The Master Builder's House Hotel,
Buckler's Hard, Beaulieu, Hampshire

This lovely hotel, bar and restaurant is located in one of my most favourite places in all the world. The best way to approach it is from the sea: sail up the Beaulieu River from the Solent, the Isle of Wight at your back, tacking up between the moored yachts, while you admire the houses that you can't possibly afford with their lawns rolling down to the water's edge. Pick up a visitor's mooring, then row ashore and sit on the terrace sipping a cool Chilean Sauvignon while the dying sunlight dances on the evening ripples and you choose delectable dishes for your dinner.

Visitors should please note that "Beaulieu" is sounded with typical English aristocratic disdain for the normal rules of pronounciation. Say "Bow-loo" with the bow as in bow-tie and the loo as in Water and you will at once be taken for a foreigner, which may be an advantage, or merely common which would be a pity. If you wish to sound native then it's "B-you-lee". The first two syllables should be drawled together with a very stiff upper lip.

The Master Builder is named after Henry Adams, who was an eighteenth century shipwright, responsible for building many great men o'war in the years leading up to Nelson and the heyday of the English navy. Buckler's Hard is preserved almost exactly as it was, with two rows of artisan's cottages running down a broad greensward to the river, with Henry Adams's superior residence in pole position by the launching slip.

The whole enterprise is under new management and there has been a major refurbishment throughout. Indeed the finishing touches were still being put into place when we visited. On the ground floor there is a beamed bar, popular with yotties and walkers alike, where excellent bar food is available. (e.g. whole dressed crab and salad £8.75). Upstairs, there are some lovely rooms with fabulous views; most importantly, the modern trappings of the luxury hotel have not destroyed the sense of history. This is not exactly a country house hotel, it's more of an inn, which is actually rather nicer, less stuffy, but just as comfortable. Having said that, the dining room was a bit quiet when we first went in, probably because all the tables were taken by very married looking couples who needed a good glass or two to loosen their inhibitions so that they could pluck up courage to speak to one another. Also The Riverview Restaurant has been rather beautifully refurbished and some of the locals, not to mention the staff, are still a little over awed.

Four of us jolly metropolitans burst in, and we soon had a bit of atmosphere going, fuelled initially by our enthusiastic humming and hah-ing over the menu. The new chef is Denis Rhoden, from France and his menu is concise, modern and extremely good value at £5.75 for starters, £11.75 for main dishes and £4.50 for puddings.

I began with a crabcake that was moist and succulent and that made use of both crabmeats. It was served on an attractive salad with a confit of peppers and artistic daubs of pesto sauce. This got me enthusiastic. The guest on my right had seabass that was well grilled and served on a delicious bed of lobster risotto which provoked groans of delight. Starter-of-the-Day was a duck breast salad, a very substantial starter with a salad that included crunchy asparagus tips and a tangy balsamic dressing. Opposite me, the anchovies and fresh Parmesan in the Caesar salad were going down well - though Americans of a more purist tendency might have preferred good old Romaine lettuce to the post modernist deconstructed leaves that are passed off these days.

Our main dishes included a marvellous pan-fried brill topped with scallop and served with a julienne of carrot, wild mushrooms and saffron potatoes. The delicious port sauce was not overpowering; this was a very satisfying dish. My rib-eye steak could have been pinker in the middle (I'm rather scared of asking for meat to be served bleu because I don't like it raw) but it was tasty and tender and the Boulangere potatoes and onion were layered with filigree perfection. My right hand guest started groaning with delight all over again, this time over the cauliflower and olive oil purée that accompanied her juicy grilled breast of chicken. Luckily there was a generous helping of purée as we all wanted to share this yummy experience.

The Rack of Lamb was excellently cooked, but like so much meat these days, didn't have enough flavour of its own. This is rarely the chef's fault - it has more to do with the crazy regulations that prevent meat from being hung properly nowadays. Never mind, the mushrooms, bacon lardons and sauce jumped in to fill the flavour gap with great panache.

We drank some outstanding wine at reasonable prices: deep dark Fetzer Zinfandel from the brilliant 1994 vintage in California (£17.50) and a 1995 Chateauneuf-du-Pape from Domaine St Prefet at £21.50. This Domaine has a shop in the village of Ch-du-P where you can buy their wine, having been agreeably over-refreshed sampling many vintages going back to the beginning of time. I still have a case of the 1990, a rude adolescent still.

The puddings were a great success, especially the honeycomb ice cream and chocolate sauce with a very caramelised orange flavour homing in from somewhere around the plate. Strawberry savarin avec sa glace was also very good, but I really appreciated the cherry soup with sozzled cherries in it and a smooth textured vanilla flavoured ice floating in the middle. The least expensive dessert wine on the list is the one to go for. You will be knocked out by the sheer intensity of the golden coloured 1994 Forster Schepfenflug Huxelrebe Beerenauslese. People moan about these long German names, but anyone who has made such a wine is simply dying to tell you that it comes from the Schepfenflug vineyards in the village of Forst and that it was made from the Huxelrebe grape whose berries were handpicked late in the autumn. Bravo, and again bravo, say I! It's more than just a treat at £12.95 a half bottle.

If you've managed to plough on to the end of this review you will have probably gathered that we have no hestitation in recommending the Master Builder, his house and his hotel. Wonderful location and views, super cooking, great wines, comfy rooms, pleasant service - what more can one ask for? What? a decent summer? Do I hear whingeing again?

The Master Builder, Buckler's Hard, Nr Lymington, Hampshire
Tel:01590 616253
Restaurant Open:
The Yachtsman's Galley serves suppers between 7pm and 9pm, three courses from £14.75
Rooms from £120 for two people including B&B, or £170 with evening dinner. Suites from £185 with B&B for two, £225 for two with B&B and dinner in the restaurant.