The Vineyard Hotel Restaurant Review: Destination Dining in Newbury, Berkshire

There really is nothing better than returning to a restaurant you have such fond memories of dining at, but to return and it having become even better still. We last dined at The Vineyard Restaurant almost three years ago now, but its newest head chef, Robby Jenks has injected some new life here. Modern dishes, full of flavour and when it comes to cooking in the kitchen – it’s all about precision.

The restaurant here at The Vineyard Hotel is rather well-know for its special Judgement of Paris tasting menu, an event which is seen as one of the most pivotal moments in wine history. A blind wine tasting of French and Californian wines, nearly forty years ago, that forever changed the future of winemaking when unknown Californian wines were chosen over some of France’s finest by some of the top critics. It also means that with each course during your meal, you’ll be served one French and one American wine – it’s then up to you to work out which is which! It’s great fun.

To whet our appetite and while we looked over the menu, a small amuse bouche arrived and it really was the most perfect way to start – especially as it also came with a glass of wine. A small cheesecake of sorts, washed down with a mouth-watering glass of Riesling if my memory serves well. I’ve never been served wine as a joint part of an amuse bouche before and I certainly hope it won’t be the last.

First of our dishes from the kitchen was one which gave a real insight into just what this kitchen has to offer. A stunning piece of slightly blow-torched Loch Duart salmon was as flaky as could be and came served with the most wonderful wasabi ice-cream which offered a lovely lingering heat, but quickly cooled down by the ice-cream. A little Daurenki caviar on top – just to make this dish even better than it already was.

I know we’re only getting into talking about our second dish, but I can already say to you that we didn’t eat a single bad dish during our evening here and I found it rather hard to criticise anything. This shellfish ravioli for example was probably the best ravioli I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating – filled to the brim with delicious flaky white meat and saturated in a gorgeously rich shellfish bisque. The addition of grapefruit was also a lovely touch, cutting through the richness of the dish.

Pan-fried foie gras with grape, hazelnut and pain d’epice was another stunning creation and equally as satisfying. The foie gras cut through like butter and melted in the mouth, the grape added a little acidity and the chopped hazelnuts was a much-welcomed addition of texture. It went perfectly with our wine pairing too, though with two glasses per course my I’d lost track of which paired with which – though we did note down our favourites.

Devonshire cod with cauliflower, curry and coconut was an absolute dream and again the precision of cooking was at times like this, rather astonishing. The skin of the fish was so crispy, but the flesh moist and flaky. A very refined plate of food and one I’d love to eat all over again soon.

Coming fresh into new season Lamb, now is the perfect time to eat it so if it’s on a menu – order it! Here it was served with a rather delicious hay butter fondant, peas, morels, balsamic and lots of lovely smears. The jus was particularly memorable and that lamb was even better than we’d hoped for.

Desserts were truly fantastic and were more like pieces of art. Our pre-dessert was a lovely refreshing mixture of lime, coconut, pineapple & basil – leaving us salivating and satisfied. While the main spectacle was a stunning circular piece of Breton, topped with vanilla cream, zesty full-flavoured rhubarb and laced with a little ginger, the latter I think they should have been a bit heavier with. A really lovely way to end our meal.

We finished up on a few too many home-made chocolates, before crawling up to our room from perhaps a little too much food and wine. It was so nice to be back at The Vineyard in this wine focused hotel and the cooking right now is for me the best it has ever been. While I loved it before those many years ago, the food feels more accomplished now and I’ve no doubt they’ll be seeing many accolades over the next few years. If you’ve been before then go again and if you’re toiling over the idea then I highly recommend you book now because when we dined, there wasn’t a free table in sight.