Wordsworth Restaurant, The

This magnificent house in South Leicestershire has a number of distinctive features, one of which is the magnificent Wordsworth Restaurant with its mighty vaulted ceiling, accommodating up to 80 guests within a space that is breathtaking in its grandeur, and offering table d'hôte or à la carte menus.

A typical menu might consist of lobster chowder with bisque sauce and poached oyster, followed by pan fried venison, bubble and squeak and red berry sauce. From a stunning range of desserts making a choice is not easy, but for me it would have to be a dead heat between The Kilworth Tower of Fairies, with chocolate and vanilla profiteroles with caramel spun sugar and melted chocolate, or the mandarin mousse in a shell, where savarin soaked in grand marnier syrup combines with honeycomb ice-cream and butterscotch sauce to make a superb combination of flavours.

The Orangery is as compelling as the Wordsworth room - a fully restored Victorian affair of three lanterns that, instead of sitting alongside the main house as a sort of uneasy appendage, matches it in size and grandeur. What is essentially a brasserie menu is offered with home pickled mackerel, The Orangery muffin burger, and sticky toffee pudding as a mere sample of the wide range of choices.

In the grounds there is a theatre where serious thespianism is alive and well. At the time of writing they have just finished a fully supported three week run of The Pirates of Penzance. Those wishing to entertain may do so in great style at The Staging Post, an authentic log cabin restaurant providing corporate hospitality for up to 70 with a variety of menus to suit the occasion.