regain it in 2023. The star was retained in 2024.
The Gastro-gnomes and Robby:
The Restaurant:
