Carrington's Restaurant at Hatton Court

Built in the style of a 17th century Manor House, Hatton Court offers superb views across the Severn and Malvern Hills. The emphasis is on quiet luxury, an inclination that happily extends into the dining room where standards are high. Starters bristle with originality and may include smoked haddock brandade with a salad of fine beans, red onion and a coarse grained mustard, or braised potted pork with braised shallots, buttered spinach, new potatoes and sweet onion marmalade.

If you are a twosome you may wish to consider the attractions of chateaubriand, a fillet steak roasted for two and served with onion rings, spiced flat cap mushrooms, tomato, a panache of vegetables and béarnaise sauce. The poached turbot with braised lettuce, peas and crisp pancetta is rounded off with trompette mushrooms. Vegetarians are catered for and the braised onion filled with a parmesan and mushroom ragout comes with salsify and saffron, possibly tempting even some wavering carnivores.

The desserts do not disappoint either and many may find the trio of milk chocolate pudding and pink custard, lemon pudding with lemon syrup and orange pudding with orange syrup totally irresistible. For those made of less stern stuff a white peach parfait served with a hot roasted peach and glazed with an orange caramel sauce could provide an alternative. The wine list carries quite a strong French influence but seems to be developing along more worldly lines, with three red and three white house wines at £13.95 a bottle.