Michelin Star Tasting Menu at Winteringham Fields

As a wedding anniversary gift Mr B had booked an overnight stay and dinner at North Lincolnshire’s only Michelin star restaurant with rooms, Winteringham Fields. As it goes, for Mr B’s anniversary gift I had booked him an overnight stay at a Michelin star restaurant with rooms. Luckily enough we hadn’t booked the same one!

Arriving on a Saturday afternoon we pulled into the courtyard and were soon checked in to our room. The restaurant with rooms has rooms both in the main house and also in the courtyard. All the rooms are individually decorated so it’s worth checking out the website first to see if you have a preference of room when you book, or speaking to one of the helpful team who will help you decide.

We stayed in ‘The Burkill suite’. This beautiful suite was very spacious and we loved the character the suite and the décor had.

The separate lounge was perfect for relaxing with a comfy feature sofa, table, flat screen TV and fridge. The coffee tray had a Nespresso machine and Yorkshire tea bags with fresh milk provided in the fridge along with bottled water. There were two scrumptious chocolate cookies waiting for us which we devoured.

The large bathroom had a big feature bath, walk-in shower, his-and-hers sinks, soft white bathrobes and Penhaligon’s toiletries.

The room had a separate walk-in wardrobe and dressing area with dressing table and mirror. The bedroom, with its huge super king size bed, was decorated in soft pastels and gave both Mr B and I a great night’s sleep. Turn down service is included so whilst we were enjoying dinner, our room was being made ready for us to stumble out of the restaurant and straight into a blissful night’s sleep.

We were both excited for dinner and seeing what the tasting menu had in store for us. We were seated in the bar/lounge area and whilst sipping on a chilled glass of fizz were presented with our first tasting, two delightful snacks for us to enjoy with our pre-dinner drinks.

The snacks were Winteringham Fields’ home cured charcuterie, which was so tasty. Mr B and I both said how nice that would be on a cheese board. It was slightly salty, peppery and spicy, great to get the taste buds going. The second snack was a Lincolnshire poacher tartlet – the tart was so short and buttery, the filling had the lovely kick of strong cheese with a lovely sweetness coming from the apple inside the tart.

When being shown to our table we were taken on a detour where Chef Gareth Bartram was waiting for us with our next course! We loved this fun interactive element and it was great to be in the kitchen speaking with chef. The dish was ‘Tea and crumpet’, which was a mini homemade crumpet with a marmite and cheese top served alongside an onion broth which was an absolute taste sensation. It looked so simple, but packed so much flavour. My comment about the crumpet was . . .  I could eat a full size one of those for breakfast every day!

Seated at our table, we were already loving this tasting menu and the food journey we were going on.

Our first dish at our table was a ‘Chicken taco’. This delicate homemade wrap was filled with BBQ chicken, lime, sauerkraut and a chicken fat panko crumb. I loved the variety of textures this dish had.

I have always been a lover of homemade bread and Winteringham Fields have certainly nailed the perfect combination. We were not served one, but in fact two individual loaves, a roast onion and the other black treacle and ale. They came with accompanying butters, a caramelised butter and a beef fat butter. I was in heaven – such a simple thing but done to this level with such a great combination of flavours was delightful. Needless to say, a few dishes into the menu when we were asked if we would like more bread, we found it too hard to resist!

Smoked cod’s roe was our next dish – the roe was served with 24hr crapaudine beetroot and salted grapes. The beetroot was totally different to what your pallet is normally used to when eating beetroot. It had a gummy texture, like eating a Haribo! And the earthiness wasn’t as prominent, instead being replaced by a level of sweetness.

The next dish, my words cannot possibly do it justice. Our entire meal was incredible, but this dish Mr B and I both agreed stood out from the rest. It was a true taste sensation and had all the ingredients and flavours that Mr B and I love. The dish was Hand dived scallop with laksa and fennel. The huge, beautiful scallop was cooked perfectly with its beautiful sweet flesh and slightly golden outside. The laksa was like getting a flavour punch in the face, with the most perfect balance of spice and coconut. The fresh fennel added another taste and all the three elements just worked harmoniously together.

Lamb belly was our next course. I am very picky with my lamb but, of course, this dish delivered for me. The lamb was slow cooked and finished on the BBQ so the flash and the fat simply melted in the mouth and there was a slight BBQ undertone to it. The lamb was topped with ewes curd, which was lovely and creamy and rich. Alongside the lamb was a broccoli and mint puree which was smooth as silk and a lovely accompaniment.

A fish dish was next – Wild Scottish brill served in a stunning broth which was made with eel, cucumber, smoke and dill. The fish flaked apart and was an utter delight to eat. The broth was packed with flavour – the strong smoky eel with the freshness of the dill and cucumber was so very tasty.

For our final savoury course of the evening we enjoyed a lovely quail dish. It consisted of quail breast, confit leg, celeriac, blackberry siracha, pear. It was a wonderfully rich dish to finish on, the meat cooked so wonderfully, it was moist and flavourful with equally strong punchy flavours from the accompaniments.

Our first dessert was great to cut through the richness of the quail and introduce our pallets to a sweet dish – it was rhubarb and custard. It had so many varieties of rhubarb – cooked, puree, raw, freeze-dried – each one delivering a slightly varying level of flavour and a great combination of textures. It also had a crunch from ginger which was hiding in the dish which was topped with a cloud of custard. There is a reason rhubarb, ginger and custard is a classic combination.

Onto our final course, the end of a stunning tasting menu, we were wondering how it would end and we were finally put out of our suspense when we were presented with ‘Pain perdu, served with mascarpone, pedro ximenez soaked raisins and lime. This dessert ticked every box for me and it became my joint favourite dish along with the scallop dish. The pain perdu made with brioche and soaked in custard was rich and decadent, with the boozy, juicy raisins and sharpness of lime – it was a stunner of a dessert!

Extremely full and delighted with what a wonderful dining experience we had, we made our way into the lounge with it crackling log fire to enjoy one last drink before a great night’s sleep.

After an excellent night’s sleep we made our way to breakfast. A continental breakfast is served to guests with the option to order a full English for a supplement.

Sipping on our loose leaf English breakfast tea we enjoyed an array goodies. We had a freshly-baked croissant each which was extremely buttery and flaky, it could have come out of a French patisserie.

We had a selection of toast with homemade preserves – the lemon curd was my favourite, it was lovely and tart. We also had smoked salmon with crème fraiche and natural yoghurt topped with homemade granola and plum compote.

I thoroughly enjoyed all the elements which made up the continental and the service was just as wonderful as it was at dinner, however, I would have liked to have a hot option included.

This special anniversary celebration for Mr B and I was just as wonderful as we had hoped. The tasting menu was outstanding and we loved the unique accommodation and how well we were looked after.

https://winteringhamfields.co.uk/