A Birthday Treat at Lympstone Manor

On the afternoon of my Birthday I was finally let in on the secret of where we were eating that evening... Michael Caines' Lympstone Manor! Wow, I was not expecting that! K couldn't have made a better choice. 

As we walked from the car park, the recently renovated Lympstone Manor appeared majestically from behind the trees, with gorgeous grounds and a stunning backdrop of the Exe Estuary. 

Sat in the bar area we chose drinks whilst perusing the menu. I felt it rude not to go for a glass of Michael Caines own Blanc de Blancs. We had a choice of A La Carte, Signature Tasting Menu (with meat and fish) and the Estuary Tasting Menu (purely fish). Being my Birthday, I had the choice so the Signature Tasting Menu it was! With the wine flight of course...

We started with some canapes of carrot and coriander, lamb parfait cube and salmon rillettes which was served on a decorative silver spoon. Although tiny, these were packed full of flavour and set our hopes high for the evening.

Shortly, we were taken through to the 'Berry Head' dining room. A fabulous white coloured room with black and white patterned flooring, spectacular glass chandelier, light blue soft furnishings, local art and lots of light flooding in from tall windows and mirrors. You definitely felt by the coast.

The first course to arrive was a langoustine cannelloni with sauce vierge, lemongrass and ginger. A light, fresh and summery way to kick off the menu and had us anticipating the next course.

The second dish out was quail's egg tartlet with onion confit, black truffle, smoked bacon, carrots, mushrooms, pea puree and quail jus. This was a fantastic dish, balanced well and polished off in no time at all!

Next came Cornish salt cod with Beesands crab, chorizo, samphire, tarragon and lemon puree. This dish packed a punch. With the strong flavours of chorizo and lemon bouncing off each other it was an unusual combination that went perfectly alongside the fish.

Then was pan fried duck liver with orange braised chicory, caramelised walnuts and marinated raisins in an orange sauce. A classic mix of flavours that all came together deliciously.

Poking my head out the door towards the kitchen I could actually see Michael Caines in his chef whites, preparing food. This was lovely to see, showing how invested in Lympstone Manor he is.

The main meat dish was fillet of Darts Farm beef with horseradish and shallot confit, celeriac puree, mushrooms and red wine sauce. The beef was so tender it just melted in your mouth and the combination of the meat with the mushrooms and sauce made the taste even better. A delight to eat.

Next was the cheese course and instead of a sharing board, we each were given a plate of small pieces of cheese and a few biscuits. I tend to pass on the cheese course, opting to steal a bite or two off K's plate so I was a bit overwhelmed by a whole plate to myself. Whilst perfectly pleasant, the cheese was a bit mellow for my taste. Normally the stronger and riper the better! I did enjoy the humour of black charcoal heart crackers though!

Now for the sweets! The pre-dessert was apple mousse with green apple sorbet, vanilla foam and an apple crisp. Now this was fantastic, a stealth standout dish. Looking very unassuming at first, once you took a spoon through the layers of different fresh apple textures with the vanilla (I'm a sucker for vanilla) the taste just sang. I could have had another one! The dish was a good palate cleanser too.

Palate cleansed, we came to the finale of the evening. Chocolate orange confit mousse in an orange spherical chocolate shell with orange confit sorbet, crunchy bits and chocolate sticks. Fun, impressive and tasted great, what a showpiece to end with!

Eight courses and canapés down, we retreated, slowly, back to the bar area for coffees and petit fours. We were presented with a grapefruit jelly, lemon mousse ball on biscuit and an earl grey chocolate truffle. These were just right. Not too sweet, a bit sour and chocolate nice and thin around the early grey centre.

After arriving at 7.30pm, we didn't finish everything until gone midnight. This made it quite a long evening and I'd probably have been less full near the end had the courses been closer together. The waiting staff were all very polite but in some cases a bit too quiet and it was hard for me to hear important dish and wine details; our hard-of-hearing group member couldn't hear a thing. Walking back to the car in heels along an uneven gravel path with no lighting was a bit of a challenge too!

The classically fabulous food I cannot fault and the coastal setting is second to none. With a couple of tweaks to the service and some time to settle in and iron out the bumps I can see Lypstone Manor well on its way to a Michelin Star. A very welcome addition to East Devon and I look forward to seeing how it evolves.