Best Western hotel excels in Retford

My wife and I paid a visit to West Retford Hotel to sample their evening dinner menu, and couldn’t find a single flaw in the dining experience.

The welcome, the service, the food and the surroundings were all fantastic, and deserving of five star rating.

Beautiful early evening sunshine showed the 250-year-old listed building in its very finest light.

Staff were charming and warm towards us, welcoming us into the restaurant to take our table a little early as we enjoyed a pre-meal drink.

The menu was simple, with just enough choice, and the price for three courses very reasonable.

Not many would argue that £20.95 is true value for money, when the food on offer is of such good quality, and the restaurant has class and style.

For my starter I chose the duck liver pâté, which came with four slices of toast, a well presented and fresh salad and a beautiful plum and orange chutney.

The portion was generous, in fact there was so much pâté I couldn’t quite finish it all.

My wife had the smoked chicken saladette and didn’t even get close to finishing her starter, despite describing it as tender, smoky and delicious.

Again the accompanying salad was impressive and crisp.

For our mains we went for the roast beef and the roast lamb, both of which the menu informed us, were sourced from this region of the country.

The meals came quickly, and both looked fantastic.

Two huge slices of incredibly tender roast beef, very well seasoned roast and boiled potatoes, a Yorkshire pudding and crunchy vegetables adorned my plate.

The gravy was excellent, but the real star of the show was the beef – both slices were of the best quality and tasted amazing.

The lamb was also tender and came in a rich and flavoursome red currant gravy.

Both our desserts were as well presented as everything that came before.

My wife had a fruit salad that the waiter himself aptly described as fancy, while I plumped for the white chocolate and vanilla cheesecake.

For someone with a sweet tooth it was perfect, but the portion was almost too much for me.

Throughout the meal the staff were attentive, humorous and friendly, without crowding us or becoming intrusive.

The restaurant wasn’t busy, by any stretch of the imagination, but on this performance it really should be.

It’s grand enough to warrant visits for special occasions, but not so formal to put off those in search of a good Sunday dinner. Highly recommended.

By Graham Smyth

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