Last Updated on April 18, 2017 by Fiona Maclean
A Day in the Country – Sopwell House:
It may seem totally illogical for a South London Lass to hike up to St Alban’s for lunch. Thanks to Thameslink though, it’s actually a hop, skip and a jump of a direct train journey from Elephant and takes around 40 minutes. And, in Spring I do yearn to be out of the City. Add to that, I know a few bloggers who are based in St Albans and I was happy when I was invited to have the chance to visit Sopwell House for lunch with Heidi Roberts.
Sopwell House is a stunning Grade II listed house. Built in the 17th century it’s just a few miles from the centre of St Albans and is now a rather glamorous hotel. This place was home to Prince Louis of Battenberg, an Admiral of the Royal Navy who made it his family home. His 4 children grew up here, the youngest Louis, like his father, had a distinguished Royal Navy career. He became the last British Viceroy of India as Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma. Alice married Prince Andrew of Greece and their son is Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The hotel has a fantastic Elemis spa, an indoor pool, a terrace restaurant and bar and a fine dining restaurant. And, it’s been set up to work exceptionally well as a venue for weddings and special celebrations. Elegant gardens, excellent food and space for those who want to stay to be accommodated in the main building or in some chic self-catering cottages just to the side of the Hotel. It’s a well thought out proposition for anyone wanting to throw a party and really rather a nice place to go and relax, use the well-equipped spa and pool and just unwind a bit.
Our mission, though, was lunch. We walked through the Terrace bar where the buffet style lunch was in full swing. Perfect for a spa day lunch, there were a range of salads and cold meats, a hot buffet counter and some tempting looking desserts.
But, we were heading for the fine dining restaurant, with elegant seating, white linen and an excellent well thought out lunch menu with a choice of four starters and mains and a selection of desserts, cheeses and ice-cream. I was impressed that the menu was carefully but discretely coded so that a whole range of food intolerances were catered for, from celery to sulphur dioxide!
I started with confit sea trout with wasabi mayonnaise, dill puree, lemon gel and a tapioca wafer. At a guess the sea trout had been prepared in a water-bath, it was deliciously fresh tasting and perfectly flaky. I liked the little tapioca and dill wafer too. Tiny dabs of wasabi mayo and lemon gel added bursts of flavour to an excellent way to start the meal.
Heidi ordered the salad of roast butternut squash with shaved parmesan, gem heart and caesar dressing. Again, a beautifully plated dish with great colour and textural contrasts
For my main dish, I ordered the (remarkably for me) healthy sounding steamed lemon sole with bok choi, spring onion and coriander Asian dressing. It was an elegant plateful and a good light lunch dish. I’d have preferred my fish on the bone, but it wouldn’t have looked so pretty and I know that is a personal taste not shared by everyone. The sole was well cooked again and the Asian flavours were delicate and perfectly balanced.
Heidi picked the Breast of Norfolk Black Chicken with morels which looked amazing and would have been my second choice. A nicely creamy dauphinoise, plenty of rich morels and caramelised button onions in a velvety sauce.
Dessert was the stunning dark chocolate mille-feuille for Heidi, served with chocolate glass and mango sorbet. It was such a dainty looking dish I had a touch of food envy.
I’d ordered the rhubarb crumble with vanilla ice cream which was lovely, though just a bit closer to a crumble tart than I’d expected. A good dollop of ice-cream with a liberal lacing of vanilla made an excellent accompaniment
We enjoyed a pretty plate of petits fours with our coffees before going for a walk around the gardens with Tony, who had been serving our food but told us he normally worked as a private butler for the cottages and other special events.
With our meal, we enjoyed a bottle of Bocelli Pinot Grigio priced at £29.95, which worked well with all the dishes we’d ordered. And, we were both impressed that the lunch menu pricing offers a choice of two courses for £19.50 or three for £23.50, with no supplements.
I’d happily have spent the afternoon wandering around the gardens watching the carp in the lake…
And perhaps enjoying a champagne afternoon tea in the lounge.
But, I did need to get back to London.
Hopefully, at some point, I’ll be able to come back and try the spa – or even spend the night in one of the cottages and enjoy my own private hot-tub.
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Sopwell House
Cottonmill Lane
St Albans
Hertfordshire
AL1 2HQ
Disclosure: We were guests of Sopwell House but all content is editorially given.
I have yet to ride the Thameslink but I definitely will next time I’m in London! Also, this looks like my kind of place. Such a beautiful property and delicious food. Thanks for sharing and happy travels 🙂
Yes , it is pretty insane to hike to a place for lunch 🙂 but what is life without adventure!! Right?…The hotel is beautiful as I can say by the description and the photographs that the place is maintained beautifully! The desserts and the spa were the best part I think!
Wow,what a lovely place!!! I would love to explore it ?
This looks like such a beautiful place. Thanks for the idea. Next time, I want to get out of London, i will hop on the train and check out this place.
What a gorgeous place! Full of natural beauty and architecture that compliments the environment wonderfully. Sopwell House looks like a great getaway that isn’t too far from the city. Thanks for sharing your experience!
What a beautiful meal!! Love the presentation of each dish. The sea trout sounded so unique! Good to know Sopwell House is so close to London. I would love to stop in for lunch when we travel through there!
Food presentation is incredible, what a lovely day out for lunch! Sopwell House looks beautiful, I love that they’re tranforming historic manor homes like this into hotels 🙂 Would love to stay, especially as it’s so close from London!
Very nice fabrics and color schemes at the Sopwell House. I like the decor a lot. The food looks amazing but maybe too pretty to eat!
The rooms in the Sopwell House seem very masculine what with the darker colors and plaid. Maybe a tribute to Prince Louis of Battenberg’s military past? The food looks absolutely delicious! And so very affordable.
We only saw the bedroom in one of the cottages – and if I am honest that’s partly my photography. But, it is all very tasteful.
I’ve heard good things about Sopwell House, but never visited. Keep meaning to go and try the restaurant at some point and it would be a great option for a staycation as well. It looks beautifully decorated and run.
What a gorgeous looking mille-feuille! Sounds like a nice getaway from London, there’s lots to do in St Albans too
I used to go to St Albans shopping – it’s actually rather nice if you want to avoid Oxford Street Crowds
I would totally take the hop, skip and jump to have lunch here too!! Plus, for someone who isn’t use to getting to travel by train, that would be half the fun for me! This looked like a very delicious day!!
Happy Saturday!