Shelagh Davies and partner (P), lunched at the Hotel du Vin’s Bistro in Winchester on January 8th 2000

Editorial note: Sarah Marsh's review of the Hotel du Vin is now pretty old, but interestingly not that dated. When I heard that my cousin Shelagh was to have lunch there, I prevailed upon her to do an update for us. Shelagh has been a professional chef herself, and I believe she has cooked for Prince Ranier of Monaco on more than one occasion. And he lived to tell the tale - toad in the hole, wasn't it Shelagh?

Starters: P ordered a salad of tiger prawns with new potatoes. It was good, except the prawns were rather tasteless due to the fact that added to the salad were delicious slices of pepperoni, lightly fried. In fact it would have been wonderful had they just said "salad of pepperoni with new potatoes" and left out the prawns. The dressing was delicious. My starter was extremely good - smoked salmon and potted crab terrine with toasted brioche and fromage blanc. The light sweetness of the brioche complemented the other flavours beautifully.

Main courses: P had braised shank of lamb and instead of risotto (its official companion), asked for chips. Our waiter had absolutely no problem with this, not stuffy at all about any change of combination. He adored this course. Mine was pan fried sea bass which was good, but just a bit too oily. I love sea bass for its sweet, clean taste. But not a big disappointment.

Puds (yes, we managed them!): P had creme brulee (how predictable - but from the look on his face and complete silence through the course, obviously a perfect choice). I had chocolate and pecan nut tart etc - wow, wonderful. How wicked I was.

The rest - service was superb - and that is not an exaggeration. Even had the meal itself been less good, the friendly yet professional staff would have still made this a pleasant lunch occasion. The tables were laid with white linen napkins, little salt and pepper grinders and, a huge plus for me, bottles of extra-virgin olive oil. They brought a bowl of pistachios and good black olives to nibble on as we chose our courses and a whole baby baguette on a bread board. Coffee was perfect, though I have to admit by then I was quite "jolly" having drunk most of the wine!

Hotel du Vin et Bistrot, Southgate Street, Winchester Hampshire SO23 9EF
Tel 01962 841414 Fax 01962 842458

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