Confession: I’m a serious cook. I love to eat, to entertain, and to combine those loves into extravagant dinner parties. A fact which sets the scene for my appreciation of Margaret Duncan’s cooking at Cherrybrook. I simply do not know how she provides the broad menu and flawless service of a good restaurant on the scale and with the mood of a big dinner party.
Most diners are hotel guests, but the restaurant has gained such a fine reputation that it’s not unusual to meet people who’ve driven up here simply to celebrate a special occasion with a good meal.
Margaret regularly has between 10 and 14 people sitting down to dine. A tough number to offer much choice. Yet Margaret’s typical menu offers four or five choices for each course. And I’ve never had anything I didn’t like!
You begin your dinner in the lounge, where Andy will pour you a cocktail, enquire over your day and offer suggestions for tomorrow’s activities. You’ll mix with your other guests and often make some friends. You order while drinking; you’re then called to your table when it’s time to eat. (Though all guests eat in the same dining room, you have separate tables for each party.)
Typical first courses cover a broad range, from soups and salads to shrimp cocktails or baked goat’s cheese. The range of mains includes meat, fish, chicken and a vegetarian option, and comes with heaped platters of vegetables and potatoes. The only time you won’t get a choice is on Sundays, when Margaret does a traditional roast beef. She does it better than anyone I know, so you won’t miss anything.
Desserts are equally wide ranging, from simple things like ice cream or fruit to more complicated cakes, pies and specialities. And because you’re in Devon, this will be served with a bowl of clotted cream.
For those of you unfamiliar with this delicacy, it’s a rich condiment that falls somewhere between very sweet butter and incredibly thick whipped cream. It’s traditionally served with scones and jam at tea time, but in this part of the country you put a dollop of it on all dessert items. The people of Devon and their Cornish neighbours regularly fight over who makes the best clotted cream. This is somewhat like the Belgians and the Swiss slugging it out over the chocolate crown. They’re both so much better than everyone else that it really doesn’t matter. Just enjoy the battle. And don’t even THINK about the fat content!
Save room for the fourth course, a wonderful platter of local cheese that encompasses blues, cheddars, hard and soft. All are made within 50 or so miles. Be sure to try the Cornish Yarg, a hard, sharp, white cheese rare outside the Southwest.
Stuffed, you can stumble back to the bar where you’ll enjoy coffee and … if you can manage … chocolates. The overall experience is one of the best meals for the money you’ll find in England.