Lainston House

My friends and I family treated me to a pre wedding afternoon tea .. a beautiful location … with excellent service and staff very attentive.. the private room was decorated and was so beautiful arranged it made you feel very emotional…the tea and food was superb thank you Lainston for helping create such a wonderful occasion would highly recommend

Having seen Tom Hamblett on Masterchef and been very impressed with his dishes, the opportunity to experience a 3-course meal at Lainston was too good an opportunity not to take up. £85 for 3 courses, extra for additional sides, drinks and service at this level is pretty decent value, as long as the meal lives up to expectation, and it went way beyond that! We’ve been lucky to experience many 3-star Michelin and fabulous meals and restaurants all over the world, and whilst the theatre and starched service is not on the menu here, the food was amongst the best we have had in a very long time. The service is really friendly, the right side of familiar and the crew we experienced certainly knew the dishes and their wines. From the moment the home made breads and butters as a complimentary palette wetter were brought, it felt this was going to be good. Lobster (£10 supplement) was simply sublime. The scallop starter was possibly one of the best things I have ever eaten, to combine scallop, cauliflower, ponzu and raisins in a dish is audacious and it paid off! We both went for the signature beef fillet with beef tartare and roscoff onion stuffed with brisket - incredible. The additional side of truffled new potatoes were absolute perfection too. Desserts were simply outstanding - olive oil cake and the now legendary peanut and chocolate slice with banana ice cream. I can still taste it. We were celebrating a birthday and our anniversary, and we also got a little chocolate cake with a Happy Birthday, a very nice gesture in a high-end place. To top it all off we met Tom in person afterwards; you could tell he had been burning the oil for the last few months but was so humble, interested in what we had ordered and what we liked. We have vowed to try and celebrate our anniversary wherever he is cooking next time as he really is an exceptional talent.

Myself and my son came to Lainston House as Tom Hamblet is residential head chef. The food was absolutely amazing and some of the best we’ve ever eaten, the presentation was perfect and the front of house staff were lovely and so attentive. We also got to meet Tom after we’d eaten which was so special, he gave my son, who is a chef some sound advice

Wow, what an experience. Absolutely stunning surroundings, welcomed by friendly staff, invited to have a drink whilst our table was prepared. Followed Tom's masterchef menu and was not disappointed. Food was sublime better than Hestons. It was a treat for us as was above our budget, but we'll worth every penny. Got to meet Tom, and he's only 25 and already a resident chef! A very bright future ahead. As for Lainston House, we will definitely return x Thanks to Tom and the team x

We were originally given the Oak room and for £400 a night we had high expectations, but the bath tub in the bathroom had some rusty patches and I didn’t fancy giving my toddler a bath in there, also there were some cobwebs around the radiators too and some paint peelings on the wall in the bathroom. Understandably, we were disappointed and wanted to change rooms and the reception staff acted very quickly and gave us the Pine room next door, which was fantastic. Our stay from there was excellent, although I did notice some cobwebs between the wood beams in that room too, so housekeeping should look up more, this establishment claims to be 5* and cleanliness is basic really. Otherwise, it was all good, I would stay again if given the same room.

Very average afternoon tea,the main issue was poor service.Once tea was served, everyone disappeared,no chance to ask for extra tea .Had to go searching to get bill . Waiting staff totally disinterested . Certainly not worth the money or the service charge added .