Entertainments | Restaurant Reviews | Harrington's on the Hill
PUBS are all very well if you want something decent and cheap to eat.
And few things are finer than an extravagant, multi-course dinner in a top restaurant - if your wallet can shoulder the burden. Thankfully these days you can often combine the best bits of both experiences without breaking the bank, as Harrington’s On The Hill proves with a flourish.
Sited near the castle ruins and two pubs, Harrington’s physically sets itself apart from many of Kenilworth’s eating places. And inside it has an ambience all of its own. Decorated in blue with plain but attractive wooden tables, it was candlelit for our visit. My companion and I were directed upstairs. This is often a bad sign, but the room was as warm and well-decorated as the one below. Prompt, friendly service introduced us to the evening’s special set menu - £17.95 each for four courses plus coffee.
The tomato and basil soup was the no-choice entree, but few could have complained. Fresh and subtle, it set the scene well.
A choice of several starters resulted in melon with champagne-soaked fruit in a pool of mango coulis and king prawns pan fried in garlic butter with seasonal leaves arriving at the table. Both were carefully prepared and well presented. The melon was pronounced excellent and only this reviewer’s inept handling of the prawns spoiled an otherwise fine choice.
The main course arrived with slightly indecent haste. It deserved a longer wait, but was very good nevertheless. Only
the size of the portion let my fillet of lamb in port and redcurrant jus down. Less is definitely not more when presented with something as tender and delicious as this. My companion’s steak also came highly praised and was more than large enough. Crisp, fresh vegetables accompanied, along with excellent mash that was neither pureed nor lumpy.
Four other main meal choices were offered on the night in question, along with five desserts.
Refreshingly, the menu was almost devoid of pretentious
chef-speak. Only a description of one dessert as ‘draped in Creme Anglaise’ (that’s with custard to you and me) offered a hint of ideas above their station.
Side-stepping the pitfalls of heavy desserts despite the dearth of lamb, I selected tuile baskets filled with blackcurrant creme and winter berries. Two crisp, wafer-like cups were well-filled and the fruit tasted fresher than it perhaps deserved to.
The raspberry creme brulee selected by my companion also came highly recommended. It is hard to go wrong with a raspberry, after all.
Coffee completed the evening, which with a reasonable bottle of house red wine came to a little under £50.
Eating out can be as cheap or expensive as you want, but pound for pound it wonít come much better than this. *****
Simon Steele
