Latest Restaurant Review (Hadley Park House)
Hadley Park House is a luxury independent hotel and the 18th century grade II Georgian manor house retains many of its original features; it is surrounded by two acres of beautifully landscaped gardens. You can see why this has become one of the top venues for weddings in Shropshire.
Hadley Park House not only boasts a fantastic venue and location but also an AA Rosette restaurant, which they have held consecutively for 13 years. The restaurant is called Dorrells and is situated in the large elegant conservatory.
We were seated in the bar area while we perused the menus and when our starters were nearly ready we were shown through to the restaurant. We were offered a choice of white or brown freshly cooked bread rolls which were amazing, soft and warm plump rolls.
For starters Nik chose the Scallops (£8.95) and I selected the Falafel (£5.50).
Nik’s trio of Scallops were pan seared to a wonderful light golden brown and were beautifully succulent and sweet, the Cajun spice added a nice heat. The corn salad had thin slices of green chillies, sweet red pepper and sticky chunks of rich Chorizo. Often scallops can be served over cooked, but these were perfect and he said they were definitely the best he’d ever had.
My dish had three deliciously soft Falafel balls which had a slight crispness to the outer shell – the red onion, cucumber and yoghurt mint sauce were the perfect accompaniment to this dish.
For mains Nik ordered the Assiette of Lamb, Honey, Parsnip & Redcurrant (£17.95). I chose the Duck Breast, Sweet Potato, Goats Cheese and Pomegranate (16.50).
Nik’s assiette of lamb was served three ways which included a perfectly pink fillet that was cooked to perfection, a confit of lamb which was fantastically tender and a deep fried golden ball coated in breadcrumbs and filled with shredded lamb. All three variations worked perfectly with the rich redcurrant sauce, caramelised parsnips and silky smooth mash potato.
My duck breast was cooked exactly as I had requested and was exceptional – juicy on the inside with a lovely crisp skin, it was served with fontant sweet potato and purée of sweet potato. The pomegranates added a nice texture to the dish and the goats cheese sauce was amazing – overall a fantastic dish.
For dessert Nik opted for the Caramelised White Chocolate (£5.95) and I decided on the Eton Mess (£5.95).
My Eton Mess consisted of three individual meringue swirls with fresh strawberries, strawberries in syrup, cubes of strawberry jelly and dollops of fresh cream! This was the neatest Eton Mess I’ve seen and definitely one of the tastiest! Perfection!
Nik’s said his white chocolate parfait was super smooth and luxurious, along with the juicy poached pear this was a great way to finish a fabulous meal……. or so we thought. We decided to try a Parma Violet Gin & Tonic from the huge selection of gins available at the well-stocked bar and as we sipped our drinks we were presented with a selection of after dinner petite fours, a trio of delights including cute slices of homemade chocolate brownies, cubes of nutty Pistachio fudge and a delicate rhubarb and white chocolate fondant – we would recommend ordering these, it was a lovely end to our meal.
All dishes are created in-house and Head Chef Kev Fellows uses locally sourced ingredients from local suppliers and producers wherever possible to create distinctive, innovative dishes.
Hadley Park House hosts a variety of events throughout the year ranging from taster nights to comedy nights, you will need to book in advance for these events.
Hadley Park House has 22 individually designed bedrooms, including a four-poster suite, with some rooms set in the main house and others in the more contemporary West Wing. There is also a self-contained Mulliner Suite makes a stunning venue for private events and conferences.
Bookings for Christmas are now being taken and include festive dinners, festive party nights, cabaret evenings and festive afternoon teas. Christmas Day lunch always sells out quickly so book soon to avoid disappointment. For a copy of the Christmas brochure give them a call.
There are so many chain restaurants in the area now which always disappoint on both quality and service. Hadley Park House never disappoints; the quality of food is always exceptional and with friendly attentive staff the service is second to none.
Treat someone special and book a table at Hadley Park House – you are sure to impress them with a great quality meal!
Reviewed by Fleur & Nik Abel
