Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park

Stayed a night at Lucknam Park to enjoy the hotel, spa and culinary delights of Michelin star chef Hywel Jones - and, even though the restaurant itself is a little old fashioned bordering on stuffy, it was a delightful dining experience. We enjoyed Mackerel tartar to kick off. A great dish, though a little under seasoned. The Scallop dish was wonderful with girolles, celeriac puree and a beautifully delicate sauce. The Turbot, followed by the Lamb dish (which we were later told was beef) were equally amazing. Then the Cheese course - wow, great selection and presentation from the young lady from Newport. The dessert was the only shortfall. It wasn't at all ordinary, but it wasn't extraordinary either. The recommended accompanying Gattinara Italian wine went down a treat. So overall, a classy and tasty fine dining experience.

This is how a Michelin star experience should look like! From the moment you step into the beautiful and elegant country manor you are invited for welcome drinks that you can chose to sip on in the most stunning library, while picking your menu and the wine to complement. The dinner then takes place in the dining room, and even though it’s a 8 course menu you don’t feel overly full. The dishes are made with great attention to detail and taste phenomenal, it’s a wonderful place for a romantic dinner for two, Highly recommend !

I dined at Hywel Jones last week during my trip to the Cotswolds and had a mixed experience. First off, the good - the food and wine were amazing. We chose to do the à la carte menu and each dish was so balanced. The amuse bouche which was a parsnip mash was incredible. The dishes were also beautifully constructed. Now on to the bad - the hostess was awful and quite abrasive. She barely looked us in the eye and kind of tossed us the menus. She said she would send the sommelier over and walked off. As this was our first encounter with the staff, it instantly left a sour taste in my mouth. Luckily the rest of the staff were lovely. I had dined with 2 other people and we all realized that we had felt the same coldness from the hostess when discussing the dinner after the fact. A few minor things we noted about the service was that no one removed the crumbs from our table between courses and our napkins were not placed on our laps. These are things we have experienced at other Michelin star restaurants in France etc and while minor, they do enhance the dining experience.

Fantastic experience, Michelin worthy restaurant with amazing staff and top notch food. The tasting menu and wine pairing are great.

Beautiful room and excellent service. All the staff were warm, informative and extremely professional. Tasting menu was exceptional by British standards, and service was brisk. Food was unique and flavourful. Will visit again!

Wonderful evening! An amuse bouche before going into the restaurant which was tasty. We had the 3 course menu which was more than enough for us. So many different texture and flavours. The service was great! Everyone was so kind and helpful. The wine was delicious too and well priced. Great evening and would definitely recommend!

Michelin worthy experience we are glad we tried. But would we return? The HJ experience started with a suggestion that we arrive early for a cocktail and a relaxed opportunity to review the menu. We are glad we took their suggestion. The Lucknam Park property is unique and beautiful. And the room where we relaxed with our cocktail was decorated a touch old school for my taste, but it was certainly beautiful and well appointed. The staff kicks of your pre-dinning experience with professional and attentive service that lasts through to the end of the meal. The dining room continued the theme of the entire hotel. Subtle luxury. we ordered the seasonal tasting menu. Collectively enjoyed the canapes (hit and miss, mostly hit), salmon (delicious), scallop (tasty), turbot (well prepared but not particularly flavorful), lamb (beautiful), cheese (a solid hit) and dessert (unmemorable). Bottom line, we were looking forward to HJ and enjoyed our meal. But it got me thinking about what one really receives from a fine dining experience. For every slam dunk awesome meal (San Sebastien's 2-star Amelia), we get a couple (HJ and The Latymer on this trip) that are enjoyable, but also inconsistent. I guess finding the gem is the point of experimenting with fine dining on occasion. While we would not return to HJ I recommend you try it for yourself. It's a good operation, it just did not wow us this time.

Extremely fresh and tasty ingredients (scallop was the best I've had)! Prepared and served well, waiters were prompt, kind and welcoming. Sommeliers were interested and good at explaining, the passion was certainly there and I had some excellent wines with their standard pairing. Total time for the meal was 2:45hrs (we didn't take it slow but also not rushing 😉) at around £250pp with wine pairing, you could definitely take longer if you'd like to have pre and post drinks coffee etc in their fantastic garden/library. They have a smart casual dress code, but it's a rather relaxed atmosphere in a grand old dining room. PS. Breakfasts and afternoon tea were absolutely fantastic and service impeccable too.