CHELTENHAM REGENCY HOTEL-REVIEW

I was treated to a great evening out by a friend who works for a company that supplies hotels and restaurants with fresh produce.

It was at The Cheltenham Regency Hotel.www.cheltenhamregenc...

It was meant to be £49.00 a head and advertised as a Tuscan Themed Evening.

Bubbly and canapes on arrival which included rabbit and foie gras,small haddock cakes,caviar and pomegranate etc.These were accompanied with Prosecco La Marca N.V

To start we were treated to Tuscan antipasti which came out on a wooden board and was meant for sharing(there were 20 of us around a large square shape),so obviously there were several of these boards.
On the boards were a selection of cold meats which included wild boar sausage,prosciutto,parma ham and thinly sliced duck.
To accompany them were plates of mozzarella,tomato and basil.Separate plates of freshly made 'tear and share' bread which was beautiful and also there were separate bowls of olives on offer with delicious boats of EVOO.

With this course came two wines which were Vermentino 2007 Poggio al Tesoro,Bolgehri and Meriggio 2007 Tenuta Fontodi,Panzano


During each course the hotel sommelier took the time to explain the complexity of the wines and her reasons for matching them with the food.This happened with each course.

Then came the Main Course which was a Braised Shank of Lamb served with a celeriac puree and ratatouille jus.

I can only describe this as mouth watering,superbly cooked with a great contrast in flavours.
To accompany this the wines were Chianti Classico 2006,D.O.C.G,Isole e Olena and a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano D.O.C.G 2005 "Carbonaia".

I personally preferred the Vino Nobile as it was slightly more acidic and cut through the lamb beautifully.

For dessert we were treated to a Warm Almond and Apricot cake served with marmalade ice cream.

Most people loved this combination of flavours but I'm not a dessert person so I didn't finish the dish although it was nice.

The wine with this was a Vin Santo "Tegrino" 2003, Cantine Leonardo which baffled me.To be frank I found it quite unpalatable but some said it went well with the dessert.

Expecting that to be that we were pleasantly surprised to be given small plate of petit fours with coffee.
They were hotel made White Chocolate Fudge which was absolutely staggering.Also Chocolate Truffles-again gorgeous and a Fruit pastille type jelly nibble which was lovely aswell.

I can honestly say that I had a fantastic evening and would highly recommend this hotel to anyone.

The Head Chef was a guy named Robin Dudley and in my humble opinion he should have his name up in stars.

My only regret with this review is that I forgot to take my camera.