Lympstone Manor has opened its Pool House restaurant to non-residents for a limited time. Take this opportunity to enjoy culinary excellence, along with great views, writes Catherine Courtenay
Lympstone Manor is undeniably the South West’s premiere hotel and restaurant, the ultimate in luxurious living and fine dining. This means that to stay and eat at chef/patron Michael Caines’ 5 AA Rosette and Michelin-starred venue is reassuringly expensive. It is after all, exceptional.
However, there is a way to experience something of the Lympstone lifestyle without the big spend.
The Pool House is a restaurant and bar set within the manor grounds. It’s a new build, situated alongside the outdoor heated pool, tennis court and croquet lawn and it opened last summer, offering an alternative dining venue for hotel guests.
This is casual, relaxed dining, but still with the elegance and perfectionism you’d expect from a Michael Caines establishment.
The Pool House is reached by following the path across the front of the Georgian manor house, down the sloping lawns and past various sculptures, to the impressive glass-walled contemporary building.
We’re greeted by Adam on front of house, who meets us outside and leads us in to our table. Hospitality, looking after guests, it’s in the DNA of Lympstone Manor, and it continues throughout the dining experience. Cutlery, crockery, linen, seating, all of it says quality, comfort and excellence. No need to worry about anything, attentive service means you can truly relax and it feels as if you have all the time in the world to soak up the experience.
The set menu is designed as an alternative to the fine dining offering in the manor’s restaurant, but it still meets those high expectations. There are three choices for each course and local ingredients are to the fore, namely Darts Farm meat – in the form of a ham hock terrine starter and beef ragout main – and River Teign mussels, in a delicate, herby Provencal sauce.
A chunky fishcake comes on a bed of spinach with a mustard sauce and for vegetarians there’s a Dartmoor wild mushroom risotto, indulgently creamy and with an umami deepness.
There’s a welcome drink, mulled wine on this occasion, and excellent advice on pairing of wines to courses. Everything is beautifully presented, the desserts, a banana parfait and hazelnut St Honore, each accompanied by a zesty sorbet, are almost too beautiful to eat.
From the basket of freshly made breads to start the meal to a perfect espresso to end, it is a dining experience to treasure.
The Pool House will have a very different feel in the summer months, when its glass doors are flung open and guests mingle around the poolside, but for now, it’s a quietly calm spot, somewhere comfortable to sit and eat and take in the atmosphere, whatever the weather.
And as for the views over the Exe Estuary, they are endlessly fascinating. On this sunlit winter’s day, the light is constantly changing, the colours shifting from bright blues and greens to moody charcoal, purples and the reds of the setting sun. Looking back at the manor, it’s warm cream walls catch and reflect the last of the setting sun’s rays.
‘I’ve been here a year and I never tire of seeing those views,’ says Adam. Yes, I can understand that.
The Pool House is open to non-residents for lunches served from noon to 2pm, Wednesday to Sunday until the end of March.
Two courses, £45, three courses £60. All members of the family are welcome, includng well behaved dogs. Must be booked in advance.
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