Beaulieu Rd
Lyndhurst
Hampshire
SO43 7FZ

Tel: 023 8028 7177

Website: www.limewoodhotel.co.uk

Vegetarian: Yes

Parking: Own car park

Wheelchairs: Easy

Loos: Excellent

I am sure by now you must all have read about the imminent opening of Lime Wood, the only luxury 5 star country house hotel in the New Forest National Park.    Situated near Lyndhurst the hotel has undergone five years of extensive refurbishment and we can tell you that the results are stunning!

We Ladies were honoured to be invited by Michelin starred chef Alex Aitken to lunch at his chef’s table before the official opening on November 23rd, what a scoop and so exciting, you would have thought we were off to our first party!

Upon entering Lime Wood we immediately realized that our conversation was going to consist of constant oooh’s and ahhh’s….. the marble floors, the chandeliers, the bespoke furniture, the staircases, the art work and even the floral displays are beyond compare.

We were ushered into Max’s Bar to be greeted by Max himself or to give him his full title Massimilano Romano!  Alex had primed him that we are very particular about our G&T’s so as head barman he was determined that his were going to impress.  For the first time it took us almost as long to decide on which exotic addition we were going to choose to enhance our gins as ordering an entire meal!  We settled for two flavoured with lemon grass and ginger and two with balsamic vinegar, a refreshing change…. barmen of Hampshire please take note!

Alex popped in to say hello, he is understandably bursting with pride with his new venture.  And then Cedric the restaurant manager arrived with the menus.  After consultation we decided to leave the food choices to Alex and the choice of wines to compliment the food to the sommelier….. yes, we were being thoroughly spoilt.

It was time to make our way to the kitchen but on the way we looked at The Scullery which has a more informal country house kitchen setting.  Such a lovely room and so different to anything else we have ever seen; painted wooden floors, communal tables and panelled walls brimming with pots of forest chutneys and pickles.  It is open all day for informal dining there is also a beautiful walled back terrace for summer dining.  Then we looked in on The Dining Room by Alex Aitken…. more exclamations of admiration and again the décor is so unique.  This is the more formal dining room but it is definitely not stiff and starchy and you must check out the lights!  Best of all as well as the A La Carte they do a very affordable two course lunch menu for £18.  You must look at the sample menus on their website.  Alex is passionate about using local, organic produce and both menus are bursting with delicious ‘forest food' from their doorstep; wild mushrooms, garlic, local venison and home-reared beef and lamb. 

Max in The Courtyard

The Scullery

Risotto

Boudin of Wild Mushroom

Scallops

Pork & Prawns

The chefs

Veal

Pannacotta

Alex with the LWL unmasked!

As we were VIP’s (!) we were whisked through to the chef’s table, a lovely old long wooden table that will seat up to 10 on benches.  We were all sat along one side so we had an uninterruped view of Alex and his team hard at work amongst the gleaming stainless steel of the state of the art new kitchen.  They were obviously busy but there were no tantrums or swearing, not even any dramas and they still managed to produce the most wonderful food! 

Our menu……. Amuse Bouche of Parsnip Veloute.
 
Risotto – Wild Mushroom, Soft Poached Egg & Madeira Sauce.
Boudin Of Wild Mushroom, on Wild Rice with Wild Mushrooms.
Wine: Bourgogne Blanc Chateau de la Mattroy 2005.

Scallops on Creamy Leek Tart with Crispy Fried Leeks, Balsamic Dressing. 
Pork and Prawns, Home Reared Belly Pork, Plump Prawns, Lime Syrup & Ginger Foam. 
Wine: St Joseph E Guigal 2006.

Veal Slow Roast Veal Cutlet, Croquette Potato, Veal Sweetbreads, Wilted Spinach.
Wine: Marsarray denis Murtet.

Vanilla Pannacott, Exotic Fruit Salad.
Wine: Tokaji 5 Puttonyos Chateau Derezla 2003.

Suffice to say that every mouthful was absolutely delicious and in particular the veal, it was so tender and succulent.  This was one of our greatest dining experiences!  (The wine was pretty good as well!)

Lunch was enhanced by the fun of sitting in the kitchen and exchanging banter with Alex and the chefs whilst being looked after in a friendly and efficient manner by Cedric and his staff.  In fact all the staff impressed us so much with their enthusiasm for and their pride in Lime Wood.  Refreshingly, during our after lunch tour with Cedric of the other public rooms and some of the bedrooms, we encountered staff of all levels unloading furniture and obviously all working together to ensure everything is perfect for the opening.

It goes with out saying that the bedrooms and bathrooms offer the highest standards of comfort and luxury but the forest views from the windows impressed as well.  It was almost as if the trees with their gorgeous Autumnal colours had been placed in the perfect spots by the designers!

Obviously this is not an unbiased review and we have no idea how much our bill would have been but we highly recommend you go and enjoy Lime Wood for yourself; it is gorgeous, not pompous or pretentious just beautiful and luxurious.  We are sure you will have a very special time including no doubt your own guided tour!

Ladies Who Lunch Scoring:

Quality of food
Variety of menu
Staff and service
Ambience, setting and decor
Value for Money

Total Yummy Factor

5/5 = Cannot be improved upon, 4/5 = Very good, 3/5 = Good,
2/5 = Satisfactory, 1/5 = Poor, 0/5 = Terrible

The higher the "Yummy" factor, the better the food & service. The higher the number of £ signs the more expensive. (Roughly one £ sign = £5 per head)