Dining at Fishmore Hall, Ludlow *

 The food at Fishmore Hall really did exceed all expectations. Dinner in a hotel isn’t usually top of my list to do when travelling but after reading the website and seeing photos of the food online, this was a hotel meal I wouldn’t be skipping.

Forelles is situated on the ground floor of the hotel and was very popular with non-residents too; that’s such a good sign right?!

After drinks in the lounge were taken through to the dining room and sat next to the window overlooking the stunning Shropshire Hills and a rather well kept Jaguar E-Type in the car park! I was in my element!

I’m going to try and keep this post not too photo heavy as it was all such good food I had to keep taking photos!

My starter was the Lobster. I am such a sucker for lobster, whenever I see it on a menu I just have to have it as I would never cook it at home as I’d be scared to ruin it! The lobster consisted of Lobster and Salmon Ravioli served with Coriander, Tomato, Lemon, Keta Caviar and a Spiced Lobster Bisque that was poured over on arrival. My whole time sat eating it, I was wondering to myself ‘Why haven’t I had Lobster Ravioli before?!’ as it was the actual dream. I’d never thought of using seafood in ravioli! In all honesty, I could have had a larger portion for dinner straight after this and left happy!

Mike started with the Scallops; my usual favourite! They were served with Chicken, Apple, Celeriac and Hazelnuts and the scallops themselves were Hand Dived from Orkney in Scotland. We’d never experience scallops served with a meat other than black pudding so this was another dish that shocked us with how well it had worked.

For our mains, Mike opted for the Loin of Shropshire Lamb served with Ewes Curd (a type of cheese), Asparagus, and Confit Potatoes in a Wild Garlic Pesto. The meat melted in his mouth and the pesto accompanied perfectly.

 I thought I’d give the Gigha Halibut a try as again, it’s not something I’d even begin to know how to cook at home, I wouldn’t do it justice!  The meal was served with Shrimps, Sweet Potato, Monk Beard (similar to Samphire!) and drizzled with Champagne Butter Sauce. I now want all of my meals drizzled with Champagne Butter Sauce as it a taste sensation. Everything on the plate worked well together and now I’m going to try pairing more of my fish dishes at home with sweet potatoes.

We just about had room for dessert, and Mike chose the Passion Fruit and White Chocolate Cheesecake, served with Mango, Passion Fruit and Mango Sorbet. This a total shock when he ordered this as he’s not normally a mango kinda guy but he thoroughly enjoyed every mouthful!

 I did the obvious and had the Salted Caramel Fondant that came with a small dollop of both Crème Fraîche and Cider Sorbet. Not a morsel left of that in sight!

We had read that the head chef, Andrew Birch, was causing stirs with his local sourced products and amazing meals but we really weren’t prepared for just how good it really was.

Another praise has to be for the staff, there were at least eight of them working the restaurant the night we were there. The service was amazing, all staff really friendly and we didn’t even have to pour or own wine and water.

We’ve already agreed we need to send our parents here as it was right up their street too!

The three course A la Carte menu that we dined from costs £55 per person with hot drinks.