Saturday November 17th, 2001

Dining Times

An Oscar Winning Restaurant

If you enjoy eating out in elegant surroundings with a good atmosphere, great service and most of all excellent food, then I have just found the place for you.

Oscars Restaurant at the Hurtwood Inn Hotel is one of those places that you will want to tell all your friends about, but at the same time want to keep it a secret all for yourself.

Canapés on arrival set the tone for the rest of the night. Before being shown to our table we were given the excellent wine list and our gourmet menus. We were left to choose from the mouth watering dishes on offer.

For starters I chose parfait of foie gras de canard served with shallot confit and caramelised orange segments and my partner opted for Loch Torridon king scallop presented on a duet of lobster sauce and caviar buerre blanc.

Both arrived looking spectacular and tasting every bit as good as they looked.

For our next course we chose rock oysters that were perfectly complimented by the Champagne sabayon they were served with. Main course was a difficult decision, but in the fillet of beef with lentil sauce, pomme noisette and rutabaga mash sounded too good to miss.

My partner chose the fillet of seabass and paupiette of lemon sole served with spinach and shellfish sauce. When these arrived at the table we both looked at each other knowing we were again in in for a tastebud extravaganza and we weren’t disappointed. The beef with its accompaniment of vegetables was heaven and the seabass and lemon sole just melted in the mouth.

Dessert was an easy choice for us - New York-style cheesecake with warm mocha sauce and home-made Baileys ice-cream. The cheesecake was excellent and if you like Baileys then this was something special. After coffee and truffles it was safe to say we had just experienced something very special indeed. The excellent tasting and colourful food was prepared and cooked by Oscars’ new and acclaimed chef Robert Becker.

The waiting team were excellent, headed by maitre de Ricardo, and our night was made that bit more special by the live piano music being played.

For more details on gourmet nights and other upcoming events including Christmas and New Year celebrations telephone: 01306 730851 or visit www.hurtwoodhotel.com