Sunday Lunch at Hotel Du Vin, Stratford Upon Avon – Review

There is nothing more quintessentially British than partaking in a spot of Sunday lunch, and where better to do it than in the very Heart of England, Shakespeare’s Stratford Upon Avon?

The Hotel Du Vin in Stratford Upon Avon is a new addition to the town and when we were invited to visit for Sunday lunch I wasn’t going to refuse.

Hotel Du Vin is a chain of boutique hotels in nineteen towns or cities across the UK. In addition to the Sunday lunch at Hotel Du Vin, they offer private fine dining, weddings, meeting rooms and in some locations, spa days. Along with, of course, luxury rooms to enjoy a night away from home.

 

The hotel

Hotel Du Vin Stratford Upon Avon is a stunning hotel. I was very impressed with its cosy feel despite it being modern. The bar area was welcoming and was in keeping with the towns traditional style. It was nice to see that this had been taken into consideration.

 

Sunday lunch

Sunday lunch at Hotel Du Vin is four courses for £26.95. I will be honest, when I saw it was four courses, I wondered how on earth I was going to have room. But of course, I had to give it a damn good go, for the purpose of this review!

 

 

Soup of the day

The first course was the Soup Of The Day. On the particular Sunday that we went this was Swede and Blue Cheese. I have to admit, I’m not much of a soup girl and the husband detests Swede, but for the purpose of this review, I went with it. Do you know what? I really enjoyed it. The blue cheese complimented the swede really well, and whilst I couldn’t eat all of it, I was really pleased that I had given it a go.

 

 

French market table

The second course is something really quite special and not something that I have ever come across before. You are invited to help yourself to anything and everything on the French Market Table. This could be a meal on its own! There is hot and cold smoked salmon, a selection of cured meats, Cumberland Scotch eggs and home-made pork & thyme sausage rolls to name but a few. Add to this freshly cut bread and I was in heaven. This was my kind of meal.

 

 

I have been known to be a bit of a pork pie fan and I can safely say that they were the nicest pork pies I have ever eaten. And I’m happy to put that in black and white!

 

 

Main course

Now for four courses at a boutique hotel, you can be forgiven for filling your plate with the ‘all you can eat second course’, with the assumption that your main course might not be that big, right?

Wrong. For the main course, I had the roast which was rib of beef from Aberdeenshire. Served with a large Yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings. It was beautiful. The beef was so finely cut and cooked to perfection, it melted in my mouth. 

 

 

My husband decided to go for something different so that we could review more than one meal. He’s a steak fan so it was a no brainer when he saw a 250g rump steak on the menu. Served on a bed of french fries, there was that much food you could barely see the plate. Sadly he couldn’t eat it all, but he very much enjoyed it. If anything, he said the peppercorn sauce was a little too much, but overall, it was a delicious meal.

 

 

Next time I really do fancy trying the burger and chips that I spied on the menu. A 200g burger patty with relish, salad, bacon and grilled cheese in a brioche bun. That’s my kind of meal! 

Dessert

If all this wasn’t enough, we still had to get through dessert. We were so full but of course, we needed to plod on – who else is going to tell you how good it was?

For dessert, I picked the lightest thing on the menu, raspberry sorbet. It was very tasty but I couldn’t eat it all. Three generous scoops of sorbet were just too much, as delicious as it was, I had to admit defeat halfway through.

 

 

My husband opted for the Creme Brulee. Expecting the usual small dish, he was hoping for just a taste of something sweet to finish off the meal. You can only imagine our surprise when out came the biggest Creme Brulee either of us had ever seen. He said it was cooked perfectly but it was just too much. He too had to leave some, but that wasn’t after giving it a good go beforehand.

 

 

You can check out the full Sunday lunch menu here.

 

Value for money

On first glance, £26.95 can sound quite pricey for a Sunday lunch, but when you actually look at what you get, it’s very good value for money. The amount of food we got through was quite ridiculous and neither of us had to eat anything else for the rest of the day!

Would I go again? Absolutely. In fact, I think it would be the perfect place and setting for a celebration. What I loved about the whole experience is that you don’t feel rushed at all. Sunday lunch is served from 12.30 until 4 and you can take all that time if you so wanted. This might be a better way of getting through the four courses without overdoing it (mental note for next time!).

Overall, we had a really lovely visit for our Sunday lunch at Hotel Du Vin in Stratford Upon Avon. The staff were polite and the service was great. The food was delicious. It’s great to know there is somewhere like this on the doorstep and I would urge anyone who is tempted to visit and see for yourself. I’m looking forward to going back – I might drop a few hints in time for my birthday, watch this space!

 

 

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We were provided with a complimentary Sunday lunch for two in return for this review. All words and opinions are my own.