David Harold (16 August 2006)

Perched on a little country lane north of Torquay Orestone Manor, a colonial style boutique hotel, initially seemed to present that most terrifying of situations - walking into an empty restaurant with a firm booking. Usually my philosophy on empty restaurants is to pass them by, but this was a different case, since Orestone Manor has a Michelin Star.

Cocktails - in my case a delicious Kir Royale evidently made with a decent enough champagne - were served on the Colonial deck and we then repaired to the dinning room where an eclectic collection of fine art shared space with both an elegant elephant bedecked wine cupboard and a hanging Chinese dragon.

Curiously, half way through our meal our Eastern European waitress was replaced by Tom, evidently a local, but service was excellent and Tom proved very capable when we asked him to explain what ingredients made up Kate's strawberry gazpacho dessert.

I had fishcakes with poached eggs to start - the lightly bound fish reminding me of a more rustic version of Thai fishcakes. Confit of duck leg followed and was as perfect as the dish can be. I went for a cheese plate rather than a sweet dessert but tried the strawberry gazpacho, which was delicious too. The cheese plate was remarkably substantial, particularly bearing in mind that we were eating the set lunch menu at ~£20 a head.

Overall Orestone Manor really hit all my buttons - a setting with lots of character, charming service, a good bar, excellent food and a pleasing degree of communication from the kitchen. I shall definitely be back.