Great House at Lavenham, The

There is about the East Anglian countryside an air of antiquity quite unlike anywhere else I have encountered in Britain. It is at its strongest in places like Lavenham where a combination of ancient buildings, warm dry summers and the red brick and half timbering peculiar to counties like Suffolk are at their best.

It is no surprise therefore that the Great House at Lavenham should fit in so well to this idyllic background. Lavenham has to be high on the list of most attractive villages in England, the sort of place where people who may be weary of their everyday locations come for some well-earned rejuvenation.

Described by The Mail on Sunday as "a gem of a small country hotel-restaurant with an authentic taste of France", The Great House has five luxurious accommodations, with no expense spared to ensure the sort of setting where, as you walk into your room you know instinctively that this is your personal paradise, yours for as long as you can stay.

Eating well is every bit as important to the process as resting well, and when The Sunday Telegraph said, "The Great House is a cracking restaurant" it was not referring to the foundations, which incidentally are in fine shape. There are several menus, of which the à la carte is but one example, and whilst the overall influence is French, ingredients tend to follow regional sourcing with an emphasis on freshness.

Starters could include sautéed medallions of veal sweetbreads and French black pudding sausage, chilled French pea soup served with lobster medallion, sour cream and salmon roe, or home-cured salmon and dill gravadlax with an avocado mousse and homemade tomato sorbet with cucumber dressing.

First courses of this kind of integrity create the sort of confidence that enables a meal to be enjoyed to the full and main courses of French wild seabass, done as a thick fillet marinated with fennel seeds and dill, or grilled prime fillet of English beef cooked to your preference, with port sauce and pan-fried fresh duck foie gras, do nothing to diminish this sense of well-being.

Dinner brings perhaps a creamy tomato and pepper soup served with basil crème fraîche and croutons, followed by grilled fillet of lamb served with garlic cream and parsley jus.

It is within the dessert menu at The Great House that opportunities exist for the most outrageous indulgence. Who, in their right gastronomic mind, would be able to keep calm as they dallied between the relative merits of a perfectly executed vanilla crème brûlée with crispy top just so, or a creamy white chocolate and lime mousse served on to white and milk chocolate leaves with fresh raspberries and a lime and mint jus?

Well, I suppose there are those who would head unerringly for the wonderful selection of perfectly kept French cheeses, indeed I might be amongst them, but I think the point is clear.

It would be strange if the wine list was anything but equal to the task of matching the cuisine, and not only is the selection everything you would expect and by no means confined to France alone, it is also amazingly good value for money. There is a magnificent range of half bottles, excellent house wine and champagne by the glass, with ports, cognacs, armagnacs and liqueurs enough to ensure a very happy landing.

If I display inclinations towards what some might see as a rave review, it is simply because a lot of people get parts of it right part of the time - few achieve the full monty. Be assured that The Great House at Lavenham is most definitely one of them.

Their Website informs well about the hotel and restaurant and has a number of useful links to enhance your enjoyment on a wider scale.