Richmond’s Petersham Hotel

It is often worth remembering that London is an expanse that goes beyond the end of underground lines and for all its infernal mix of congestion and roadworks, it is a city enclosed by some delightful countryside.

Stray away from the city centre and you’ll reach verdant areas and small contained villages that have budded off from the main metropolis. A particularly rich area for this is Richmond, an ideal place to roam and spend a leisurely day.

The village of Petersham, which lies just over a mile away, is well favoured by the rich and famous and it is not hard to see why. Its proximity to the river along with the rolling Surrey countryside makes for a delightful area and a serene environment. An establishment well settled within these surroundings is the Petersham Hotel, enjoyed by a wide range of well-known people, ranging from the England rugby team to David Attenborough to Snow Patrol.

Their new degustation features a giddy six courses along with wines that have been specially selected for each course. It would be remiss of me to try and give a detailed description of each course, as given the plethora of courses provided I would only have space for a small précis that would do an injustice to the amount of thought and design that has gone into producing a fantastic dining experience.

The menu is available at £60 or at £98 with a sommelier’s choice of wine for each course. It is a very well balanced meal and even when the food did not reach the highest of standards – the ‘maison’ foie gras being a little insubstantial – it was still clear that a great deal of imagination and thought had gone into preparing the meal. Further proof of this was the fillet of seabass, which was presented with shrimp ravioli and braised leeks and black truffles. This was a dish that was exceedingly well thought out with the shrimp ravioli providing an exquisite counterbalance to the seabass.

The highlight of the evening came in the form of the seasonal fruit soufflé crumble. My experiences of soufflés up until this point had been small, quaint dishes that are delicately picked apart with small spoons. Therefore nothing prepared me for the orb of dessert put down in front of me. My fellow diners and I spent some time trying to figure out the mechanics of how it had been put together. As rapturously light as it was complex, it rounded off a deliriously inventive and splendid meal.

Petersham Hotel
Nightingale Lane
Richmond
TW10 6UZ

Tel: 020 8940 7471