Restaurant at Bowlish House

This incredibly pretty house, recently brought back to life by Darren Carter and Jason Goy, now offers a restaurant with rooms in elegant surroundings. The restaurant, described as 'intimate' in one guide is painted a deep aubergine which possibly prompts a reflection on the famous remark about a leading politician, "something of the night . . . ." The effect is dramatic.

The day is split into four periods of eating, with dinner as the main event. Darren offers a two or three course menu, starting with a selection of canapés before going on to, say, starters of smoked haddock on a bed of lemon and ginger risotto, or a warm salad of asparagus with feta and quail's egg. Vegetarians are kept in mind with a delicate Mediterranean tart accompanied by garlic mash and a green pepper crème frâiche. Breast of duck on coconut noodles with a cherry sauce marks a welcome return to basics and the puddings tend to follow suit with steamed chocolate pudding accompanied by double chocolate ice cream and caramel sauce, and fresh fruit salad with crème chiboust well up the list. Menus follow the seasons and total freshness is assured.

If the contents of the cellar depend upon the temperature, though recent research now seems to cast some doubts, Bowlish House is fortunate. A spring under the cellar flags links up with a small stream to give a remarkably consistent temperature, varying no more than 2 or 3 degrees winter or summer. The enterprise is all part of a long term renovation of this beautiful Grade 2 listed Georgian Palladian house, which everyone wants to see succeed.