It was just a few weeks ago now when I was sitting outside in a sunny courtyard, glass of wine in hand (don’t tell Lifehouse) and giving my body a much-needed full spa experience and overnight stay at Lifehouse Spa & Hotel – it was unforgettable. Apart from indulging in a little pampering, I also had to check out its food offering, especially seeing as they had appointed new head chef, Ugo Simonelli. Ugo has created a brand new menu here using clean and fresh flavours inspired by the Mediterranean. Located within a health spa, the food is of course on the healthy, balanced side of things. Part of that fresh & healthy ethos led us to ordering a crabmeat salad with buffalo mozzarella and gem lettuce starter, which turned out to be a little bit of a disaster. The crabmeat was full of shell, the mozzarella was dry and the gem lettuce carrying that all too familiar bitterness with nothing on the plate to take the edge off. Thankfully things didn’t continue on the same path and got better with every new dish that arrived.
Tuscan-style sausages with cannellini beans, radicchio and hazelnut dressing was a gorgeous dish. The plating of it wasn’t great and the sausage shouldn’t have arrived split in half, but the flavour just kept on giving. The sausages were smokey, the cannelini beans were very well cooked and the hazelnut dressing was a dream. In fact this dish surprisingly felt very healthy too, despite all the well equipped flavours running through it. I’m not a huge fan of new potatoes as a side, mostly because I’m normally disappointed, but here they were very good – simple yes – but full of flavour.
Even better still, and I’m told the dish has become very popular, was the grilled leg of goat with pearl barley, peas, broad beans, fine beans and goat’s cheese curd. Personally I can’t ever recall seeing leg of goat on a Mediterranean menu – but it may be the best decision they made here. I’m a big fan of the stuff too, it always has such a strong meaty flavour which for the price, can give a lot. Here it was beautiful cooked, tender and smokey. The broad beans and barley were perhaps not something I’d usually choose, but it worked very well with the dish and made a pleasant, healthy change. Goats curd again went perfectly, but there certainly wasn’t enough of it – meaning at times the dish could be a little dry.
I’m not entirely sure if head chef Ugo has created these desserts himself here at Lifehouse Spa & Hotel or the restaurant employs a separate in-house pastry chef, but it seemed to be the strongest area in which the restaurant really excel. They don’t look like much (my camera is partly to blame) but I can assure you they are every bit delicious. Eton mess slice sounded much more intriguing, but actually its just a standard eton mess, except it was beautifully executed – that meringue had just the right amount of crispness and chewiness. The chocolate and hazelnut torte however stole the show. The torte was incredibly thick and dense, yet take a mouthful and it feels oh-so light, with not an ounce of bitterness. Instead its all rich, balanced and indulgent. Topped with a dollop of cream, sorbet and truffle – this dish would please even the fussiest of eaters.
The Restaurant at Lifehouse Spa & Hotel may have had a shaky start but it turned out to be a lovely evening. It wasn’t exactly a life changing meal, but for a restaurant in a spa hotel trying to serve a menu with a healthy approach, is never going to be an easy task. With dishes such as that gorgeous goat and a chocolate torte to die for, it’s all just another reason why you won’t want to leave Lifehouse Spa & Hotel. For a full restaurant experience head the bar afterwards, they mix together some lovely cocktails. Fancy staying overnight and getting the full spa experience? You can read all about it HERE.
7/10
