CLOCHE HAT

Excellent all round! Went for my wife's Birthday and everything was great from the moment we walked through the door. Apologies as I'm terrible with names, but the guy that greeted us, took our temperature, and seated us (a tall gentleman who looked like perhaps a manager) was very friendly, attentive and knowledgeable and our other server, a lady who's name began with M, perhaps Maria, was also very friendly, attentive and knowledge. We went for the tasting menu and all the food was fantastic! Each course was delivered to our table with an explanation of what it was, a bit of a story behind the dish and the best way to eat it. Couldn't fault it from start to finish, and the actual size of the dishes, bearing in mind there were more than 10, were very generous! Highly recommend this place and the tasing menu for any special occasion.

Went here for a special anniversary and had the full tasting menu with prestige wine flight. The food was excellent, but this was marred by inattentive sloppy service. One waitress (Mariana) was excellent, but she seemed to be the only one in the restaurant who knew what was going on, and was trying to serve every table. When she wasn't available another older gentleman was serving us (same person who greeted us). He had no idea what any of the dishes were, and was unable to explain them or answer any questions. The wine flight was also most disappointing, with the wines seemingly chosen at random and little explanation as to why they had been selected or the provenance given. On 3 occasions the wine was forgotten and then rushed out when we enquired wile our food was getting cold. We were left for almost an hour between main course and desert and could not flag anyone down for love nor money. Everyone was rushing around heads down. When finally we managed to grab Mariana she realised they'd forgotten another wine pairing completely, so then proceeded to serve a Cotes du Rhone with desert...which is probably the worst pairing you could come up with. I tried to talk to Mariana about the issues with service and the fact that it didn't seem right that she was trying to do everything while the rest of the staff knew nothing, but she didn't seem to get it or accept the problem. Her suggestion was that if we book again we should request that she is our waitress for the whole night. I don't really think this is the solution. It's a real shame. There's some good ideas and cooking here, but I won't be returning any time soon. If you're playing high end prices you expect a seamless and stress free experience. Staff should be attentive and checking on you. They should have had training to understand the food they're serving, and why. Spending your whole meal wondering if they'll remember you're still in the restaurant is far from ideal.

We had an amazing evening at Stovell’s for my best friends 50th birthday. The food was amazing as was the service. The food was so beautifully prepared. The drinks matched the food perfectly. The staff are very friendly and know what they are talking about. I will be going back for more of the same! Amazing.

An amazing meal! Wonderful staff, nice interior and really top notch food. Looking forward to returning to try the Mexican tasting menu. Definitely recommend. Only one negative from the evening was that the lights were up very bright so it lacked the cosy atmosphere the room deserves (bare bulbs on the wall light fittings). The small seating area next to the fire in the adjacent room had a lot of character and was the perfect spot to sip a cocktail or three... 👌

Exceptional in every respect. We were greeted at the door and showed to the bar area which is very cosy. We had arrived early to have a drink which I recommend. The restaurant make their own Gin and the gin and tonic was fantastic. My wife had a non alcoholic version which tasted remarkably similar. We were shown to our table in the intimate dining room which is where the staff really shone. Service was friendly and genuine. They were exceptionally attentive without being overbearing. And then the food....Which was excellent. You are treated to a creative amuse bouche which was a lovely touch. The various courses were all very good. Hilights included the pressed suckling pig, beef wellington and piñata dessert. I will definitely return at some point.

We went with our friends here on New Years Eve for lunch and what a fab culinary journey we had. We elected for the Mexican tasting menu which gave us no less than 11 courses. It was a leisurely stroll through each course, never rushed and we were given a summary of each course by some of the most polite and knowledgeable staff. All in all it took us 3.5 hours to complete our meal(s), but we didn’t see the time go. What a joy of a place, but mind your heads if you are even near 6’ tall…but it’s all part of the charm there…. Superb!!!

We went to Stovell's for a set lunch, to celebrate my wife's birthday. I was impressed by the excellent reviews and cancelled another booking at a Michelin-starred restaurant for this one, thinking that this would be a special 'foodie' experience, as stated in some reviews. Unfortunately I was mistaken. Stovell's currently holds 4 AA Rosettes but no Michelin star. Four Rosettes is a very high rating and should place it "Among the top restaurants in the UK where the cooking demands national recognition.", on par with "The Ledbury" and "The Greenhouse". I cannot understand this rating. Apart from the price, Stovell's cannot be compared to the above Michelin-starred restaurants in London. I would rate Stovell's at 2 Rosettes maximum. In fact, we enjoyed many much better restaurants with 3 Rosettes. Our recent lunch at "Matt Worswick At The Latymer", which also holds 4 Rosettes, was a truly unforgettable experience, but Stovell's was quite poor in comparison. Nobody welcomed us at the door, but I still had hopes. It was an almost empty restaurant, but we were given a nice corner table in the low-ceiling dining room. There was no sommelier, but my wife opted for a glass of Spanish wine, which was fine but very small indeed. After making our menu selection, we were offered a very simple "canapé", with a single choice of bread. The celeriac "shot" was good but rather simple. The bread was good too, but toasted unevenly. We were given a choice of pork dripping with apple, which was interesting, and smoked salted butter that tasted more like margarine. For starter, I chose "Hay Grilled Cornish Mackerel, Celeriac & Orchard Coleslaw". The mackerel was rather small and tasted almost bitter (from the photo, you can see it is almost burnt). I can't remember tasting any celeriac. There was also more coleslaw than mackerel and it was overpowering. It didn't even suit with the fish and there was way too much of it. Although presented nicely, the dish did not make sense. My wife's "Warm Pressed Terrine of Wood Pigeon, Smoked Foie, Compote of Braeburn" was better, but barely had any foie in it, and it was on the whole uninteresting. For main, we both had "Juniper Smoked Rainbow Trout, Legumes & Brown Butter Mayonnaise". The fish was unevenly cooked, mostly overcooked, presented on top of a (king!) bed of lentils. The mayonnaise was very strong, and didn't suit with the more delicate trout. The lentils were uninteresting and there were far too many. The manager advised a side dish to go with the mains. I was surprised with the advice at first, as I would expect the dishes to make sense on their own, but we were tempted to try the fat duck chips. These proved to be completely unnecessary and less good than the fries you get at burger restaurants. For dessert, we chose the "Valrhona Dark Chocolate Fondant, Smoked Milk Ice Cream". The fondant was good but similar to "Gü" puddings from the supermarket. The ice cream was very light, almost like a sorbet. At the end, we didn't take the coffee and petits fours, we just wanted to leave. Overall this was not good value, and I cannot recommend. From now on, I will only trust Michelin inspectors! UPDATE: I wrote this review about 4 months ago, but Mr. Stovell immediately called me and begged me to remove my review. He blamed our bad experience on his lack of attention due to a recent divorce and promised me a lunch on the house. I gave him a second chance and removed the review, but despite my best efforts in booking another lunch, another visit seemed impossible, and I cannot trust Mr. Stovell anymore.

I feel sad writing this, as we used to love this place, however it's going downhill. We had the tasting menu with premium wine flight, but it really didn't live up to the expensive bill. The menu choices were bland, no real excitement of old and felt unimaginative. The fish was good, but the remaining dishes were weak. Staff were average. Good sommelier, however waiting staff were clearly new and not trained to the standards expected. Compared to other high end restaurants in the area, it's lost the competitive edge. It's a real shame, therefore we probably won't be returning until changes are made.